Backpacking With Suitcases

By Deborah Miles

After many years of working hard, surviving through major recessions, bringing up children and having to deal with everyday life;  Deborah and her husband Rupert decide to quit their jobs, remove themselves from a world of corporate acronyms, and travel the world.

A hilarious insight into the travels of two people, who just want to enjoy life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stanhope Books
• Release date: Dec 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781909893382

Deborah Miles

Deborah Miles can't imagine not being a writer, even though she seems to have been writing for a very long time. Her first book was My Lady Imposter, published in 1982, and since then she's written five Historical romances for Harlequin. The most recent was The Decadent Countess, in 2003, a Regency romance. Deborah puts her love of romance and making up stories down to her childhood, being the only girl with three brothers, and living for a time on a boat. She and her family sailed up the east coast of Australia, and her mother taught them school by correspondence. She remembers those years as a series of long days in the sun, dreaming up stories and writing them down. At school she spent a lot of her time in the library. Working was more to do with making a living so that she could continue to work at her craft in her spare time. Deborah didn't really believe being a writer could be anything more than a hobby, until she was paid for her first short story, and then suddenly she realised that maybe, one day... Now married with two children, life is fairly hectic, but Deborah still finds time to put fingers to keyboard. She currently writes for Avon, as Sara Bennett, and sometimes as Lilly Sommers for the Australian mainstream market. At the moment there are no more Deborah Miles books planned, but who knows when the muse might strike again!

Book preview

Chapter One

United Kingdom England, Great Britain

Population:  64.1 Million (2013)

Capital City: London

I looked around the garden and thought how lucky we are, the sun is shining and the Christmas L.E.D. lights look great strung up through the trees. I smiled to myself as I check out my new rattan garden furniture which looks so good, it has never ceased to amaze me what people buy on eBay, a few unwanted  things stored in our loft too good to throw away, put on eBay and bam! I have the money to purchase my new garden furniture.   The garden really does look good all that rain we have had over the last few weeks and now with the warmth along with the sunshine all the shrubs have burst into various shades of colour, and the hanging baskets are tumbling down in a ray of colour, I feel so happy it's great to have so many friends here with us today enjoying the last BBQ that we will be throwing for a while.  I looked around the garden at the faces of our friends and wonder how we all got so old, it only seemed the other day we were taking the children to primary school.

The music was playing loud, the caressing sounds of Bob Marley singing No Woman No Cry bounced around the garden, as our friends and family talked of surprise at Rupert and I deciding to leave our jobs, especially as the country is still in a recession and suffering austerity.  A second mortgage is needed to cover utility bills and buy your weekly shopping.

Rupert's laughter echoed across the garden as the sound of Tavares singing Don't Take Away the Music filled the air. Rupert was laughing so hard he looked so happy and relaxed as he chats away to Steve, a friend of more than thirty years, both onto their third pint of beer and putting the world to rights.

Uncle Rupert shouts Jai, chuck some more meat onto the BBQ. 

Rupert looked at Jai and smiled, What did your last slave die of? said Rupert.

Where have all the years gone I thought to myself, I remember as if it was only yesterday the first time Rupert and I met.  I was fifteen and  Rupert was sixteen we were on the number twenty five London bus that travels all the way from Oxford Circus in the West End to Dagenham in Essex, I was  sitting upstairs in the bus with a boy who  for the life of me I cannot remember his name.  Rupert was sat upstairs at the front of the bus,  he kept  turning around and smiling at me,  he then stood up and moved towards the steps to get off the bus,  he paused and walked up to me, and said Hello, my names Rupert,  my sister having a party this Saturday,  do you want to come?

My reply was quick and direct. No! I continued saying I don't know you.

I'll call you, he says, as he runs down the stairs hopping of the bus as the driver starts to pull away, I looked down  at him through the window from the top deck of the bus.   He looked pretty cool in his flared trousers and black Harrington jacket which he wore with the collar turned up, his afro was spikey not neat at all.  Our eyes met as he looked up and smiled, his teeth were so white, forty two years later they are still as white.  The rest is history, we married a few years later. 

