Back off the Deck ... and preparing to roll again

It's been a long, long time. Been busy living my life as I entered retirement. Some things have indeed changed, but one thing hasn't for me:

The want for me to share my experiences with my friends and the blogosphere in general. Not sure how to really start this, but here goes nothin', as it were...

The fact of the matter is that some things in transportation never change. Things get screwed up, accidents occur, politicians interfere in the best-laid plans of others, etc., all the time. Yet, people still manage to travel around the region, state, country and world, despite the best efforts of man to interrupt the free movement of others, for whatever reason(s) exist. But, sometimes we as human beings just have to suck it up, strap in and go along for the ride. We all have to. It's a basic human need (at least that I believe).

So, with that bit of soapbox-opera out of the way, welcome to my readership. This 2019-based series of posts will deal with my 20-day European train vacation, celebrating my 15th wedding anniversary. Besides my wife (who will only be on the trip for the first 14 days, due to work requirements), my nephew-in-law (wife sister's oldest), a 24-year-old pre-med student, will also tag along for the first full week of this excursion.

I've had this dream since I was in high school, so it's been a long time 'bucket list'-esque item for me to ride the route of the Simplon-Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul. But, since the last regular through train for the regular public was discontinued in 1977, I knew it was going to be difficult to recreate it in any form or fashion. I just put it aside, as we all do with things and thoughts that we believe 'I'll never EVER get to do THAT, not in my lifetime'...

But, a few years ago, I was putzing around on eBay and found a listing for 3 Thomas Cook Continental Timetables at a price which, quite frankly, I could afford. So, I bid on them and won the bid; a few weeks later, my exasperated letter carrier dropped a large package at my door step. They were here! At last!!

As I was paging thru, the listing came across my mind: 'Direct-Orient Express'. Yep, I had found the schedule for the train I had so wanted to ride way back then. The train of dreamers, mystery writers, intrigue and legend, had died a long, torturous death as it was cut back from Paris-Istanbul to Paris-Belgrade (then Yugoslavia; today, Belgrade is the capital of Serbia). Then it was cut even further back on the west end, as SNCF (French National Railways) introduced the high-speed TGV trains on the west end of the route, and on and on. In the end, the final train named 'Orient-Express' was a joint Strasbourg-Vienna operation overnight thru Germany, and even that was finally dropped in 2009.

So, back to today: I retired in 2018, after 38 years' service in transportation. There, after all that time, I finally have the money, time and sanity to tackle an undertaking like taking my wife with me across Europe from France to Turkey. Now, how to put it all together? And there's that trans-Atlantic thing to deal with (after all, I'm over here in the USA, and it's all so far away...)

With a lot of kind assistance from any number of sources, and a lot of computer time, I can finally say that we will be doing this massive undertaking in a few weeks. Not all the details are final, but we have a rough idea of how things SHOULD work out. SHOULD. Not necessarily, WILL. Need to keep planning, scheming, hoping and dreaming of things to come. Backup plans to the backup plans. Like anyone on vacation, you plan for what's there; and you expect the unexpected.

And that they all don't come crashing down on us. After all, I'm responsible. And that's a bit scary. A bit heartening, but a bit scary, given the world's geopolitical situation right now. We will go on regardless of what happens; I just hope I make it back in one piece. My wife says this could be 'Murder on the Route of the Orient Express'. This trip will cover 12 countries, over 3500 miles on the ground (and another 8,400 or so in the air), all in the course (for me at least) of three weeks.

Sounds like something right out of the TV show, 'The Amazing Race', only without the detours and the road blocks. (There will be more than enough of those, trust me on that.) Only I'm not Phil Keoghan and there's no red carpet, definitely no million-dollar prize for my trip, nor will I be eliminated for coming in last at Nis, Serbia. (I might come in there first, come to think of it...)

 Anyhow, please indulge me by following along over the next two months as I chronicle this timeless endeavor. We'll start next time by organizing air travel, and figuring out what train goes what way on what day. Until then? Enjoy July. It's warm out there. Stay cool.