An excerpt from my new book, A Survival Guide for Adults Who Travel Together. Watch for it in June!


Rule #63 - On the road you might not get the number of zzz’s you get at home, especially on a plane, train, or bus. If you throw a fit because your favorite restaurant isn’t open when you show up, it’s probably time to crash. When your personality returns to normal, your companion might actually continue the trip with you.

     We took a five-plus-hour flight overnight from Boston to Dublin. By the time we got our drinks and dinner on board, read a few pages of a novel, and closed our eyes, we were landing at 7:00 a.m.—which was 2:00 a.m. in Boston. The early arrival gave us all day to explore, except we couldn’t see straight and felt light-headed. Our hotel room wasn’t ready, so we grabbed breakfast and sat in oversized wingback chairs in the lobby. By the fire.Yes, in Dublin in June they needed a fire. When my eyes rolled back in my head against the wing of the “wingback” and my mouth hung open with drool slithering down my chin, Charley returned to the front desk to beg for our room. By noon we were in.

Lobby of The Merrion Hotel, Dublin, where we fell sound asleep with mouths wide open

     We didn’t bother to

unpack. Instead, I peeled down my slacks, tore off my jacket, and crawled on all fours across the bed covers like an animal. Charley wasn’t far behind. We didn’t move a muscle for four hours, till we got hungry again. So much for our first day in Dublin. After a spectacular dinner of fresh fish, we managed to wind our way back to our lair.

     The following morning brought sunshine and temperatures into the seventies. We dug through our suitcases to find tees, shorts, and tights. Ashes still smoldered in the lobby fireplace. After some Guinness with lunch and a full day of sightseeing, we headed back for . . . what else? A nap.