Who remembers my 2023 trip through Colorado, New Mexico and Utah? Strictly speaking, travel planning for 2024 started on October 13, 2023, when I didn’t have enough time for the hike to Chesler Park Viewpoint, but I was excited about the trail and decided to complete this hike again. If you want to read: Too much landscape? – 3 weeks Colorado, New Mexico and a bit of Utah
After I had enjoyed the Advent season in New York and was busy planning the trip in March/April, I wrote down all the hikes I would like to do on a piece of paper.
This time I plan differently. First the hikes and then the overnight stays.
The time period was also found quickly. One of my best buddies will be on October 3rd. 40 years. I should be there. On October 22nd and on October 23rd. I have an important professional workshop. So no leeway whatsoever. At 17 days it’s pretty close again. Set a price alert on Google Flights, wait, book the flights to Scotland and go on vacation first.
Back at home I started with the detailed planning. The first permits should be booked on May 1st. Even if there is no flight yet. I continued with important hotels. And because it’s so beautiful, we also offer accommodation in Scotland. Over the weekend there was 12% on Expedia…
I should probably book a flight for this trip. And then there was an offer from United that I liked in terms of price. Unfortunately, the website had problems and the credit card details could not be entered. Not even the next day. Such a crap. So it happened that I booked flights directly on my smartphone for the first time, before it became more expensive again.
Rental cars were available from ADAC. I then canceled and rebooked it five or six times. The last time was 2 weeks before the trip. Sometimes I checked 3 bookings (Canada, Scotland and USA) every day. But it was worth it, I saved over €500 on the original bookings. The hotels were then ready and so were the travel plans. I dealt with Canada and Scotland. I’ve already been to Colorado and Utah, so I no longer felt the need to read and plan a lot. On July 1st at 4 p.m., I practice booking permits with recreation.gov with my dad. He has to do that on September 1st. take over when I’m in Scotland. It works, thanks again.
Unfortunately, I brought a flu-like infection and a cough with me from Scotland. This year it’s really bad. It felt like I had just gotten rid of my first cough in Canada and then again. Unfortunately, this illness accompanies me throughout September. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It’s like my body is rolling dice: new symptoms every day: sometimes aching limbs, sometimes a runny nose, sometimes a sore throat, sometimes nothing at all, sometimes a slight cough and then sometimes a really bad dry cough. The doctor suspects a virus and reports that he has several patients who have had the crap for up to 8 weeks. Great prospects, especially since there is no real medication. The peak is a week before departure. Nothing works anymore, I’m lying in bed with a fever. Unfortunately, I was in a really stressful phase in the office, so I only took sick leave for two days and worked from home despite the cough so that I could somehow still hand over my topics.
Great preparation when you need to lace up your hiking boots. Nevertheless, the plan remains as it is for now. Let’s see what works and what doesn’t. At least I manage to do a little planning for the day and look at a few travel reports again. I’m also booking a hotel in Frankfurt. The replacement rail service means it takes twice as long to get there and I don’t feel like getting up at 5:30 a.m. to get there on time.
The cough is getting better and I pack a load of meds alongside the hiking gear and camera. The countdown is slowly running.
By the way, I do the math: This will be my 20th stay in the USA. If that’s not a reason to celebrate!
Who’s joining? And here’s a little additional question that would interest me: How often have you been to the USA?