We've been together through two, or is it three, major recessions.  I still remember in horror when mortgage interest rates were 17.5%. High interest rates meant many years of frugal times,  the boys were only young and we, like so many other parents just got on with it, no time to suffer from depression,  or anything else come to that.  We worked hard, and did the best we knew how in raising our children, and if we made mistakes on the way, we hoped that by the time our boys have families of their own,  they realise you can only do your best and sometimes even that is not good enough.  The best we could do is teach our children about honesty, kindness, compassion, love and the necessity of working hard. Our two sons survived, finished their formal education at university and are now getting on with their lives.

When we told the boys we are packing up our jobs and going travelling for a year they were both so happy and excited for us I knew then we had done a fairly good job as parents and feel quite blessed.

The boys have moved on with their lives, we have remained on the roundabout of work life as a small cog in a big wheel ready to be tossed aside and replaced by some young graduate who comes with all the paper qualifications but hasn't got a clue about working life and loyalty, but will be happy to accept half our salary. Jobs are hard to come by, and for graduates or any young person to get on the first run of the work ladder or progress in their chosen career, experience is essential, which is nobody’s fault it's just the way it is, in these times of austerity and cutbacks.

It is now our time Rupert says, we don't want to wait till we are too old to enjoy our lives, it’s time to think just of ourselves.  Friday evening after another long week of work and deadlines. We had enjoyed an Indian takeaway and were now opening our second bottle of Moroccan red wine, we spoke of all the places we would like to visit in the world,  by the time the second bottle was finished we had a list.  Rupert likes making list, if you put it on a list he would say that's the first step in ticking it off as done.  The plan was we would resign on Monday giving one month's notice. 

Saturday morning I woke with the worst hangover ever, and feeling about one hundred and ten years of age! My mouth was so dry and my head felt like it was going to explode, I opened my eyes to the smiling face of Rupert he gave me a quick kiss and said We now have our plan.

Rupert, I replied we can't actually resign this Monday, we have to plan.

Deb we have a plan. he replies back quickly, We have only us to think of.

OK let's do it. I said.  We both laughed, if we have no money when we return, we will just have to find work or perhaps this adventure will open up new opportunities for us we never dreamt about. The world is our oyster, which is what is said in times like this, I just hope that this will be the case for us.

Here we are Saturday 20th July throwing ourselves a farewell party, and celebrating today, thirty eight years of marriage. I look around at our friends most of these people we have known for over thirty five years, some since school, where have all the years gone and how did the time pass so quickly? 

Above the pumping sound of James Brown singing a great fun tune Pass the Peas, I hear the concerned words of friends and family

They have gone mad.

They won't be able to get work when they get back.

They have not even planned a route.

What are they thinking of?

I step in laughing and reassuring them, saying our adventure begins with three months driving across Europe, if our marriage can survive three months in a car together, we will move onto the second part of our adventure - the world.

The only plan we have is not having a plan, but we will be tied to a couple of dates; the second August is our last day of employment, the third of August we get Eurostar train to France, the first of November return to UK via Eurostar, the third of November we fly direct to San Francisco to begin second part of our adventure. Everything else we will arrange as we go along.

The sweet mellow sound of Sam Cooke singing Wonderful World echoed around the garden, then my three beautiful nieces arrive Sasha, Aisha and Nilgun, who always look like they have just stepped out of a Vogue magazine.  They all have the loudest and most outgoing, beautiful personality you would ever wish to meet.  They have already had a few drinks and are now encouraging everyone to join in their drinking games. Sasha burst out in a chorus of Michael Jackson's song Billie Jean which gets everyone clapping and cheering.

Let the drinking games begin. shouts Sasha.

The big day has finally arrived.  We have not left yet but it already feels like a world wind, everything has happened so quickly. Rupert starts loading the car ticking of items on the list; two large suitcases, two picnic chairs, electric cool box, first aid box. 

We did not realise that driving in Europe there is a whole list of things that must be carried to avoid fines.  I only came across this list when checking out ideas on the web of places in Europe to visit.  If you're driving in Europe things you need to carry with you are; original registration and insurance documents, reflective jacket/waistcoat, warning triangle, breathalyser, fire extinguisher, GB sticker if not already on number plate and finally headlamp adjustment. It’s funny that over the years when holidaying in Europe not one car we have ever hired had any of these items in the boot, it must be a European foreigner’s law for people travelling across different countries. Finally the car is loaded and we are on the road.

