verb

1. drink alcohol, especially habitually. “those who liked to tipple and gamble” synonyms: drink alcohol, drink, have a drink 

noun INFORMAL

1.  an alcoholic drink. synonyms: alcoholic drink, strong drink, drink, liquor, intoxicant

It would be reductive to assume that this work will only include tales of drunkenness.  There will be drunkenness, oh yes, there will be drunkenness, but there will be much, much, more…

To be a successful Tippler requires adherence to a few important guidelines:

1. You must be a happy drunk (someone will make you quit otherwise).
2. You must take in more water than booze (I don’t care how often you have to pee).
3. You must get fresh air and exercise (this will allow you to move lymph, oxygenate the blood and effectively extend the life of your self, ergo the life of your drinking).
4. You must be open minded (this will make you more generally pleasant, but it will also keep you from clinging to pretentious ideas about your tastes and allow you to actually develop some).
5. You must read books (when one drinks, talking generally follows.  You’ll become a  bore, if you don’t have new ideas in your head.)
6. You must be flexible (or else you’ll put your back out, or worse, preclude yourself from having fun because your rigidity leaves you lodged in the mud).
7. You must be both self aware and thoughtful of others (otherwise you’ll lack companions worth having and be more of a drunk than a drinking enthusiast).
8. You must take time to savour what you imbibe (this naturally both slows your intake and increases your pleasure).
9. You must always think for yourself (that means throwing out this list if you consider it rubbish).

Slainte! Salud! Cheers!

The idea for this guide came to me many years ago and has been germinating in my mind ever since.  It started out as a common travel book concept and has since evolved into something else.  More of a philosophical approach to living as it applies to the physical act of travel.  And the journey of life in general.  And, of course, drinking. I like to define travel in a broad sense. It might be a journey in your mind, down your street, or into the unexplored terrain of your tastebuds. It might also mean a mini break, a pilgrimage, or a trip abroad. Let’s focus on that last…

I have come to find that it isn’t really the specific places that you visit that determine the quality of your trip.  The more important thing is the attitude you approach it with. 

 

In concert with the adventurous attitude is the all important adage, “know thyself.”  The kind of person you are will, to a large degree, determine the kind of traveling you will enjoy.  

If you find the unknown exciting, flying by the seat of your pants without schedules, reservations, itineraries etc. should work for you.  However, if the unknown makes your sudoriferous glands jump into hyper drive and has you reaching for the Xanax, some planning is a wise investment in your future self.  

Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle.  I like spontaneity.  A lot.  However, I don’t like looking around for a place to stay, late at night, in the rain, sleep deprived, cold, hungry, travel weary and pre-menstrual.  It’s a recipe for a fight with your companion(s) and/or strangers, plus a surefire way to recall your experience as a sort of Boschian nightmare. No bueno.

For me there’s a golden ratio in travel planning wherein the comforts I appreciate are balanced with the challenges that keep mind and body lively and on their toes.  This means having places to stay figured out, knowing the names of several good restaurants and bars (or at least areas where these tend to cluster), having multiple points of interest to choose amongst and giving myself adequate time to absorb each place that I visit.  I abhor the notion of traveling solely for the purpose of accumulating photos of myself in front of monuments.  

In that case, I’d be little different from the gnome in Amelie, superimposed over the pictures of iconic places across the globe.  Jumping on and off of tour buses is not the same as truly Being somewhere.

So, how much time in a place is enough? Well, there’s no hard and fast rule here, but I think three days is the minimum.  This gives you time to thoroughly cover the city centre and possibly take day trips, depending on the size of the place.  However, for this to work optimally, you need to walk.  A lot.  For one, you will be drinking.  For two, this slows you down enough to allow you to see, smell, hear and otherwise soak in, the atmosphere.  

Humans can only take in a limited number of stimuli at a time.  There’s variance amongst people’s capacities, but no matter what, the more new variables thrown a person’s way at once, the more gets filtered out, ignored, or saved for later processing.  IF, you want to absorb the maximum, take small bites and chew well.

Phase One: Getting Started

Your trip begins before you leave your house.  It starts as an idea, a dream even.  It might appear as a magical place, shrouded in fog, at the top of a mountain with waterfalls cascading down, views of fertile valleys down below and tree lined, cobbled paths wending around flower laden bends and over wooden suspension bridges which disappear into the mist.  

This place in your mind’s eye might be an amalgam of pictures you’ve seen, movies you’ve watched, or a patchwork of ideas garnered from books.  It doesn’t matter because there is likely a corresponding destination that conjures these images for you.  

