Preparation for trip abroad

Having completed the translation, editing and publishing of a journey (entdeckung) of my father and his cousin in 1927-28, I have now chosen to try and re-trace the trip which they made around the world.

While they had a wonderful nine month continuous journey around the world, I will try to visit the same sites and countries over a series of years, and probably in a more random order. In some cases the politics and nature of the countries have changed (for the worse), and I may not be able to visit them at all. In some cases I have already been to some of the countries or locations in prior travels and may not have a chance to go back to them again.

But this blog which is my own journey of discovery is beginning in April 2008. Bob and I will start in Germany, the country from which my father and my uncle fled. There we will deliver to various city and state archives, copies of the diaries from 1927-28 and we will try and find the locations of the homes and offices to which the boys referred in their letters home.


Today with three days to go before departure, we are in the midst of packing - trying to figure out just what one needs to be" elegant" on the Queen Mary II, "country-club casual" on the Azamara cruise in the Adriatic, and 'citified' enough to look presentable in all the big cities we will be visiting. This is definitely not a trip for shorts and sweats since there is almost no down-time during the next weeks and with many train rides in our future, the luggage has to be light enough to haul on and off the platforms. If only we could travel like Daddy did with porters at every stop along the way who for a nominal fee, whisked the numerous pieces of luggage magically to the appropriate hotel, cabin or train car. Eighty years later, and a lot less graciously, we are still set to begin what promises to be a wonderful adventure.