Eurostar here we come. I start to sing, No more deadlines PDR, farewell to all the rules and conference calls, breakfast meetings and late night working,

Rupert laughs as he taps a slow rhythm on the steering wheel he continues.

Oh yeah, oh yeah, goodbye KPI, KYC, OLT, OTP, ERP, COB, SME, and a big farewell to SMART and ROWE, and no more waiting for TGIF.

We both join in a chorus of Oh yeah, oh yeah at the top of our voices.  Perhaps we have gone mad!  At this point I like to say if you don't know what the acronyms mean they are really not important, but for those who must know here they are:- 

KPI  Key Performance Indicators

KYC Know Your Customer

OLT On Line Training

OTP On The Phone

ERP Enterprise Resource Planning

COB Close Of Business

SME Small and Medium Enterprise

SMART Specific, Measurable, Achievable Relevant Time-bound

ROWE Results-Oriented Work Environment

TGIF  Thanks God Its Friday

We leave Essex by driving over the Queen Elizabeth Second Bridge which crosses the River Thames into Kent, at this point feeling pretty lucky, no hold ups on the M25 motorway and straight over the bridge, only having to stop to pay the toll. We continue to follow the signs for Dover, then we see the sign for the M20, before long the sign is directing us to the Eurotunnel.

The excitement rises in the car as this is the first time Rupert and I have been to the Eurotunnel, we pull into the car park and go into the terminal building, not sure what to do or where to go.  We speak a friendly lady at customer service, I tell her that this is the first time we have been here to the Eurotunnel, she smiles, not really interested but tells us there are spaces on a train that is leaving in ten minutes and if we want to board and leave straight away we can.

We got back in our car and followed the lines of cars heading for the train, we stop at a kiosk before driving down to the train for our passport to be checked, then we drove up a low ramp onto the train.  It all felt pretty strange. In the train are members of staff directing the cars to continue moving forward which we did, then we were told to stop, and turn the engine off,  a door in front of our car automatically closed,  about six cars pulled up behind us then a door behind the sixth car also closes.  Within minutes you could feel the rumble beneath your seat of the train moving at great speed.  A female voice comes over the PA system informing us first in English then French that we will be in France in thirty five minutes.  Rupert falls asleep for the whole journey a deep sleep with snoring. 

The train comes to a halt, as we have now completed the journey and are in France.  Rupert wakes, denying that he was sleeping he says he was resting his eyes, and knew exactly what was going on. I thought the whole Eurostar experience was great and wondered why we had not done the journey before now.

Chapter Two

France

Population: 64.64 Million (2013)

Capital City: Paris

We drive off the train and see the signs Welcome to France.

Remember to drive on the right: I say to Rupert, as he drives through the terminal gates and out onto the open road. Rupert drives half a mile down the Avenue de France, then straight onto the French road A16.  I remind Rupert that we have not put the reflectors onto the headlights so we pull over in a lay by.  The reflectors are in the box with the rest of our European travel kit.  With hindsight it would have been a good idea to leave the box on the top of everything else we have in our boot, but we didn't, so we take all the stuff out of the boot and put onto the ground! In fact we had to empty the boot to find the box.

We rummage through the box, we have fire extinguisher, breathalyser, great at last the reflectors!  It would also have been a good idea to read the instruction for the reflectors at home before we left, so we knew which way to put them onto the headlights but again we did not. Depending on which model of car each person has, the reflectors are stuck on to different corners of the car headlights.  The instruction that came with the reflectors, appear to have every car listed accept ours, so we made a joint decision to guess on what part of the headlights to stick the reflectors. Once the decision was made we just stuck them on.

