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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1973-08-23, Page 5THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1973 332 PLUS 3 PLUS 10 PLUS 3 PLUS 8 PLUS 70 TIMES 2 .. . by Bill Smiley My wife cannot understand why anyone wants to travel, when he can sit in his own back- yard and commune with the gods. I'm beginning to agree with her. Getting ready is kind of a pain in the arm, especially if you must have a vaccination, Obtaining a passport sounds easy, Heck, it's mote trouble than getting married or dying. All you have to do is fill in a form. The form is slightly more complicated than your income tax form. Thin, you must find someone who will swear that you are who you say you are. This person is called a guarantor and can be practically anyone except your beighb our. Then you must obtain a birth certificate. This is lazily simple if you know where you were born. If you don't, or you happened to be born in Zilch, Yugoslavia, it can be complex, You must have a passport photos taken. You can't just use amid snapshot in which you look your best. Passport photos are an old joke. They usually make you look like a zombie. Strang- ely, ours turned out well. We didn't pose for them, because we knew they'd be gruesome, so they came out relaxed. Besides passports and birth certificates, there is a myriad of other pother to look after, and you could use a full-time clerk for a week or two. Air tickets, money arrangements, hotel reservations, and who's going to feed the cat. A travel agent is almost a must in these days, when half the world seems to be on the move. He or she can smooth a lot of wrinkles and give valu- able tips on how to win at least the occasional round in the game. Government Inspected leif eef $114 Half Beef $1.15 includes cutting, wrapping & freezing (prices subject to change) Free Delivery Within 10 Mile Grant McGregor Phone 262-5839 Many people go to big agen- cies in the city, My travel ag- ent, a personable young local chap, couldn't have been more helpful and efficient. (Aside to Bill Mandly; everything, by golly, had better be right, after that.) He told me something about air fares that is almost unbeliev- able. A return ticket to the U,1: can run all the way from a Christmas charter at $187 to a regular flight at $626 (under two weeks). I shudder to think what a first-class ticket would cost in the latter category, Of course, a business man can write off the $626 as exp- enses, and to the little old lady going back for a visit after fifty years, that $187 special might represent months of scrimp ing. Even so, something smells, in the discrepancy. Travelling is not cheap, un- less you want to swim across, which I've contemplated a couple of times as the bills mount. Only reason I haven't developed the idea is that my wife is a good swimmer, but only for about thirty yards. I'd hate to see her go down thirty yards off the Halifax docks, and have to do all the rest on my own, with nobody to tell me I was steering the wrong course. Not cheap! Good gravy. Just looked over the items be- fore we even left the house. Air ticket - $332; passport photo - $3; passport - $10; birth certificate - $3; limousine to airport - $8; Britrail pass - $70, Those are just the basics. Multiply by two if you're a couple. Then there are the ever-pres- ent extras; new clothes, exp- enses to get to city to get pass- ports, and the inevitable sund- ries, too numerous to mention, as the auction sale ads put it. That's before you get on the plane. You still have to eat and sleep for three weeks after you get there. However, I've cut the whole thing down quite a bit by cancelling our two daily paper deliveries for three weeks. Saved about $6.50 right there. Our Britrail pass allows us to go anywhere in the O.K. It may come in handy. We may be riding trains all night, every night, to save hotel bills. And we're taking along an eight - pound salami and six loaves of bread, so we might come through. I have a vague idea that this column will not go down as one of the greatest pieces of exotic Independent Shi;i per to Usni' ,,;,;t Co-operative of tario Livestock 7 ept Toronto Shop Your Livestock with Roy Scotc'hmer Monday Is Shipping Day Frown Varna Stockyard CALL OAYFIELD 565-2636 By 7:30 ctn. diMonsisy For Prompt Service Aio Charges on Pids.dep ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS travel literature ever written. But it is a little hectic ar- ound here. Six hours to takeoff, my wife is just starting to pack, I have to go down and sell my soul to the bank manager, get up to the school and look after some items for September, see young Wilson next door about feeding the cat, call the boy about mowing the lawn, pick up the dry-cleaning, get the books back to the library, and, somehow in there, try to have PAGE 5 a shower and shave, We might make it, but I wouldn't bet higher than even. money. I'll try to do better next week. when you'll have a despatch from the Nag's Head, Middle Wallop, England,. �� �..��\\ gra• • Back -to -School Special 3 Thermos Lunch Box Sturdy, lightweight lunch box, extra Targe capacity, Designed to hold 10 oz. bottle. Assorted colours. Space-age styling combined with great listening. Carry chain and 9 -volt battery incl. Red or Yellow 5" long shackle for Cute `n` compact - only bicycles. Dependable 3" high. Light dial and 3 -number locking drowse feature. White mechanism. a or Brown. 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