Remembering when travelling abroad was so much simpler... (1 Viewer)

[JaG]

1984. Eurocamp in the mountains of Switzerland above Montreau.
Drove down in a Datsun Bluebird 180B. I remember driving down the German Autobahn, cars passing at over 100 mph. Drove over the Grand St Bernard Pass into Italy one day. So many cars never made it cos the air was so thin.
At one point on the way back got to a cross roads in a village no idea which way to turn so, tossed a coin and luckily ended back in Luxembourg, where we needed to be at 9pm.
Oh the fun of them days.

 

[Chasnam]

1981 our first trip into Europe was with my sister BIL and there 2 kids my then wife and my 6 month old son in a mid 70s Devon Moonraker on a bay transporter with a combi camp trailer tent.
Ferry to Flushing through Germany acrossthebaltic to Sweden, great holiday.
The major incident was just after crossing the border into Germany and we were overtook by our rear wheel and a sudden drop of the rear passenger side .I was driving and Pete my BIL in passenger seat ,I had no brakes as the hub had come away with wheel I steered and Pete pulled on the hand brake.
Retrieved the wheel but the massive castelled nut was more difficult to find but eventually sitting on a tuft of grass a half mile back was the nut.
We replaced it but we hadn't any thing big enough to tighten it with so limped to the next town and found a small garage that could tighten it up more but not fully talked he advised we find a VW garage ,as we were due at the ferry we pressed on carefully and found a VW garage in Vlissingen he had a 2 metre bar with a socket welded on the end , he tightened it by bouncing up and down on the bar.
Great memories
Chasnam

 

[L' Hobo]

1981 our first trip into Europe was with my sister BIL and there 2 kids my then wife and my 6 month old son in a mid 70s Devon Moonraker on a bay transporter with a combi camp trailer tent.
Ferry to Flushing through Germany acrossthebaltic to Sweden, great holiday.
The major incident was just after crossing the border into Germany and we were overtook by our rear wheel and a sudden drop of the rear passenger side .I was driving and Pete my BIL in passenger seat ,I had no brakes as the hub had come away with wheel I steered and Pete pulled on the hand brake.
Retrieved the wheel but the massive castelled nut was more difficult to find but eventually sitting on a tuft of grass a half mile back was the nut.
We replaced it but we hadn't any thing big enough to tighten it with so limped to the next town and found a small garage that could tighten it up more but not fully talked he advised we find a VW garage ,as we were due at the ferry we pressed on carefully and found a VW garage in Vlissingen he had a 2 metre bar with a socket welded on the end , he tightened it by bouncing up and down on the bar.
Great memories
Chasnam

The torque on that nut needed a 6ft bar, a fat fitter to jump on the bar and a split pin if I remember correctly!
No stopping an old VeeDub!

 

[Soycd]

First real holiday 'abroad' would have been aged 12, 1973 to France. Lived in Oz from 2-7. Did a fair bit of adventuring on my own, France, USA, Spain to meet mates in my later teens. Scrounged £30 of my mum in September 1980 for a spur of moment thing to go to a gig in Paris, no planning, just trained it from Manchester. Another time I got stranded in Paris, lost all my money, having hitched from Spain/France border. Had to go to UK Consul where a kind lady cashed me a cheque for a tenners worth of francs which was enough to get me a ferry from Dieppe. It all seemed quite normal to me. Not sure it was simpler, just different.
I think since German reunification travel in Europe has opened up a lot more countries to explore, making it even more fascinating, but you are right, we rely too much on technology these days to get us on holiday. We've stopped using the satnav in Europe these days, you miss so much, listening to an AI device and not really taking in the surroundings.

 

[tinkerbell]

I used to drive an artic abroad, many stops, many checking in places, borders etc, no phone, but I had a suitcase full of maps. Don't need those, I can find my way around pretty good though now.

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[Googlebot]

I actually miss crossing borders and really noticing the differences. It's not the same today, it's all the same.

The Euro is easy, but the different currencies were fun, paying 10 Belgian francs for a big beer, or one million lire for some toothpaste. Of course, things are easier now, but are they as much fun?

Surely you have been from Belgium to France?

You absolutely know you have crossed that one!

 

[BikerGraham]

Went on package holidays with family to Spanish islands in the 70’s

My first solo was 1985 with an inter-rail card to Europe. Every country a different currency.
Slept on trains when needed to. Met some Hispanic americans on way .

It did start by thumbing a ride from my home town to the dartford tunnel (300 mile in one lift).