From this point I took over the driving, forty minutes later we were in Dunkirk.  We headed for the Memorial Du Souvenir, which is a small museum. I pulled into the large car park at the museum, and because the sun was still shining, we decided to do the five minute walk to the beach before going into the museum.  My first thought on seeing the beach was wow! It is enormous. We have seen so many films and documentaries showing the beaches of Dunkirk so you know they are large, but seeing them for real is mind blowing. We walked along the beach to find the memorial, it was a very poignant moment to think that, in the short period of nine days 338,226 troops were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk,  and one of them was my Uncle Tom, whom I loved very much.

We strolled back to the museum taking in and absorbing the view, and sharing our thoughts of what it must have been like during the evacuation.  We decided that there are no words to describe what happened.

We couldn't believe it.  The museum had closed early whilst we were on the beach, so we made a promise to ourselves that we will come back one day to visit the museum.

Chapter Three

Belgium

Population: 11.162 Million (2013)

Capital City: Brussels

I continued with the driving and did the one hour journey to Ypres Cemetery in Belgium. The city of Ypres had been destroyed during WW1, but from 1914 the cemetery had been used for the burials of the dead commonwealth troops. As far as cemetery goes Ypres is well kept and manicured. Two thousand six hundred and thirteen commonwealth troops are buried in this cemetery, when you look upon the rows of white crosses and tombstones, all you feel is sadness and regret for the families of the men and women who bravely gave their lives.

When you are a child you naively think that war is created by the old people and by the time you become an old person there will be no war in the world, how wrong can we be?

We continued our journey with me still driving listening to Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas as we headed for Brussels.  The journey was quite slow because of the sheer weight of traffic, so it was about two hours before we entered the city centre of Brussels. We checked on our iPhone for a good place to eat, then headed for C’est Bon C’est  Belge-La Terrasse, a really nice cafe restaurant serving Belgian and European food.  We ordered Belgian beef stew, which we were told by our waitress is similar to French beef bourguignon but instead of being made with red wine it is made with beer.   Rupert also ordered a plate of chips.  The meal was delicious.

We then walked the short distance to the Grand Place which is a really lovely square, the cobblestones of the square is a nightmare to walk on, it was obviously designed by a man. The square has the wow factor, the architecture of the buildings that surround the square are stunning, and the whole area has a real buzz with the many bars and restaurants that are so busy with the hordes of tourists that fill the square.

We stopped at a smart trendy bar in the square and had a drink, soaking up the atmosphere.  We were glad that we had already eaten as the prices in the bars and restaurants in the square are so inflated. We walked back to our car and drove the couple of miles to the Royal Palace which is the official home of the Belgian King.  He was not at home the day we visited.   We knew this as the Belgium flag was not flying on the top of the building, so we both decided we will have to meet him another time.  We both laughed even though it was not really funny.

Time was getting on so we decided not to pay the entrance fee to look around inside the Palace, we just walked around outside and took a few photos.  The Palace is an imposing building and the gardens in the front are pretty impressive, with its formal flower beds and small hedges and neatly groomed lawns.

Rupert said, We had better get back on the road, if we were going to get to Cologne before it got too late.

We did a quick walked back to our car, and before driving, Rupert entered Cologne into the satnav.

Chapter Four

Germany

Population: 80.62 Million(2013)

Capital: Berlin

It was ten o'clock at night when we drove into the centre of Cologne. It seemed like everyone on the road was riding bicycles, former London Mayor Boris Johnson would be happy to see this amount of people riding bikes in our capital.   Hopefully if this happens, bike riders will consider other road users, because a couple of cyclists in Cologne just rode out in front of us without even looking, then had the cheek to shout at us.

Several roads in Cologne were closed due to road works, which meant that the satnav had problems finding our hotel.  We drove around for ages and still we could not locate our hotel.  We were left with no other choice, so we had to resort to the old school method and read a street map of Cologne. We finally reached our hotel, the Cologne Marriott, a nice five star hotel.  If you think at this point we have a bit of money, you would be wrong. We had accumulated points on our Marriott credit card which paid for two nights in the hotel.

We checked in at reception, dropped our bags off in our room, then went to check out the nightlife of Cologne. We did not have to walk far to find a lively club with patrons spilled over onto the street.  The music was the sound of Avicii singing Wake Me Up,  which is a great tune for summer,  and was  pumping out into the warm night air.  People were happy and intoxicated, dancing both on the street and in the club.  We walked past the doorman and into the club.  At this moment I wish that I had changed my clothes and dressed up a bit, as both of us definitely looked a bit rumpled, which was not surprising,  because since leaving home this morning we had been on the road for about fourteen hours. 

