Green book and insider tips
Hi. My husband and I are first time Tauck Tour travelers and will be going on the June 3-15 Amalfi Coast tour. Between now and then I will be taking advantage of your generous information and tips by posting my mostly naive questions. I have done a little perusing and have seen the term "Green Book" several times. In speaking with two different Tauck customer representatives, neither could tell me what a Green Book is. That's my first question. What's a green book? Next, Is there a suggested effective way to maneuver through the site to learn from others? Last for now but not forever: any insider tips for a couple of newbies? Thank you so much. This community forum is extraordinary.
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Comments
Tauck has never published a forum user's guide.
Pre-Covid, the "green book" was mailed to travelers before their trips. It was a spiral book. It included a day- to-day itinerary, hotel contact information, phone numbers to call in case of emergency and suggested tips for the tour director and driver, when appropriate. It was called "the green book" because of the color of its cover. Since Covid, Tauck has sent this information by e-mail, usually about 60 days prior to a tour, after the final payment has been made. If you use a travel agent, Tauck will send it to the TA, so make sure that you keep on top of your TA to get the "green book."
Tauck’s website also has a wealth of information. If you haven’t already, find your tour and open it for detailed information.
I find both the forum herein and Tauck’s website to be very intuitive. No need for a guide; just explore. Have fun.
I have talked with Tauck many times about reinstating the green book. I was told it simply was not going to happen because they wanted the ability to update the details without issuing new ‘documents’. That being said, we have been on a number of tours where the TD has issued a ‘white book’, that was similar to the green book but had the most up to date information about that specific tour. We sometimes used them to make a journal of the tour. .
You can make your own green book when you download the documents Tauck sends. I have no clue how you configure the computer and printer to do it, but it looks exactly the same as the old green book when it is done. I assume the green books cost a lot of money to make and send out.
I make a custom, reduced-size book with my own custom cover (I usually use the map and a photo from a key location), the Tauck info on the right hand pages and photos harvested from the Internet on the left hand pages that match the opposite text. I first compose it as an MS Word document with alternating photo and text pages. Then I print it using a single side color laser printer on standard 8 1/2" X 11" paper as a "booklet" using the free version of Adobe. Adobe figures out which pages to put where and in what orientation, etc. so once the printed sheets are stacked in the right order and folded in the middle, you end up with a 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" booklet with alternating text and photos pages. Unless you have a dual-sided printer you will need to feed the paper twice like I do, to print on both sides. This always confuses me how to stack the sheets. When printing is completed, each 8 1/2 X 11" sheet will have 2 booklet-sized "pages" on each side.
If you don't want to add photos, just print the document and you'll get text on left and right pages. I use a long arm stapler or sew the binding. You can always avoid the hassle and print it full size on full sheets, then just staple it in the corner.
Or save it to your smart phone and don't print it at all.
I have also re-created the Green Book by this method. As the tour progresses, I make notes on the pages. My husband is forever asking after the tour - "where did we have the excellent dinner or where was that crazy.... etc." Now, I jot it down this little tidbit on that day's page. I have a small notebook and pen and take notes during the guided tours. There is so much interesting information that I can't possibly remember. I do a Shutterfly album, and my notes bring the tour back to life. I tend to focus on facts and photos that aren't readily known. (Years ago, on our first visit to Paris, I devoted an album page to the various toilets we encountered and how the heck to flush them.) This is the type of quirky things that I include.
I just got done printing my booklet for our upcoming Scandinavia tour. In Adobe I picked the specific pages I wanted with a page range that was something like 2, 4-16, 21, 25. That gave me the map, itinerary, arrival details, tipping, etc. Unfortunately I also spent time on the phone with my brother trying to coach him thru the printing process unsuccessfully. I'm on a PC and he's on a Mac. I ultimately ended up printing his booklet myself.
Does anyone who's done this on a Mac have any recommendations or tips?
JudyOH, I have liked having the Green Book in the past but don't go through all this trouble mentioned above. I print up the pages from the itinerary on my Tauck log-in page, and make notes on it about additional reservations that I have made. I also carry a small notebook in my purse to remember names and places. You will get an updated itinerary from the Tour Director when you arrive. in fact if there are any places you want to see on your own during the tour, it is a good idea to check with Tauck in advance that there are no changes to the posted itinerary. They will always (ha, MOSTLY) let you know in advance if a hotel changes, but not if the order of activities changes. Of course, especially in Italy, they can't always know these things in advance, but often they do.