Walked down the slip road and met some Kiwi’s with a VW camper. Ferry to Holland and then Stayed with them for a week before going separate ways.

Then met the yanks. Wow they had money

Some good memories. From visiting
Dachau to one of the lads being propositioned to become a porn star to the bier kellers and the Rhine etc
Fantastic memory.

 

[The general]

Driving to Berlin is boring now. Back in the day, it was like you were on the set of a bond movie

That brings back memories but i was in the army , so checkpoint charlie west to east berlin , where was aplha /bravo ?? Answer on a postage stamp

 

[The general]

My first time abroad was a 8000 mile cruise followed by a 56 mile hike carrying 58lb of kit. With 3 firework displays.
June 1982. The Falklands.

Respect

 

[bigwood]

In 74 I was stationed in Germany and my transport was a 60,s MG Midget. A couple of guys I worked with were bikers and followed the races around Europe. I was the transport for there belongings and tents.
The longest trip was Imala in Italy. Breakdown cover or spares never crossed my mind. I was a newly trained mechanic so I could fix things couldn’t I. Fortunately I made it both ways with only a puncture on the way back.

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[Outdoors Dad]

My first holiday abroad was in 1993 I was 18 and went with my current girlfriend at that time and her parents. We went to Tunisia. I was in my element on the plane it was just amazing then we landed. We travelled in a Airtours plane with engines on the tail. We were seated at the rear and on arrival we exited via the planes arse. It was about 9.00 am and the sun was just coming up! As we exited I said to my girlfriend bye those engines are really hot, I said this many times until I turned around and the planes was miles away. It was a horrendous holiday but I learned a lot about life and different cultures.

 

[Chrisvh]

That brings back memories but i was in the army , so checkpoint charlie west to east berlin , where was aplha /bravo ?? Answer on a postage stamp

I worked at Alpa, Bravo and Charlie. So to be fair I will not enter the competition.

 

[emjaiuk]

Not speaking a word of Italian, the first time we were given sweets as change was interesting

 

[L' Hobo]

That brings back memories but i was in the army , so checkpoint charlie west to east berlin , where was aplha /bravo ?? Answer on a postage stamp

My brains a bit like that, keep forgetting things, but if I remember correctly (and can't afford a postage stamp at today's prices)
Alpha, British Sector
Bravo, Yank

 

[The general]

I worked at Alpa, Bravo and Charlie. So to be fair I will not enter the competition.

Military police , rct movement ???

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[The general]

My brains a bit like that, keep forgetting things, but if I remember correctly (and can't afford a postage stamp at today's prices)
Alpha, British Sector
Bravo, Yank

Sorry incorrect , good try

 

[PP Bear]

Drove to southern Spain in my Maxi with a pal towing my ski boat, the rear of the Maxi folded down into a massive double bed which was just as well as my pal was ex Mr Universe and a massive chap. Ended up staying in Lloret del Mar water skiing every day, not allowed say what we did in the evenings

When your mate popped off to use the bathroom, did he say “I’ll be back”

 

[jerryz]

from when I was 5 back in 1963 and my brother was 3, Dad and mum took us all over Europe in our Hillman Minx every summer until I was 11 , it was glorious We always visited our cousins in Austria, carried loads of provisions and a camping stove for road side brew ups ,,,no phones, credit cards , satnavs just a AA handbook ,,,, oh and do you remember when adults were only allowed to take £25 out of UK ,,, it made budgeting difficult on 4 week trips ,,,

 

[Broadway]

1972, in a 1967 MG Midget with a two man tent. 3000 miles in three weeks. A family in Italy donated us a double blow up mattress, it was too big for the tent! MG came back with a DAF starter motor.

 

[The POPs]

There was a downside to the easy life, however. We used to tour around, with the caravan, as you do, usually three weeks in school summer holiday. Just a vague area of what ever country as our goal. Something my brother could never understand, his holiday was always a flat in Dartmouth or a villa in Portugal.
At a time when mobile phones were only just coming to ordinary people, and only if you really needed one, so we didn’t have one. In France for three weeks during which my mother became ill, went into hospital, died and the funeral took place. We returned to loads of messages on the answer phone. No one knew where we were and couldn’t contact us any way. My Dad was ok about it, but I don’t think my brother ever forgave me! We did get a mobile phone!

Living in Portugal Algarve (Originally from Slapton, Devon), How
How many Brits’ come to live in Portugal and bring Britain (England) them! So like London et al changed Slapton and the SouthWest.

