Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
A different diary. No pictures, just thoughts about crises facing us.
First, The Elephant. No, not THAT elephant, the new one: the new feral administration. DT won, with the support of frustrated people. He promised to spread misery to his enemies. A couple of days into office and he is starting on his promises. He has forgiven the unforgivable. He is firing the competent in government in favor of crooks and commentators. He shuns the (barely) minority party and has castrated the congressional majority party. The judicial branch had already been changed to match his image and likeness.
He is focusing particularly on Fresno County, or so it seems. DT's hate for California will direct any useful federal programs away from us. His war on our undocumented workers will devastate the local farming-based economy. Workers will hide. Employers will find no citizen replacements. Food will rot in fields and processor facilities. Our Maga neighbors will try to deny the blame, but it will be obvious for all to see.
What to do about it? Hide and ignore? That's tempting, and, in retirement, actually possible. We started with ignoring the swearing-in ceremonies, since I'm sure our viewership would have devolved to swearing-at ceremonies. But, do we cancel our New York Times paper subscription, turn off television news, and even block news and social media on the world wide web?
The next alternative would be to watch and sing complaints with the choir. MSNBC would become our news source. Bluesky could become our social media, as long as we can convince all our family and choir friends to use it. We could, accurately I'm sure, predict disaster with the precision of weathermen. Saying "I told you so" will bring great satisfaction ... or not.
This third alternative is to act. Join groups that do more than just talk with each other, even though I suppose we should avoid reconstructing The Weather Underground. Write politicians. Protest in writing and in the street. Support decent local politics with money and in-person communication.
Our next Trotter crisis is vacation. That sounds strange, but it is true. Our 2025 concept has been to spend April and May back in Europe. What could the problem be?
We are 79 years old, with attendant creaks and groans, and threats of more serious stuff. Marianne loves travel, but is worrying. I have mixed feelings about travel and, truth be told, always have had. My back story:
In my career, first we moved from place to place and later we settled as a family, but my job kept me flying here and there, several times a month. In reflection, I realize I hated it. All the airports, then meetings with strangers trying to sell them expensive services. Being more distant from my family than I should have been, repeating my own father's path. No travel diaries from those days, just uncomfortable memories.
Now with the help of my partner, we have more than a thousand diaries, mostly a record of life overseas and travel from various home bases. What are my best travel memories? Three or four long drives in Europe probably top the list, from the 2001-2002 unemployed wanderings, through a two month return to Germany and France18 months ago. A couple of America trips rank just below that, including a tour of National Parks and a family and friends trip to Colorado, Maryland, and Virginia. I think Europe ranks higher just because the US, particularly out West, is too large and monotone.
So, how to get beyond our current travel trepidation? My nerd instincts say it's time for evaluation of alternatives. I'll start with options A, B, C, D, and E.
A: Stay the Course
Our discussions have been of Lisbon as our first destination and then a flight to Germany to rent a car to drive locally and to and from Italy. Roughly, half of our 60-day trip would be in Portugal and Germany and half in Italy. A week or ten day start in Lisbon would be followed by a couple weeks of visits to friends in Germany and, hopefully, more friends in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Then we'd need to drive down into Italy for a week or so in Venice and roughly two weeks in less challenging parts of that country. We would wrap up with a few days driving back to Munich to return the car and get on a plane home. Three thousand kilometers of driving and costs just north of $20,000.
We are nervous about the trip overall, mostly for the likelihood of the negative unknowns. Specifically, we worry about details associated with Venice, a destination we avoided for decades because we have not been comfortable touring big cities. Details like parking, schlepping suitcases, climbing stairs, and long walks have become intimidating. Auto tours among villages has been more our style.
B: Europe, But Less
At a limit, we could skip Lisbon and Italy and stick to Germany, a place we know well. Munich, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Maastricht, Berlin, Dresden, back to Munich. A bit more driving, similar costs, but in familiar atmosphere.
C: Still Europe, But "Guided"
We have always eschewed "guided" tours, be they on ships, barges, or buses. Somehow, we have always enjoyed being on our own, but maybe it is time to reconsider. The 218-page annual Roads Scholar catalogue arrived recently, so what might be interesting examples?
- Holland by Riverboat 10 days, $4,499 times 2
- Iceland by Expedition Ship, 11 days, $9,500 times 2
- Germany, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, 11 days, $4,900 times 2
- Transatlantic Crossing on the Queen Mary 2, Art History, 14 day, $6,700-$7,500 times 2
- Alaska Inside Passage by Small Ship, 10 days, $10,000 to $14,500 times 2
- Portugal and Spain, 15 days, ("extensive walking"), $4,700 times 2
So, $1,000 to $2,000 per day for both of us, with a zillion variations of destination and length. Plus, we know there are a half-zillion other companies. Just this sampling says to me that the cost per day is high, so trips would be shorter than our "normal", but as an option? If it were, we'd probably be faced with slipping a Spring trip for Fall, just because near-term trips seem to be booked already.
D: Long(ish) US Road Trip
A couple of years back, we started on a road trip to Taos New Mexico and back. We planned to take our time from Southern California, passing through Arizona, then touching Texas before reaching Taos. After that goal, we could hit Longmont, Boise, and Seattle for relative check ins. And then find our way back. For us, this is a six- to eight-week trip. Google maps say this is 4,000 miles at least, with eight days of six or seven hours a day behind the wheel. We could kick off this trip with our pending trip to Palm Springs next month.
Does this sound like fun? Eh ...
E: Several Short Trips
The fall-back for ambitious travel could be several small trips, by car, plane or even train. For example, a week at a time drives to Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area, Idaho, Yosemite, or Ashland. Or, we could manage short flights to Seattle, Denver, Fairbanks, Mexico, British Columbia, or ??? A train to anywhere would be an adventure. (That's perhaps good or bad!)
A half dozen trips like this might be little different from a single, longer excursion in terms of time away and cost. But would we feel like we had really traveled?
Obviously, this requires discussion. Pending. Stay tuned.
Any other crisis in need of mulling over? Nothing specific. Our families seem OK. There is always health but, knock on wood, nothing critical today. Starting our eightieth year, that's the best we can do.
Stay tuned.
John and Marianne