Things have come a long way since the 1969 movie about the stereotypical American version of Europe by bus in a week. I am using a vacation my wife had planned with her sister and the kids to spend some time with them and to also have some book events in Dublin, Amsterdam, London and Paris.
Several things to look forward to. In this day of dreadful air travel, I have only 1 flight planned within Europe – Dublin to Amsterdam. The rest of the trip will be by train. Mostly via the Eurostar which since 1994 has transformed travel across the English Channel. In a stint I did for PriceWaterhouse in the late 80s I fell in love with European trains but now those trains are even more efficient than flights - Belgium to London in 2 hours and many coaches have electric outlets (no wi-fi yet, though).
Even more impressively every one of the book events is being organized by people I have met via social networks and I am looking forward to meeting them in person.
Here is the schedule – please come join us if you can (other than in Amsterdam where the event is closed)
- July 16 – 6.30 pm Dublin – Central Hotel, thanks to @patphelan and @johnpeavoy
- July 21 – 12 noon Amsterdam – Capgemini, courtesy of @MartijnLinssen
- July 22 – 3 pm London – EuroCloud event courtesy of the folks at Financialforce.com, @DT and @PhilWW. Details here.
- July 23 – 11 am Tuttle Club. Courtesy of @LloydDavid, @brian_condon and @DT
- July 23 – 6.30 pm Paris – DeLaVille Cafe. Courtesy of @bduperrin. Details here
The logistics of the trip would have taken months to put together just a few years ago so I am very grateful to these folks for helping coordinate.
My book is about all kinds of tech-enabled innovation, so the theme at each gathering will be to celebrate how trains and social networks and other technology are making the world smaller. And in recognition of the old world which continues to enrich us, we will hold raffles at each event for a couple of old world, hard copies of my book.
See you there!
PS – I am sure many Europeans will smile at the “vacation” the family is planning – a modern version of the 1969 movie. My wife is originally from Ireland, and this is the first time I have seen her sister and her plan this “2 day in each city” routine. As for me, I am guilty of having been to Bangkok for 8 hours, San Juan for 6 hours etc. I am beyond help :)
Comments