Travel Fever

By Peter B. Meyer

A somewhat chaotic family is planning a vacation. And it should be an unforgettable vacation. Every family member has strengths and even more weaknesses and sometimes a little bad luck is part of it.But it will definitely be unforgettable!

• Language: English
• Publisher: peterbmeyer
• Release date: Jun 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9783985947393

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Imprint

Title: Travel Fever

Author: Peter B. Meyer

© 2019 by Peter B. Meyer

14476 Potsdam Germany

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Travel preparation

Have you really packed everything?  Rainer didn't always trust his family.  That was probably also due to the fact that his questions were usually simply ignored.  The fact that his father did not answer could be due to the fact that he was hard of hearing and the larynx which was removed a few years ago did not allow him to make understandable guttural statements.

Rainer would have asked for answers from the rest of the family.  But neither his sons Frank nor Bernd whom everyone called Bubbles because of his size which was unusual for his age took their father really seriously.  He had least expected an answer from his wife Lisa.  Lisa didn't answer any questions she asked some.  And she was a master at using it to bring others to Weiglut.  Are you saying we might have forgotten something?  Since this corresponded exactly to the content of his question it seemed worthwhile to answer Lisa's question.  Do you think we're so forgetful?  In his twenty years of marriage Rainer had learned to deal with it in a conflict-conscious manner.  He just ignored Lisa like the rest of the family before his question.  When Lisa spurred on by his ignorance began to answer several annoying questions at the same time Rainer closed the discussion with an ending We have to go now otherwise we will never get out of here! Lisa accepted this because she had only recently come to the pharmacy magazine read that women would be three times more at risk of heart attack if they had quarrels or anger in the family. She did not want to expose herself to this risk because she was not only a strongly ecological but also a very health-conscious woman which was not to her annoyance  was always to be reconciled.

However Rainer's word of power and Lisa's lack of reaction to it did not mean that they could actually drive off right away.  Lisa not only noticed that her daughter Andrea was wearing make-up which required an immediate cleaning of the youthful face under her strict supervision she also found that her sons were not dressed appropriately for the occasion of a big vacation because casual clothes went well with them Vacation but not for the solemn act of departure.  She needed some time to remedy these circumstances.  Time that Rainer had secretly planned because they had never been able to keep appointments of any kind on time because Lisa had a kind of built-in clock that gave her on such occasions that they still had a lot of time because Rainer always wanted to leave much too early  .

And so he sat down in his large wing chair waited for the things that Lisa absolutely had to do took his headphones and tried to relax.  He noticed how well this did him in the current stressful situation and he noticed with a pleasant feeling how he immersed himself deeper and deeper into the calm music…

The vacation was well planned.  Because Canada was one of his dream countries Rainer had fetched a number of catalogs from the travel agency for alibi reasons not only about this country and they had spent many days and above all nights reading and discussing.  Because they did not agree at all about the destination of the trip.

His daughter Andrea really wanted to go to Mallorca because of the many pretty southerners in the hope of getting one of them one day.  And if she wasn't going to get one then at least she wanted to increase her chances with the male sex by replacing her own pale skin color with a well-groomed brownish appearance.

Bubbles didn't want to go on vacation at all but instead preferred to be out and about with his friends.  Frank who had no friends because of his looks and his somewhat awkward manner would have liked to go on vacation to the UK because he said he could see tons of rock stars there which could possibly be of crucial importance for the rest of his life.  Will the fifth be happy if four fight?  Lisa thought to herself.  She had a very clear predilection for Asian gymnastics and food and therefore only India was an option for her.

As it turned out Rainer's plan to limit the size of the catalogs to a few countries especially Canada did not work.  Lisa and Frank had also looked around in the relevant travel agencies and because the travel destinations were very diverse the number of catalogs was also very large and required extensive coordination processes in which one wish after another fell by the wayside.

Lisa quickly realized that India was out of the question given the size of her household budget especially since she was very alone in the desire for a regenerative vacation with lots of yoga and Thai exercises and exclusively vegetarian food.  In financial terms there was a lot to be said for Bubbles but Frank and Rainer really wanted to travel.  The lack of preference of the rest of the family for rock stars of all kinds also made Frank's dreams of a great and above all rich future tended towards zero.  At the destination Mallorca Rainer successfully defended himself because he couldn't stand the heat and ultimately they had to travel in the summer because of his job.  Since neither the dog nor grandfather were asked only Rainer's suggestion remained and the catalogs were noticeably thinned out with the exception of those relating to Canada.

