Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Voyage to Insanity

My grandmother has decided that she is ready to see her childhood home for the fist time since leaving it to work at a German Labor camp during World War II. It may be due to the passing of my grandfather that has led her to believe that her time is short and that she can no longer postpone it. I have, however, located it and went today to book the flying component to the trip. It should have taken no more that a few minutes as I have researched the airports and the road components to the trip. Like all things to do with my grandmother, I had to go to a Polish travel agent and have to listen to my mother and grandmother babble away to someone who thinks that I am just ignorant and don’t understand what they are talking about. Though I don’t speak the language I do understand it.

The Travel agent wanted to know a rough intermarry to do her job. I then listened to how my plan was turned upside down and places that were never mentioned to me were included into the trip. I was first told this would be a two week event and I planned for it to be so but was then told that an extra week had been added and that interrupted my plans. They compensated for this by saying they are leavening a week earlier.

I made rough appreciation of the locations they wanted to add and saw that if I did it in a particular order it was still a one way journey and that I didn’t need to cross the country five times to fit it all in. I based it on my original plan that had the same ethos. I only amended it so to have a few more stops. Anyone that has traveled any distance with me knows that I don’t think much of traveling form Sydney to Melbourne. (Which is roughly the distance to cross Poland).As I am going to need a car to travel with an elderly woman and the towns I need to visit are provincial.

Regardless of this the only thing the Travel agent needed to know what airport we were going to and which one we were leaving form. All my grandmother and mother needed to tell her was that and the dates. The rest was just academic. I can see this as a voyage into insanity as two hours later we left the agent with her being given my researched airport details with amended dates. If I had been given these to begin with it would have taken 20 minutes. This trip is going to be so much fun….Ha!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I thought our lightning trip to Melbourne was sheer insanity. Your so right, the Hume highway sucks massively, it still looms large in my nightmares although the company was first class.

Three weeks with these two people, take a prescription of vallium.

I've been thinking if I'm working again this year I may accompany you on your next trip if i'm still invited and if you survive mumma and bubba on this trip.
Your a braver soul than me babe.

Mr. Cellophane said...

As compensation to the three weeks from hell, I am treating myself to a visit to the US packing multiple changes of underwear as I visit a certain camera store. Not much of an excuse to see the US for some I know.

As I know I am not going to satisfy my lust for history on this trip, while in Europe, I can satisfy portions in North and South Carolina as I combine my history with my machine fetish and see the where man first took to the air in powered flight and the first combat submarine. Not to mention all the photo opportunities along the way.

That part of the trip is planned and booked as I am doing that part on my own.

Anonymous said...

Had I not read the comments I would have said that it was honorable of you to take this voyage, however it seems that you do have a secondary motive behind your going. It is totally understandable to combine your travel plans and it seems that you are used to the driving that you will subject yourself too.

To the point, you seem like the meat in the sandwich here that is expected to do the planning while only given half information. That is something that makes any planning task difficult. Communication seems to be lacking, whether it be on your behalf or those you are taking.

Keep in mind that you may be subject to blame displacement. That is where people will take credit for your plans going right but also gives them someone to blame if they turn sour but I know that you are already aware of that.

Mr. Cellophane said...

Devil’s Advocate,

I am well aware of the “blame displacement” you are accurate in your assumption.