Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.
This month’s winner is PAULA FUCHSBERG of Philadelphia, PA:
For independent travelers who drive, Japan and Russia would seem to offer some obstacles, but I would dismiss these, as there are great benefits to driving in both countries. The independence factor is what applied in our experience.
Our family of 20 was planning a June ’11 visit to Ireland, where we would rent six vehicles. Our son mentioned that Visa would not provide insurance coverage on his rental, though it normally does when he uses that credit card to rent a car. Our daughter’s American Express card wouldn’t include insurance coverage, either.
Open Africa (Cape Town, South Africa; phone +27 21 683 9639, fax 683 8013), a nonprofit organization, has helped set up 60 “off-the-beaten-track, self-drive travel routes” in six countries. The majority are in South Africa, with others in Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Routes can be driven without a 4-wheel-drive vehicle in most areas. Examples — “Kalahari Oasis Route” in South Africa and the “Caprivi Wetland Paradise Route” in Namibia.
Harley-Davidson has established rental locations throughout the world, including in many port cities. All rentals are late-model motorcycles, maintained to strict company standards.
A range of vehicles with handicapped-accessible features now can be rented in the United Kingdom from Auto Europe. Among the options — a single lever to take the place of floor pedals; thumb controls on the steering wheel for turn indicators, wipers and horn, and floor pedals for people who have use of only the left leg.
My husband, Tom, and I are in our eighties and, while it’s true that people drive fast in Italy, we had no problems driving there in September 2010. My husband is 86 and did most of the driving in Italy, though I did some.
In 2005 we spent three weeks in New Zealand, and we can’t understand why we’ve read no complaints about driving there. As in the US, there are broken painted lines to indicate that one can pass, but in New Zealand these lines are on curves and over crests of hills. On both the North and South Islands we had some near misses. Never again!
My husband, R.C., and I celebrated our 40th anniversary in the fall of 2009 with a trip to Slovenia, Croatia (May ’11, pg. 12) and then to Italy for Sicily.
Rick Steves states that he has never been asked for an International Driving Permit (Jan. ’11, pg. 67). My wife, Judy, and I have traveled to Europe a modest 10 times and never had one before our trip in September ’10, but I was so glad I had it that time.
