Frustrated with the Airlines but still Traveling
Greetings, All!
As my 33 year airline job with United begins to falter while corporate greed becomes more important than customer service and employee loyalty, my opportunities to travel often and cheaply (or to even find an open seat) have diminished. If ever your customers complain about airline service, please pass this on from those of us on the frontlines who check them in and load their luggage that we are working short-handed and that our patience has been running even thinner than theirs...we are going through this every day! Somehow seeing company executives still in their expensive suits, bumping paying passengers to get onboard planes, continuing to attend other corporate buddies' board meetings, and continuing to make house payments on their seasonal "homes" around the country does a job on our morale and spirits as they continue to come to us for more and more concessions, as though it is our fault that the airlines are doing so poorly.
Now that I've gotten that off of my chest, I would love to sincerely thank you, Rick, and all of your staff and employees for putting out such a comfortable-reading, friendly, and encouraging set of travel books. If it weren't for your style of presentation, I would probably have never gone over to Europe after reading the "cold hard" facts from the many other travel book publishers.
My first "leap of faith" across the Atlantic was to the Cinque Terre where I stayed in Riomaggiore and walked the entire trail to Monterosso al Mer. I walked up trails through the hillside farms and vineyards, packing delicious prosciutto/tomato sandwiches that I put together for lunch, then walked some more just so that I could enjoy two-hour dinners and obnoxious gelato afterwards into the late evenings. I made friends with some locals and chatted for hours.
My next trip took me to the west coast of Ireland where I settled in at Doolin for a few days of wandering on foot in the misty rains of March, living off of fresh seafood platters, tasty thick stews, chewy brown bread, and true Guinness.
After reading your book on France and Normandy, my next vacation was to Rouen, quaint Honfleur and the Boudin Art Museum, Bayeaux with the tapestry and nearby D-Day beaches, and Mont St. Michel. On this trip, my French genes from my Mother's family (who came over to start sugar cane plantations in my native south Louisiana) began to resonate within me, and I have never felt so comfortable and happy in a foreign land as I did while traveling in France. Of course, you know about the absolutely beautiful presentations and simply delicious flavors of meals prepared by every family-run restaurants throughout that country!
I returned to France two more times, once to Cap d'Agde to regain my summer tan after a miserable winter in the Northwest; then a train/bus trip to the medieval town of Olargues where I ventured out from there on daily sorties to other nearby areas. Next September will probably be my last trip to Europe as an airline employee with a cheap seat on a plane. I am considering another vagabond tour, this time into Scandinavia.
So, let me stop here and thank you all again for your casual, friendly, and humorous style of writing and observations in the Rick Steves travel books.
Sincerely,
John Schneider
Salt Lake City, Utah