holiday 2001

It’s been a disaster. Some time ago I started arranging this year’s holiday, a trip via the Trans-Mongolian railway from Moscow to Beijing, with a brief stopover in Siberia. I elected to organise everything through a company with over half a century’s experience in arranging travel to Russia, after reading several recommendations on the internet. And today, with less than a month to go before my planned departure date, nothing is organised. They’ve received two booking forms from me, and only one out of 15 calls to the firm has been returned. At one point I even took an afternoon off work to go to the company’s office and try and get things arranged. After waiting in their office for an hour, I was given ten minutes with one of their travel agents, who promised me that everything would be set in stone by the end of that week. That week was the best part of a month ago. On the two occasions that I’ve managed to speak to someone about my situation, they claimed to have no record of me talking to them previously, and asked me to submit another booking form.

I’m fed up, and need a contingency plan.

So where should I go on holiday this year? The choice is yours. The only rules are as follows:

• I don’t want a beach hoilday.
• I’d prefer to travel around rather than stay in one place.
• I don’t drive.
• I retain the right to ignore your suggestions and do my own thing.

That’s it. My vaction depends entirely on you, so I want good suggestions. If I choose to follow up one of the ideas, the “winner” will receive a postcard from the destination and some kind of fantastic souvenier upon my return.

Get writing!