That is the place to start, the locations that are your personal conjurers, that get your imagination’s juices flowing.  That special “somewhere” you’ve always wanted to go.

Once you’ve chosen your sweet spot, the fun begins.  You start to weave the tapestry of your ideas into something tangible for you to experience.  You ask yourself, “What do I want from this trip?”  

 

 

Or, is it more alcohol specific, i.e. exploring the Jerez region of Spain quaffing sherry, the Highlands of Scotland imbibing malts, the state of Jalisco Mexico tasting tequila, the hills of Tuscany enjoying flights of Sangiovese, alighting on the isle of Martinique and sampling agricole rhum, touring Porto indulging in decadent ports, or perhaps traversing the regions of Cognac and Armagnac sipping brandy?  

Whatever you choose, it should be something that makes your heart rate quicken with enthusiasm and has you mentally packing your bags the moment the idea crystallises.  If, you happened to perk to the alcohol driven adventures, that will also include that cultural and physical beauty business, this is the guide for you.  If not, ahem, you’re a bore; I mean…a healthy and mature individual, and this section may not be for you. Check out the philosophy pages, rambles and/or recipes (I’ll be including plenty of 0% ABV drinks, syrups and prescriptions for life that are plenty intoxicating sans booze).  For you burgeoning Tipplers though, continue to phase two.

Phase Two: Research

First of all, this isn’t work, so forget that idea immediately.  Diving into the nuances of uncharted territory is great fun.  It’s an opportunity to learn the history of a place that isn’t stale and confined to the pages of a dry, fact riddled, time-lined, book that makes you snore just looking at it. 

Let your imagination run wild and follow it to the ends of the earth.  Once you’re done uninhibitedly daydreaming, bring your mind back to centre and determine the length of your quest.  Is it ten days? Go no more than three places, two is even better.  The main regret I have experienced in travel is not staying longer.  I can foresee a time when less than a month in a location would feel like I was being cheated.  

However, I digress, the length of your caper will dictate how many places you visit and, as I’ve belaboured, the fewer the better.  I promise that the time you spend getting better acquainted with the places you visit will deepen your experience and transform it from a blurred moment in time, to a lasting, meaningful memory.

Once you have narrowed down where you are going, it’s time to look for lodging.  If money is no object and creature comforts are your forte, go ahead and book that four star city centre hotel.  If, on the other hand, you want to live like a local (kind of) book an apartment.  

There are many great options to find places to suit most any budget, but my go to sites are airbnb.com and vrbo.com.  Of course there are others, but those two are tried and true.  Between them I always have a dizzying array of options to filter through. Whatever your tastes, there is someone out there catering to you. 

Personally, I always go for something very regional, classic and simple.  It has to be situated in under a mile from the city centre and, consequently within walking distance of many historic sites. It has to be clean, uncluttered and yet welcoming.  I like the warmth of natural elements so I look for places with a lot of wood and stone.  

Another feature, that tends to be on the forefront of my mind, is a stove, preferably gas.  Nothing beats being able to make your own coffee in the morning and having the option to cook a meal if you’d like.  Being a tippler often means that morning hours are better if they’re not interrupted by the necessity of leaving home for sustenance. 

Remember, if you are going more than one place, try and appease varying sides of your nature by spreading the wealth.  For example, one place might be ideally located, another have a stellar view, a third a beautiful kitchen.  Sometimes it’s possible to find a place that has it all, but often you make concessions, be they budgetary or otherwise. 

I personally like to offset the greater cost of big cities with visits to smaller villages where I can stay more cheaply. In this way, I not only see a broader spectrum of the how people live and the beauty of the countryside, I can also more feasibly spend a bit more money on my metropolitan stays.

Give yourself as much time as possible for this planning phase.  If you have weeks or months before your departure, you will have many more options.  It’s very nice if you don’t have to make flash decisions.  I typically favourite a number of places for each destination and allow myself to marinate on the idea of them.  Usually there will be some salient feature that makes a particular place feel right and distinguish itself from the pack. 

The key with all of this is to make sure you keep it fun.  If it has become tedious, or stressful, step away for a while and when you come back to it, your perspective will be fresh. 

It is important to keep in mind that this is all about enjoyment.  The determination of the logistical factors can easily be transformed into unpleasant work if you’re not careful.  

The main way to cause this to happen is to be rushed, thus limiting options and forcing decisions.  However, the opposing problem of a lot of time and multitudinous options can lead to becoming overwhelmed by decision fatigue. For the former issue, just take into account how you operate best, learn from the experience and give yourself more time on your next go round.  For the latter (laughably first world problem), remind yourself that there are no wrong choices.  If something isn’t quite what you’d hoped for, no big deal, better luck next time.  