The club was packed so we had to push our way past many people to get the bar.  We ordered a couple of drinks then, feeling tired and exhausted, we returned  to our hotel. We had set our alarm for nine o'clock in the morning to make sure we did not miss breakfast, as it was included in the room price. After a very good breakfast we walked from the hotel across to the Cathedral. Our first thoughts was the scale and size of the twin towers is totally unbelievable.  They reached up into the sky and do not appear to stop. The stone carving of the cathedral and its stain glass windows was simply beautiful and as the sunlight hit the windows it was magical. There was a service going on inside the cathedral.  We peeped inside, but was not able to look around, from what I saw the outside of the building is more impressive than the inside.

We see signs for the museum Ludwig which was close by. We did not know what kind of museum it was, but decided to go and have a look anyway.  The outside is very modern and contemporary looking and quite inviting, so we paid our eleven euros admission fee and went in. We spent a few hours in the museum.  The exhibits are well laid out and the collection of pop art takes you on a tour through the development of this art form, which is excellent and informative.  The art pieces are bright and colourful.  We both enjoyed and got pleasure from the modern and contemporary art being displayed and decided it was worth the entrance fee. We both felt tired so we returned to our hotel room to rest, then later we went out into the city where we found a great little restaurant down one of the side streets just of a large square, where we had dinner and shared a bottle of wine. 

After breakfast the following morning, we checked out of the hotel and was back on the road with me driving. About seven hours later, and after stopping for lunch on route, we arrived at Nuremberg.  We drove straight to Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelaende, having been told by friends that it is an excellent museum and a must be place to visit.  So here we are at four o’clock in the afternoon, just in time for the last tour of the day for the museum. The museum document the rise and fall of the Third Reich, with photos, video, memorabilia and documentation.  We were able to view through the exhibits the influence and power that the Nationale Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (NSDAP) had over millions of people during the 1930’s and 1940’s. It was totally inconceivable how they had inspired practically a whole nation. The Nazi war crime trials were held in Nuremberg, so there were lots of information including movie clips of the trials, which was also very interesting, bringing to life the terror and inhumane acts carried out by members of the Nazi party. I would have said that we both knew a lot about WW2, but we learnt a lot more on the tour, it was worth stopping in Nuremberg to visit this museum.

We decided to do a couple of more hours of driving before we called it a day, so we continued travelling south.  The sun had gone down over an hour ago and we both felt tired.  We had reached the town of Egg in Bavaria, and I suggested to Rupert we look for a hotel, as it was now eight o'clock in the evening and we were not only tired we were also hungry. We pulled over and looked for hotels nearby using the satnav.  This is something else we should have done before leaving home, play around with the satnav and find out exactly how it works!  We sat in our parked car on a side street in the town of Egg for about twenty minutes pushing buttons on the satnav.  Finally we had it sussed, and it came up with a list of hotels nearby -  the nearest was sixty feet away, in fact it was in the same street we were parked on.  We drove up outside of the hotel, but we did not like the look of it as it was run down and some of the windows were boarded up.

The next hotel on the list was three miles away, so we set the satnav for Schloss Egg Hotel.  For the next three miles Rupert drove the car up into the mountains where there was no street lighting.  If there had been a place to turn around he would have, it's really difficult driving in the blackness of the night, with no street lighting, and up a mountain not knowing the road, and where the bends and curves are. We must have driven for about twenty minutes before we could see a light in the distance. The final bend and there it was, looming out of the darkness and floodlit.  Castle Schloss.  It looked like something from a fairy story.

We pulled into the large car park, got out of the car and stood for a few minutes looking up at the castle.  

This is too expensive for us. I said to Rupert.

Let's go inside and look around, he replied we don't have to stay.

