Nice Guardian article. #Oslo is pretty quiet with regards to car traffic on Sundays anyway but perhaps we should take it all the way!
‘The tranquility frees you’: Bogotá, the city that shuts out cars every week
Nice Guardian article. #Oslo is pretty quiet with regards to car traffic on Sundays anyway but perhaps we should take it all the way!
‘The tranquility frees you’: Bogotá, the city that shuts out cars every week
So many train tickets. So, so many train tickets. 🚆
I am booking our family holidays. Norway to the UK and a bunch of travelling around the UK.
This is the third such holiday where the vast majority of travel has been on trains.
@42 I am not an expert but we are on to our third time doing this recently and actually, already there are so many little things I could probably say. I almost feel like I should write a blog post. Though no doubt others already have and done it better. I will rattle off a few things off the top of my head in no particular order
Firstly, you most likely know about it but
• Checkout https://www.seat61.com/ as it is awesome!
• Don't panic, delays/problems can usually be worked around (e.g. high speed rail operators often have agreements in place for delays).
• Keep journeys just a few hours (unless night train) to avoid boredom (this depends on you and your kids of course)
• Longer changes can be good allow you to refresh and maybe even see something of a town/city (even if only next to the station) and they are less stressful if there are delays or problems you need to fix
• Sometimes fewer changes are better even if technically longer (less points of failure due to delays and less stress moving between trains)
• Book seat reservations even if you are not required to, if you want to ensure you sit together (though they do lock you more to a given route)
• When planning a route (that I intend to stick to) I always book the train first and then hotels (the other way around and you risk discovering a train is full or expensive and cannot be booked)
• If your kids like that sort of a thing, occasional card games can be fun and cards are small to carry
• Good backpacks are normally easier for this kind of travel, since getting on and off and dealing with stairs and the like can be a hassle with a suitcase
• Pack light. If you can go "really minimal" the "Micro-scooter Luggage" and similar are awesome and I would override my previous backpack suggestion for them. My youngest has used a young kids equivalent
• Paying a little extra for flexibility might be worth it
• Make sure you have travel insurance or failing that, at least book with a credit card that has some level of insurance/protection built in
• If not using actual "Interrail" passes, try and book from fewer operators, e.g. I have used Deutsch Bahn for tickets from Denmark all the way to Belgium. Contacting a single company is easier in the event of problems
• Install the app of the local public transit operator you are travelling with, even if you do have interrail because the official app for that operator is more likely to have accurate information
• If you are not using actual Interrail I would still install the Interrail app anyway. It is rough around the edges but works as a nice route planner to give you and overview.
• If buying individual tickets, read up on discount schemes, e.g. in the UK a "Friends and Family Railcard" costs only £30 but you get third off most adult rail fares and 60% off kids for a year. You can often make your £30 back in a single trip!
@42 Probably so many more but this is what you get for now.
By the way, I sort of talk a lot about problem mitigation but actually I have only had very minor issues and could always work them out. So yeah, do not read too much into that! 😉
• Services like https://stasher.com are pretty good if you need to leave your bags somewhere for a while while you look around a city that you do not have accomodation in (or even if you do have accomodation and need to leave them early)
I hate commuting in. It is so awful cruising along in the warm sun eating an ice cream as I coast through Oslo looking at the sites.
Poor me.
I sometimes look at cars stuck in traffic as I ride fast them, free as a bird and think about how they were tricked with adverts in strangely empty cities, showing the freedom they would get with their new box of metal.
They choose poorly, unicycle commutes are the true freedom. 😉
Not an everyday sight for most people. And yes I'm posting while I cycle.
More pictures from the trip. I've stopped for some waffles by the water now
We are well over half way now.
My crew for the day
Just cycled past a familiar face! This is me pretending to say Hi to @thomasp 👋
(even though I took this a couple of minutes after I left him)
Many hours later and I am almost home
Back at the top of GK again.
International Penny Farthing Racer. I commute via :unicycle:, 🛴, "halfbike" or :penny_farthing: because they are great fun! I also like minimalist tech: non-smartphones, unusual + old school digital watches, Slackware, Gemini/Gopher.I feel very strongly that if you use a "free service" and enjoy it you should donate to its up keep.He/him/his [cis ally 🏳️🌈]P.S. I work for @Vivaldi#cycling #unicycle #unicyclist #PennyFarthing #Halfbike #fedi22 #VivaldiBrowser searchable
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