Over the past three weeks I've soared with eagles and walked with beggars. I've travelled the length of France and criss-crossed the UK by train and by car, limping between railway stations, bus-stops and tram terminals in between, and through all of this I learned two things.
The first is that in first-world countries public transport works exceptionally well, often being a viable alternative to hiring a car, and the second is the realisation of just how much our inept government's mismanagement of the economy has destroyed working-class South African's prospects of enjoying an overseas trip on anything less than a massive budget.
Air fares are relatively cheap because of fierce competition and our train tickets for the 130km between Burton Latimer in Northamptonshire and Southend Airport cost about the same as the air tickets to Caen in France - £30, or R650 per person.
Both the UK and France have superb public transport systems, and everything runs like clockwork. There's usually a bus or tram going your way in the cities, with the fares being between R20 and R50 per trip, but longer halls start getting expensive. To get from Caen to Nice we opted for the high-speed TVH rail service where I achieved my own personal land speed record of 317km/h on terra firma. Kerching - another R1,750 each, but money well spent. The airfare from Nice back to Gatwick added another R2,500 to our travel bill.
Back in the UK we decided to take a road trip up to see friends in Newcastle. There was an eight-day special on the Fiat 500 for £103 - R2,200 - which was reasonable enough, but we ended up paying an additional £112 to bring the insurance excess down from £1,000 (R22,000) to a more reasonable £250. We balked at coughing up a further £80 to extend the insurance to cover a second named driver -me - so my short blonde companion ended up as the only person allowed to drive the car. The upside of this, for me, was that I could enjoy a beer or two with my lunch.
We had a spot of luck with the car because the depot couldn't supply a Fiat 500, so upgraded us to a more spacious Peugeot 208 five-door hatch. I found it interesting that this sells for £12,665 (R274,000) on the road, compared with R200,000 in South Africa with what appears to be similar specifications. The three-cylinder engine is a lively and economical number and on the freeways at the British 70mph (110km/h) speed limit, returned 55 miles per gallon, or 5,1l/100km . That meant our great 700km adventure up north cost us a rather steep R6,000 for the week, including fuel costs.
It's important that you shop around before buying air or train tickets in Europe, or hiring a car, and buy when the price is low. Ticket costs change from hour to hour, and getting the timing right can save you a small fortune. And while getting around in a hire car gives you more freedom, it can knock a huge dent in your budget.