Rupert pushed open the large heavy wooden door which opened into the reception.  The first thing I noticed were the heavy drapes at the windows, the many exposed timber beams, and against the wall stood a suit of armour.  The receptionist was dressed in Bavarian traditional dress.  She was friendly and welcoming.  We asked about vacancies and told her we will also be wanting a hot cooked meal even though the time was now ten o'clock at night. Her reply was No problem, I will let the chef know.

We decided to stay, without even asking the price, we must have left our brains back in England. We were shown to our room which was on two levels.  The first floor was a huge sitting room.  On the second floor was the bedroom with a four poster bed and an enormous bathroom, the style of furniture was in keeping with the beautiful architecture of the building. Our hotel room was in the building that was originally an old nunnery, the other hotel rooms are built in the old stable block,  and all the hotel rooms are set in the most beautiful gardens with the castle in the backdrop. After leaving our luggage in the hotel room, we went down to the dining room, where a waitress, who was also dressed in a traditional Bavarian outfit,  told us a table had been set for us in the garden next to the water fountain.  Looking around at the stunning gardens and the impressive architecture of the buildings, including the castle that framed the gardens, was truly magical, and to top it off the food was superb. We had finished a bottle of fine red wine and decided to really push the boat out so we ordered a couple of glasses of cognac. The air was still warm and at this moment in time life felt pretty wonderful.

We were then joined by who we later found out was the owner of the castle.  He approached our table asking if we had enjoyed our meal, after complementing the chief and all the staff on the excellent service already received, he introduced himself as the owner of Castle Schloss and then asked Rupert his nationality.  Rupert explained he was British but born in Jamaica, and he told us that he was Congolese.  We asked if he was born in the Congo he replied No, and explained because he is the Ambassador of the Congo, he is allowed to say he is Congolese. Our response was we learn something new every day. He sat with us for a short while asking us about our adventure, then said goodnight as he was going to retire for the evening.  

When he left I said to Rupert We should have bought him a drink.

Rupert replied I'm not buying him a drink, he owns all this, he should have bought us a drink, when he sat at our table.

A light went on in one of the rooms in the castle, Rupert said That's the Ambassador getting ready for bed.  We both laughed. When the waitress brought  the bill to us to sign, she told us the Ambassador had paid for our bottle of wine, so we ordered a couple of more cognac's so we could raise a toast to the Ambassador.

Before leaving the hotel the next morning we decided to have a walk around the castle. We walked across the gardens, which looked even better in the light of day, then over a small bridge and through the castle gates.  We could go no further as the sign on the entrance to the castle said closed. A bit disappointing but we made a mental note to one day return to Castle Schloss of Egg. 

We decided to return to the town of Egg for a quick look round, as the previous night it was too dark to really appreciate what it is like, and it was a really pleasant surprise. Egg is an ancient medieval beautiful town. It is surrounded by city walls and has a monastery which is situated in the centre of the city. Egg is a Bavarian hidden pearl, we had not planned to come to this city, we had just come across it by accident, but one day we will definitely return. 

Before getting back on the motorway we stop for fuel.  Rupert fills up then gets a few snacks from the shop.  I take my turn to do some driving, we try and swop every couple of hours, or when each of us feels a bit tired.

Chapter Five

Austria

Population:  8.474 Million (2013)

Capital City: Vienna

We continued our journey driving south, by lunch time we had crossed the border into Austria and had arrived in Graz,  Austria's second largest city, which is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The town is not that big, so we parked up and explored the narrow medieval streets of the old town with its many bars and restaurants and interesting art galleries and museums.  The whole town is perfectly preserved from a time gone by. Graz has several universities in the town, so there are many young people about which helps give it a laid back, funky vibe. 

We found a nice little cafe to get some lunch and after spending a couple of hours exploring Graz we were back on the road.

We counted the number of road tunnels we drove through across the mountains before reaching Slovenia, and it was about twelve. We were pretty impressed the way in which the Austrian had cut the tunnels out through the mountains, making it safe and easy for tourists like us.

Chapter Six

Slovenia

Population:  2.06 Million (2013)

Capital City: Ljubljana

We arrived at the border crossing two hours later.  I pulled over so that the border crossing guards can checked our passports, they asked where we are heading for, I answered Zagreb. 

The guard says, Zagreb is in Croatia. 

I reply "I