As they soon discovered the holiday they had chosen was just as expensive as a trip for five people to India which stimulated Lisa to discuss her proposal again.  But when the children in particular strictly rejected the food to be expected which Lisa described with flowery words and Rainer also noted that India was also very hot the rejection front against Canada finally collapsed.  Not least because Rainer spoke cleverly and away from Lisa's hearing area about the hamburgers and French fries that are part of the staple food there and thus at least secured the children's consent.  After all such a vacation needs to be well planned thought Rainer and was pleased that what he saw was the unanimous decision on the destination.

The flight and the camper that could be picked up on site were booked relatively quickly although Lisa took care of it.  The negotiations with the travel agent and it had to be him after Lisa had determined that the actual salesman was apparently not competent enough in her eyes because he had not been able to answer her questions definitively lasted several hours.  And almost led to the collapse of the negotiating partner who finally just to finally get rid of this woman and be able to call it a day granted a not insignificant price reduction.  In any case Lisa was very satisfied despite the travel destination she actually did not want.  The same could be said of her husband because he had withdrawn early and sat in a nearby pub with the aim of not going out until Lisa was actually finished.  He knew from previous experience that this would take a long time and that he would probably be quite drunk which gave him a certain serenity.

Three days before the planned departure Lisa started packing the suitcases.  Disregarding any weight restrictions imposed by the airline she emptied all the cabinets at home and prepared everything on the marriage bed and the children's beds so that the suitcases were well sorted and neatly filled.  In the course of the next day these turned out to be not quite as receptive as planned because the jute dresses that Lisa preferred for the trip and otherwise took up a lot of space.  The only solution was to put some of Rainer's clothes back in the closets.  The children too would probably get by with far less than they initially thought.  And after all Grandfather didn't need so much to dress.  So the selection was made quickly and the four suitcases three for Lisa's essential clothes and one for Rainer and the children as well as a small hand luggage for grandfather's spare shirt and trousers were packed a day before departure.  The children were also happy that they could use their beds again.

It starts

Filling the car that was planned to be taken to the airport the next day was not easy because of the number of people and the corpse of some of them.  The car wasn't too big but it was far greater than Jasper's will to join the family.

Rainer considered his dog Jasper a real family member although this was not mutual.  Jasper didn't like anything or anyone except other dogs.  And only if they were much smaller and therefore much weaker.  And he thought of how a dog could defend itself against being deprived of liberty because it was not simply stowed in the back seat as usual but in a small bag which severely impaired its pronounced urge to move.  But after just a few minutes his will was weakened and the protesting bark turned into a meek yowl that no one took notice of.

Andrea also a member of the family and between Frank and Bubbles in terms of age should actually have been a boy.  She was more boyish than Frank and Bubbles put together which was also true of her weight.  Even so the slightest cause was enough to make her cry.  Slightly naive and twice as clumsy she walked through her previous sixteen-year-old life and with regard to her sociability left no doubt that her puberty phase was still in full swing.

The question of the completeness which is essential for departure arose.  Over the years Rainer had developed a system based on the phon numbers created by the chaotic screaming of the family which enabled him to determine the number of family members present at any time even blindfolded.  Rainer secretly always called this the nerve factor which this time did not end when everything was stowed in the car.  He attributed this to the excitement because after all you don't take such vacations too often.  Even Jasper regained strength and courage in the meantime and barked for what it was worth.  However he no longer bothered the others because they could not hear him as the zipper of the bag in which it was stowed had been closed for a long time.

And so the vacation in Canada long awaited by Rainer should finally be tackled.

On the drive to the airport Bubbles asked what to do if Grandfather was suddenly absent.  Rainer Lisa and the others turned around immediately except for Jasper who was not interested at all due to the lack of perspective and saw not really relieved the sleepy grandfather.  Frank who believed that as the eldest child he had the privilege to ask clever questions said Seriously what happens if we lose him? Or do you forget me again?  Andrea yelled in between who based on previous experience had the right to ask this question.  In order to make it clear that asking questions was one of Lisa's competencies she also intervened Don't you always have to fear that someone will be lost on such a vacation in the open and harsh nature?  They looked at each other and within seconds a discussion broke out about whether or not they should look for grandfather if he should actually be lost.

