Welcome & Farewell Dinner Attire
The Tauck document states "Men do not need to wear a jacket at dinner" on this trip. Has your experience, esp. in recent years, been business or country club casual, or more dressed? Since this tour starts and ends in cities, and our last few Tauck adventures were quite casual, am interested in what you experience specific to these dinners. Thanks!
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The key to clothing on this trip is not the dressyish meals, but the out and about wear. Patagonia has four seasons - all in one day. So layer and be prepare for cold, wind and rain. I strongly recommend waterproof shoes.
[We already know who our tour director will be and are thrilled about that since we have had her on two previiis tours. Mr B is following her current tour postings on Facebook and noting clothing people are wearing.)
British, I am very curious as to how you found out who your tour director is going to be. I didn't know that it was possible to get this information. My husband and I are considering booking another Africa tour, and if we could have the director that we had on a previous tour, I would book it immediately.
Ah, no it is not usually possible. We have asked in the past a couple of times just before the trip and Tauck will not tell you (We also were keen to get a tour director we had had twice in Africa too) partly because unforeseen circumstances may mean the tour director changes at the last minute. We have taken several tours where the tour director mentions they are a last minute replacement.
In this incidence, when we were on the Iceland tour this summer and recognized the tour director we have had before, she told us she also does the Patagonia tour. She actively gives people her Facebook details for photos etc so Mr B contacted her about a week ago to ask her if she would be leading our tour and she said yes. So barring unforeseen circumstances it should be her.
You always wonder at the start of the tour how the tour director will be, so it is nice know in advance that we are going to have a great time. We have only twice been a bit disappointed with a tour director but generally all go above and beyond anything you could expect from one human being considering the challenging people that one often encounters on the tours. Believe me, although I am outspoken here, Mr B and I are low profile and no trouble on the tours.
While it could be overwhelming if too many people from previous tours contacted a TD, but some will share their contact information. We corresponded with one of our TD's for several years, first at his Tauck email address, then at his personal address after he retired. He was a true world traveler! We have also corresponded with our UA&D TD from several years ago. She has been very helpful answering questions about upcoming trips from her own experience working those tours or getting answers from her fellow TDs. We sometimes have to wait several weeks or months for more than a brief acknowledgment reply, but a number of times it has allowed us to fine tune our itinerary, e.g. on Romantic Germany we learned from her that there would be enough time to leave the group for awhile to ride a summer bobsled in the hills near Oberammergau while the rest of the group were touring the Passion Play theater (we already did that on UA&D) or were shopping for cuckoo clocks. We also gained useful insight about Vienna. We were hoping to see her again on last spring's Blue Danube but at the last minute she was reassigned to an Italy tour. It turned out, however, one of her very good friends was working our Blue Danube cruise. Having that connection was nice. But as British said, you can't get that info from Tauck and many (most?) TDs, especially those who have a large repertoire of tours, will not know until just a few weeks prior, which departure or even tour they will be working next.
Me and Jill, one of our Blue Danube TD's, at the castle ruins above Dürnstein.
Personally, I would buy a pair and take them.
At least I have a rain coat and umbrella. I bought those earlier this year for my Scandinavia trip. That's what happens when you live in a place where it rarely rains :-)
An umbrella may not do you much good in Patagonia. The winds are often near gale force (a bus - not ours- got blown over on its side when we were there). That's why I would recommend the rain pants for this trip.
I have a pair I bought a few years ago and often carry on trips (they're light and pack in a 3x6 inch stuff sack). I think I've worn them once, but they are cheap insurance. My superstition is that if I bring them, it won't rain.
Doesn't rain much here in Vegas. 3-4" per year.
Having the raincoat worked wonders for Scandinavia this past summer. They said Bergen gets 300 days of rain/year, and we had 3 sunny days with barely a cloud. Only place I needed the raincoat was the glacier hike, crossing the bridge in front of the waterfall.
Did pick up rain pants at REI yesterday. Will come in handy for next summer's Alaska trip, too.
British - I will be very interested to read your detailed review of this trip. When are you leaving? I read your detailed comments on the Iceland tour and it was really useful (do it on our own!). Separately, I totally agree jackets are not needed for men, and Tauck tours are becoming more casual (yeah!). We did Grand Australia & New Zealand last year and it wasn't needed. Separately, while I own rain paints, I don't own waterproof shoes. What are we talking here - Hunter boots?
Waterproof hiking boots or waterproof trail running shoes. Keen and Columbia (and probably others) make the latter. LL Bean duck shoes (the low tops) or Bogs would also work. There is no need for a high top boot, just a waterproof shoe for stepping through puddles.
As I mentioned earlier somewhere on the Patagonia forum, we already know who our tour director will be, barring unforeseen circumstances and have had a couple of tips from her, the funniest being... bring lots of dental floss, you'll be eating a lot of meat.