Joe and I will happily tell you that he is ALLLLL about the points and miles and hotels and flights and I’m all like, “As long as we get from Point A to Point B and everywhere is clean, I’m good.” This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate the befits of his hobby; just that I was just as happy when we didn’t travel “fancy.”
I’ll even tell you a little secret – part of the reason why I pushed for Joe to start this blog was because he’d talk incessantly about what credit cards can get you this many points and how difficult it was to get into that lounge and an airline that I’d never even heard of has lie-flat seats in Business Class. IN BUSINESS CLASS! CAN YOU IMAGINE? And I was all like, “Whatever. My favorite airline ever was People Express (where you paid for your flight, cash only, after the flight took off, and they sold Rachel’s Brownies, which were the best brownies in the world, for 50 cents each) and what’s wrong with Holiday Inn Express?” He was already thinking about starting the blog as a way to teach our friends what we do, but I pushed Joe to write it so he could sublimate his obsession into written form, instead of telling me about everything for almost an hour during dinner every night.
And it worked 😉
But meanwhile, along parallel likes, I think I just identified the ultimate “My spouse is not really into the whole travel thing” story…
A reader sent this to us. Exact details are fuzzy but apparently, it came from a woman who worked in the Netherlands quite a bit and her husband was visiting the area for the first time, without her. He was known to be “travel impaired” so she put together directions, with photos, to make sure he got to his destination easily.
My apologies for the photos being so small – it came from a cell phone and we had no access to the original photos. Lower down I posted what she wrote, to make it easier to read.
Follow signs for baggage hall
Go here
This is the same area as baggage claim. I usually get cash from the ATM – €150 or so. Enough in case the taxi driver doesn’t take credit cards. I use our BOA debit card and PIN and get a mixture of bills and then buy a ticket
After baggage claim, go through the Nothing To Declare lane
Once you’ve gone through Customs, this is the arrival area. It’s huge and crazy busy. Look at the signs for the train
Follow the signs for the trains
You can buy a train ticket here if you’re feeling independent and like you don’t need help from someone (Note from Sharon: I love this one. It’s the epitome of a relationship between people who have known each other for a long time LOL)
But it’d much easier to just go here and buy your ticket at the counter from a ticket agent that speaks English. You need a 1-day ticket to (undecipherable). There are two classes of tickets. 1st and 2nd. 2nd is cheaper. 1st is nicer and more comfortable. You choose. The agent can tell you when the next direct train leaves and from what platform number. I use the train app to find this because the last time I asked an agent, I had to change trains.
Download this app. This is for the trains.
Search for trips from Schipol to “s-Hertogehbosch.’ Route with Ox mean you don’t have to change trains
Which platform to go to
The full train schedule is here if you want to look at it. The app is a little easier but this is also an option
These are the platform numbers. This is where you go once you are ready to board
Once you know which platform your train is leaving from, you’ll get on one of these crazy things. Don’t let your suitcase go. It will be like human bowling and not in a good way.
Double check the screen to find the train you want to go on and make sure it’s on the screen. If it is, congrats. You can get on that train when it arrives. If it’s not, The Dutch are really nice. If the screen doesn’t say Hertogenbusck, ask someone to help you find the train you should be on.
By the way, I hear that even with all those awesome directions, he still got lost. I guess some people just aren’t made for solo travel 😉
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
3 comments
This is good stuff. Reminds me a little of the RomeWalks website where they have videos of how to get on a train etc.
LOL! This is so funny because I can relate to being the one giving the instructions.
Funny stuff…I’d also still be lost!