Can anyone help me, help my Dad ?

debs66_2

hi again Murphy - - just another thought.

i went away from reading this thread feeling how brave your dad was to tackle a trip so far away on his own, to follow a lifelong dream. i was so impressed by his story. if he was my dad, i would be telling him how proud i am of him for having the will, the tenacity, and the passion to do this. there's nothing better than praise to boost someone's confidence. i wish him well.

spender

To Murphys Dad,

At the end of your holiday you will be itching to book another. We did the Canadian Rockies with Jetsave on a coach tour. Dubious to begin with but what a laugh what great fun. Met some real characters on the coach and it was filled with wonderful sights and laughter.

The guide treated as all like youngsters and fully explained everything, including what time to get up and where you put your cases (outside your room). No one would get left behind or anything.

We were mere youngsters on the coach and made great friends with a woman in her 70's and had dinner etc together.

We enjoyed the experience so much of being on an organised tour we are going to the West Coast of America next April/May.

Pack simply, eat simply and thoroughly enjoy yourself.

jfdi

Just had a thought about this BRILLIANT trip your Dad's doing - tell him not to expect too much - physically - for a lot of it. He'll be up v high (6000ft+)for a lot of it & may get breathless / woozy & have nosebleeds etc! This is quite normal, but can be scarey if you're not used to it.

I had a real horrible one after I'd decended to California sea level from the Grand Canyon, & my son is suffering on his year out in the Rockies as I type! He's been told it can take 6-8 weeks to adjust, so your Dad'll be home before then.

Wish him a wonderful trip!

A
xx

Murphy_The_Cat

Alikay wrote: »

It's always pot-luck what your travelling companions are going to be like on these sort of holidays, but often, what brings out the worst in people is frustration at poorly-planned itineraries, guides who aren't too knowledgeable and low quality hotels and transport - and none of these should be an issue with Titan. When I was a travel agent they were always my first choice for customers like your dad - there are cheaper options, but Titan have been doing it for a long time and doing it very well IMO. Thats really reassuring, & I'll pass it on to my Dad

Just make sure that if he needs a bit of time alone, he knows it's not compulsory to socialise and it's OK to retreat to his room for an evening with a book and the TV. The only complaints I've heard is that the constant company sometimes gets exhausting...but that mainly tends to come from people who live alone. Thanks for that :beer:. With it being a 'first' for my Dad, I could imagine him becoming very busy, because he wouldn't want to upset someone that he was travelling with.

I'm sure he'll have a fantastic time, and hopefully your mum might want to join him for his next trip! It would be brilliant if she did - However, she's got a real Monk on about the whole thing at the momemnt. Its as though she wants it to go badly for him, so that she can say "told you so". Bit sad when people are like that !

Murphy_The_Cat

debs66 wrote: »

hi again Murphy - - just another thought.

i went away from reading this thread feeling how brave your dad was to tackle a trip so far away on his own, to follow a lifelong dream. i was so impressed by his story. if he was my dad, i would be telling him how proud i am of him for having the will, the tenacity, and the passion to do this. there's nothing better than praise to boost someone's confidence. i wish him well.

Thats a wonderful idea. At the time that he was asking me to go through brochures with him and also when booking the holiday, I told him how pleased for him and proud of him I was - but it certainly wouldn't do any harm to tell him again, would it ?

Murphy_The_Cat

spender wrote: »

To Murphys Dad,

At the end of your holiday you will be itching to book another. We did the Canadian Rockies with Jetsave on a coach tour. Dubious to begin with but what a laugh what great fun. Met some real characters on the coach and it was filled with wonderful sights and laughter. That sounds great. I think that meeting new people & swapping stories ig going to be a big part of the holiday for him.

The guide treated as all like youngsters and fully explained everything, including what time to get up and where you put your cases (outside your room). No one would get left behind or anything. I'm guessing that the average age of his party is going to be 'older' rather than 'younger', but he's a bit to 'old' for drinking games :rotfl:(although he fancies the idea of drinks parties in the outdoor jacuzzis late at night :beer::beer:

We were mere youngsters on the coach and made great friends with a woman in her 70's and had dinner etc together. Lovely. Whilst my Dad is happy with his own company, other people makes things so much better.

We enjoyed the experience so much of being on an organised tour we are going to the West Coast of America next April/May. I'm only guessing here, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if he plans another trip as soon as he gets back. & I'll take a WAG that it will be California OR, New England

Pack simply, eat simply and thoroughly enjoy yourself.
I'll remind him of that. BTW, sandals and socks don't mix, do they

Murphy_The_Cat

jfdi wrote: »

Just had a thought about this BRILLIANT trip your Dad's doing - tell him not to expect too much - physically - for a lot of it. He'll be up v high (6000ft+)for a lot of it & may get breathless / woozy & have nosebleeds etc! This is quite normal, but can be scarey if you're not used to it.


xx

You know what, I/we hadn't even thought of that. I'll quietly mention it to him. I've also reminded him that drinking booze on the plane can have a stronger effect than when on the ground, so he thinks that he'll play safe and only have a couple of beers.

Murphy_The_Cat

Dear,
SugarSpun, debs66, Tojo Ralph, mumofjusttwo, pennylane99, duchy, eileenfromplaistow, Alikay, spender, jfid.

I mentioned to my Dad that I'd made this post on MSE and that you had all contributed ideas and thoughts to make his holiday even more 'special'. He quite quite emotional that complete starngers would go out of their way to help a person that they had never met (nor would ever meet) and take the time to post on here, for him.

It fair made his day.

Murphy_The_Cat

Dear,
SugarSpun, debs66, Tojo Ralph, mumofjusttwo, pennylane99, duchy, eileenfromplaistow, Alikay, spender, jfid.

I mentioned to my Dad that I'd made this post on MSE and that you had all contributed ideas and thoughts to make his holiday even more 'special'. He quite quite emotional that complete starngers would go out of their way to help a person that they had never met (nor would ever meet) and take the time to post on here, for him.

It fair made his day.

Kez100

Might some of the anxiety be due to him leaving yur Mum. Over the years married couples tend to have their own daily rituals and it's easy to feel guilty if the status quo changes. Might he be feeling a bit guilty as the man leaving your Mum who is obviously anti-travel of this sort.

I'm not saying anyone is putting any pressure on him to feel this way - it's just a psycological reaction.

I have to fight the feeling every time I leave my family for a once a year weekend work contract I do. Despite doing it for the family, I still feel guilty for changing their routine (even though I've been doing it every year for 8 years now and they are always OK!)