It wasn’t really a summer vacation this year either, because we love the benefits of the off-season. But there were short trips to Italy and educational days at the Baltic Sea.

The land where lemons blossom is one of our favorite destinations. On the Baltic Sea, we tried a rigorous sailing school to learn something new: sailing.

How important is enjoyment when traveling?

It is at the top of GloriousMe’s list of priorities. We are happy to travel far for an interesting restaurant. But only Michelin-starred food would be boring. For the rest of the trip, we prefer to stop off where simple, well-cooked local dishes are on the menu. Regionality also applies to drinks: French wine in Slovenia is a no-go.

Spontaneous or planned in detail?

Usually planned in detail in advance. In popular places, entry to a museum or other attraction often has to be planned weeks, sometimes even months in advance if you don’t want to make do with the last available time slot at 8.00 a.m., so that a leisurely vacation breakfast with Egg Florentine is no longer an option.

The same applies to interesting exhibitions, theaters and opera houses. Interesting events sell out quickly.

What about the issue of overtourism?

We also realized that we were not alone with our cameras when the sun rose over the Angkor Wat temple, but that many hundreds of tourists had arrived to the left and right of us in the darkness of the morning.

Yes, and we also took the photos that have been taken millions of times before and will lead to even more people visiting this impressive place.

A good guide is almost the only way to avoid disappointment at such world-famous sights.

Even such a busy temple has quiet places where you can take in the details of the temple building and soak up the atmosphere when a knowledgeable guide takes you out of the main tourist arteries.

Can overtourism be avoided?

The off-season is a good approach. Every year, 50 – 70 million households in China and India meet the material requirements to be counted among the so-called middle class. The desire to visit the most beautiful places in the world, including the “Museum Europe”, is all too understandable.

But even in Venice in high season, you can find quiet alleyways if you stay off the main routes.

Which countries does GloriousMe prefer to travel to?

Japan: nature, respect, aesthetics, politeness, perfection

Italy: joie de vivre, history, pleasure, opera houses

France: landscapes, pleasure, Atlantic, grandeur

Scotland: nature, coast, pubs, whisky, Edinburgh

The Netherlands: tradition, modernity, pragmatism, chefs, beaches

Switzerland: mountains, lakes, Zurich, old grand hotels

Portugal: Porto, tranquillity, fish, Alentejo, hospitality

Thailand: sea, Bangkok metropolis, wellness, departure

As a group or alone?

We love individuality and the freedom to stop at any time and enjoy particularly beautiful moments. What’s more, our passion for photography would put an unruly strain on the patience of any group and rudely break any time concept.

An ideal travel group is traveling as a couple. It’s easy to travel with a good friend and you can always split up the group. If one of you doesn’t want to go to the ski slopes or the Eiffel Tower, but wants to stay in the hotel, you can easily split up.

What was particularly important on the last few trips?

Local Guides, unequivocal. A sensitive, knowledgeable travel guide who has been carefully selected to suit your interests is the most important key to opening the door to the people and culture of a foreign country.

Cruise: yes or no?

As Venice is particularly close to our hearts: No. A boat is a fantastic means of travel, but the number of passengers should not exceed 20 if possible.

Getting to know the great rivers of the different continents, such as the Mekong, which crosses no less than five countries, is on our bucket list.

What spoils the mood when traveling?

An unfriendly reception at the hotel. The first few minutes of arrival are critical. Even the nicest hotel is no good if the reception is grumpy, short-tempered or annoyed. Mishaps can happen anywhere and at any time – no problem. But there is no excuse for unfriendliness.

McKinsey predicts that the “pain points” of hotel stays, such as reception, will be eliminated, as the hotel of the future will be digital and check-in, for example, will only take place digitally.

For GloriousMe, this is already part of everyday life on many business trips. Even if we are extremely reluctant to send our ID card into the vastness of the Internet every time.

From our point of view, reception at the hotel is generally not a pain point.

We remember many positive arrivals where the employees made perfect use of the opportunity to welcome us in a charming way with a nice drink and a chat about current topics at the place where we had just arrived.

We also find the good old “do not disturb” sign more charming than the sensors mentioned by McKinsey in this study, which provide information about whether we are currently in the room and what we are doing there.

Another tip for arriving at the hotel?

We always contact a hotel where we want to stay for several days well in advance. Special requests or restaurant bookings can often be arranged via the hotel and we make initial personal contact by email or telephone.

As we prefer small hotels, we usually meet the person who made our wishes possible on site and can thank them again personally.

What is particularly important in the run-up to business trips?

To be in top shape the next day, we let the hotel know when we book: Please book a room on the quieter side of the hotel, not right next to an elevator and preferably on one of the upper floors. The latter is safer when traveling alone and if a large group is partying loudly in the hotel restaurant, you won’t usually hear too much of it on the upper floors.

Our wishes are not always registered. If we find that the room is on the first floor, right next to the elevator, there is only one thing to do: return to reception immediately and ask for another room.

How important is the ecological footprint?

We love traveling by train and would like to travel much more by train, but unfortunately this is not always possible. We greatly appreciate the hotels’ efforts to reduce their ecological footprint in a variety of ways.

Has the war against Ukraine affected GloriousMe’s travel behavior?

In two respects: We would like to get to know more eastern countries that have fought for their freedom and for which tourism is often still a much more important source of income than countries that have been on the tourism hit lists for centuries.

Every trip allows for personal impressions and we would like to deepen these in countries in the Baltic region, for example. We want to avoid Westsplaining at all costs.

And the lyrics of the song by Hubert von Goisern also apply to GloriousMe: “Heast es nit. How time flies”. Here you can see the video again.

And if you are interested in where the beautiful word “summer resort” comes from: In the k. u. k. Monarchy, it became a trend to take the family to one of the beautiful Austrian lakes for a few weeks for a summer retreat and then hurry back to the stores in the city.

A dip in the lake is a welcome refreshment during the day and a hot summer’s day near the lake cools off just as wonderfully in the evening. Valid until today.

We hope you all had a wonderful summer vacation or even a summer retreat: at home or away.

Photographs © GloriousMe 2023