This is the crux of guideline number six, flexibility. 

Oh wait, back up! I forget that you actually have to determine transportation for your trip.  I used to spend hours, over the course of days or weeks, pouring over myriad websites and scouring for the best airline tickets.  I had different favourite sites, but eventually kayak.com became my go to.  They showed tons of airlines and gave links to many other sites.  More recently a standout has become justfly.com.  They routinely have great prices.  Also, conveniently, they along with most other sites, have begun setting up trip notifications so you can put in your flight details and wait for the best price to come up. Regardless of which site you use, it can be useful to double check with the airline itself, once you’ve found a ticket that looks good. Sometimes you’ll get the best deal straight from them. 

This is where more time is your buddy.  I’ve had many instances where pre-planning and regular updates have saved me hundreds of dollars.  I like this.  It gives me more leeway to spend as I want during my trip and doesn’t suck me dry beforehand.

Phase Three: Nail It Down

You’ve done all the leg work, have your destinations determined, the places you’ll stay sorted and are ready to book your trip.  Do it!  If, like me, you  can’t help but worry that something will come up that derails your best laid plans, buy trip insurance for your airline tickets.  Read the fine print, but generally this means that if you have to change plans last minute, you’ll be reimbursed for your tickets.  I haven’t actually had to use it, as of yet (knock on wood!), but it has enabled me to make the leap and purchase tickets when the price is right without fretting about what may come.

For the accommodations, if there isn’t the option to book immediately, send out inquiries to people on Airbnb about availability.  For some reason, this gets a better response rate and likelihood of acceptance than using the “request to book” route.  If you’re using VRBO, there are plenty of book-it-now options, which is perfect if there are time constraints, but otherwise just follow the normal channels.

Regardless of your preferred modality, getting your lodgings locked down is a great liberator. 

At this point you can do yourself a favour and book your train/bus/car rental for travel between locales on your trip.  This isn’t absolutely necessary, but it has saved me loads of time and money.  I like to already have my tickets printed before I leave home.  It’s freeing to simply find your departure gate and not have to navigate queues and computerised kiosks in foreign places.  I’ve done so plenty of times, it’s just not my preference.

Another important preparation is purchasing tickets for major attractions.  Many monuments, museums, parks etc. have limited numbers of tickets available on a given day.  I’ve neglected to consider this at times and wound up missing out.  At worst, doing this saves you time standing in line.  At best it enables you to see something that would have been impossible to, without pre-purchase.

Phase Four: Pack Light

This could easily be a mantra for life in general, but it certainly applies to travel. Being heavy laden with baggage is not glamorous.  Time was when I took the biggest roller luggage I could find, filled it to bursting and hated myself every time I had a travel day.  Nowadays, being older and wiser, I’m all about simplifying, paring it down and moving about freely without the constraint of extra weight.

I can’t over emphasise the level of ease involved in not putting luggage under the plane, knowing that my bags will fit in the overhead compartments of trains and planes and not breaking my back hauling around more than I actually need.  I know, I know, this is some grown up shit, but it pays really high dividends and is beyond worth it.  Let my experience relieve you of stress and pat yourself on your grateful back, for your maturity and intelligence. 

An integral part of light packing is proper footwear.  You shouldn’t need more than two pairs of shoes, three if you’re a diva.  I sometimes bring three.  I want something waterproof, something for long, possibly off road walks and something cute to wear in the city that will work with a dress, leggings or pants.  I wear the heaviest pair of shoes on travel days and the others are more readily packable.  The only other heavy item is a versatile jacket, which also gets worn or carried when I’m on the move.

The only things not worth skimping on in packing for a trip are underwear and socks.  Most everything else can be kept to a minimum.  The key is to bring only items that make you feel effortlessly put together and comfortable.  Anything that only feels right on your best day is not a good idea.  Traveling puts you in uncomfortable situations, your clothing shouldn’t exacerbate that.

Out Of Phase

Now that the logistics are out of the way, let’s acknowledge that most of them are probably already outdated.  It’s the world we live in.  People are obsessed with the idea that new is better and so continuously jump ship to whatever is currently en vogue; be it a site, restaurant, company etc…Whatever.

I say, who cares.  Everything aforementioned still applies.  It’s more about mentality and approach than specifics.  Most people have a computer in their hands at all times, so it’s not necessary for me to be holding them.

So, without further ado, let’s get into to some of the real shit, the feet on the ground experience of tippling around the world.