In order to put an end to the useless questioning and to spare his nerves which were already under attack Rainer finally suggested to the family If we really should lose each other somehow which shouldn't actually happen we'll meet on the 13th in the Berliner restaurant  Radio tower.   For this statement he got angry looks from Lisa who considered keeping the household budget as well as keeping her family together as her task but at the same time his decision had ensured a thoughtful calm for everyone.

The rest of the journey went smoothly and a parking space near the train station was quickly found.  They were somewhat concerned about the parking fee which as Andrea quickly calculated was exactly the difference between the cheap Mallorca vacation and the expensive trip to Canada.  The parking lot found brought tears to Lisa's eyes too considering the costs which as she sffisiously remarked came close to buying a new car because the household budget was actually not designed for this.  But with so many people and the luggage that went with them several small taxis would have been necessary to take them to the check-in hall.

Unfortunately there were no inexpensive direct flights to the land of unlimited possibilities so you had the choice of either flying to an airport that would eventually allow flights to Canada or by train which was much cheaper  was.  And so Lisa had made a quick decision in favor of the household budget that no one could avoid.

Of course the trains went to Frankfurt every hour and of course they just missed the first one.  The subsequent one-hour waiting time was bridged with the popular game how to get bored and when the train finally arrived the suitcases were quickly stowed away.  The train only stopped for a short time and they just managed to hoist grandfather in with his wheelchair when it finally started.  The fact that the trains ran every hour was quite practical because Rainer still had the chance to catch the next train on time to get to the plane.  Because just the fact that he wanted to buy a newspaper quickly and thus missed the train could not seriously mean that he could not participate in his own vacation dream!

The train journey ran smoothly and was actually only disturbed by the constant and annoying nagging of the other passengers who were upset that five people a dog apparently stowed in a bag and a wheelchair occupied almost an entire compartment leaving hardly any space for passengers  .  The noise level was also around a decibel figure that would have been equivalent to an air show with jet jets.

Rainer had done a great job with the planning.  The train journey took several hours but he had left enough room to make the way from the train station to the airfield on time because the planned onward flight to Canada was a night flight.  What he didn't take into account in his planning was the long way from the train station to the airfield.  When the first taxi stopped Lisa first asked the taxi driver about the estimated price and then asked the children whether their father had gone completely crazy.  They could turn it around as they wanted one taxi wasn't enough for everyone and two were decidedly too expensive.  They also noticed that Rainer had taken the cash before leaving which made it even more difficult.  Lisa finally asked what was wrong with running to the airport.  Well there was a lot to say about it but above all the length of the way against it but nothing could dissuade Lisa from it.  The taxi driver had already left laughing loudly at Lisa's question and so they started walking.

Without the head of the family the weight of the many suitcases was distributed over just a few shoulders.  Bubbles pushed the grandfather who was happy like a child that he could finally go on a trip again and Frank refused simply because he argued that carrying suitcases would increase the rate of sweating and reduce the chances of getting to know anything feminine.  And after all that's the only thing that matters at his age.

Of course they had arrived much too early despite the tremendous fumarole and it was clearly difficult for them to cover the three hours of waiting.  One of them was characterized by the nervous waiting for the head of the family who finally arrived in a good mood and on time because of the spacious taxi and the nice driver.  They spent two more hours in a long line in front of the flight desk.  Only grandfather had a slightly more comfortable position than the others due to his wheelchair.  Afterwards reading material was quickly bought for the long flight.  For Lisa a special edition of the pharmacist's magazine which dealt specifically with the diet topic and therefore caused the rest of the family to break in silence and Rainer who deliberately touched Lisa's question whether he would make it this time bought himself a riddle without closing it know what he actually wants to do with it.  Bubbles got a magazine for budding top athletes and Frank didn't want to read anything he would later regret.

The problems when boarding the plane resulted from grandfather's handicap with the wheelchair.  Two stewardesses did their best to carry him up the stairs while several male colleagues were already standing up there watching with interest.  It gave the impression that they were either applauding if they arrived safely or more likely they were betting that the stewardesses would make it at all.  They didn't make it.  Not entirely anyway.  Shortly before the upper ramp one of the two lost