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[fat haggis]

Driving to Berlin is boring now. Back in the day, it was like you were on the set of a bond movie

I broke down on that road. I ended up with East German fags a Russian hat and some sausage. Was cracking myself when it happened.

 

[jennywren]

Other than a school ski trip to Italy, my first trip was to France and Spain 1n 1979. I had recently finished school for good and had arranged to meet up with my brother and his wife on holiday near Bordeaux.

Train to Paris, this was, obviously pre-tunnel but even in those days, you could get an all-in deal, whereby the train took you to the ferry, then you took the train again the other side. Did not have enough money to take public transport any further so hitched instead. Problematic getting out of Paris but wonderful memories, a couple of nights camping at Bois de Boulogne in Paris, police came one day, randomly searching tents (I assume for illegal substances!) and making some arrests. On route south, met some interesting people, stealthily sleeping where I could pitch my small tent. I remember a ride from six Belgian students, packed into the ropiest transit van you could imagine, mattresses in the back, rear door held shut with a bit of string, loaded with beer and wine, occupants all merrily drinking away, (including the driver) and all puffing on something that did not resemble something you would buy over the counter. Another time, a young French lassie in her 2cv but first, we had to make a detour to her parents house where she wanted my help to assist getting an old trailer out of a garage. Offered lunch and as much beer as I wanted. Picked up by a very respectful Swiss couple in a very posh car (compared to what I was used to!) and told off for throwing an apple core out of the car window. Then a French student who picked me up near Cognac, said I could stay at his parent’s house for the night, and the next day, drove me all the way to the small village of Capian, quite a detour from Bordeaux, his destination. People can be so kind and generous.

Then spent three weeks with my brother and his wife and a French lad, Jean-Pierre, driving around the Pyrenees in a tiny and basic Renault 4, fully loaded with camping equipment. Random memories include:

The handbrake not working (mechanism broke which held it to the dashboard) so having to repeatedly get out on steep hills to pull away. Driving down the long and steep Pyrenean descents, being passed by cyclists, probably doing at least 50mph (never experienced this before). Incredibly cheap Spanish brandy in Andorra, served in generous measures. Jean-Pierre stashing the said same bottles of brandy in the door panels of his car to pass border checks. Having driven some distance away from an off-road camp spot one morning, suddenly remembering we had forgotten to pack the tent, which had been laid out to dry, then having difficulty to find the exact same spot again. Eating salami and other 'foreign' foods for the first time, cheap red wine, beautiful Spanish villages, crumbling buildings and such friendly people.

Also, so much fantastic scenery and climbing and trekking in the Pyrenees, it always seemed sunny and warm. Then returning to my brother’s wife’s relatives, near Bordeaux, an old Monastery house, situated amongst a working vineyard, idyllic.

It’s really strange because I’ve no recollection of how I got back to the UK. I think, a combination of hitching and public transport. I do remember I had my first job starting shortly after to welcome me to the real world! But, happy memories of a carefree summer.

 

[Grianan]

First time abroad was to France in a Maxi, with parents and brother. I was in secondary school probably about 12/13. So that would be about 1980.
We had no idea. Not a clue.
Turned up in a village about 10pm - everything dark, the only hotel locked up. Slept in the car, on a field track. When I say ‘slept’ that is what we tried to do.
Next day drove to the gite. Dark, slightly damp, smelt of woodsmoke and had mice and bats, of course. Best holiday ever! Beaches, swimming pool, French pals to play with, brilliant pizzas and banana splits. Hypermarches that sold vinyl records (Beatles) and clothes! Picnics with bread cheese and pate. What more could you ask for?

 

[Spara4042]

Sorry incorrect , good try

I was fortunate to travel the "Berlin Corridor" whilst serving & as a Civvy.
Check Point Alpha - Helmstedt/Marienborn, crossing from West Germany to East Germany
Check Point Bravo - used to be at Drewitz but was moved to Nikolassee, crossing from East Germany into West Berlin.

Also had a couple of trips on the BMT, on one occasion getting to share a "Potsdammer Port" with the restaurant staff as we crossed in to West Berlin.

 

[The general]

I travelled by military train to West Berlin

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[Chrisvh]

Military police , rct movement ???

RMP.

The BMT was a surreal experience. Especially when they locked the doors. The food was good as it was not ACC but a French sub-contractor.

 

[The general]

I can’t remember the food 1974 ?? but i remember passing soviet blow up tanks !!! They were trying to con the west ,also the east german guards were only allowed to inspect the locomotive . As you know .