[MR] Future changes

[Smith CTR Jeffrey C]

Good examples, but I have another.

The Barony of Aarnimetsa (Finland) sometimes holds events in Estonia.  To
get to Estonia from where I was (Germany), I had to fly to Helsinki,
Finland, Thursday night, take the ferry all day Friday across a leg of the
Baltic Sea, and sleep in a school Friday night; attend an event; and do it
all in reverse to get home.  Needless to say, it was beyond my ability to do
it.

Chartered bus trips are not rare in Drachenwald -- I rode IIRC 18 hours from
the Shire of MeadowMarsh (Hanau, Germany), across the English Channel, then
to Wales to attend the coronation of good friend.  (At this point, my son,
who went with me, swore off long trips in the SCA.)  BTW, that's 18 hours
each way.

BTW, I should have mentioned this earlier, but Drachenwald now has a shire
in Romania (yes, it's in Transylvania) that NO OUTSIDER has visited (there
is a count in the country now, but sufficiently far away that he will
probably not be able to meet with them).  

Barcsi Janos

-----Original Message-----
From: atlantia-bounces at atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:atlantia-bounces at atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Cian Conor MacQuaid
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 21:41
To: Merry Rose
Subject: Re: [MR] Future changes

> May I suggest we look to our cousins in Drachenwald for ideas of how 
> to handle expensive travel/kingdom events? The price of fuel has been 
> horrendous in Europe for awhile now. Why re-invent the wheel when it 
> may be right there in front of us?
> Not that I know much about this.
> Gerita

We used to travel a lot, and stay in crash space. Of course, when we lived
there Drachenwald only went from the arctic circle to Northern Africa,
instead of all the way to Capetown, as it does now.

I am sure there are people here with more recent experience than mine. 
This is what I have seen from the Drachenwald list describing travel
arrangements. Events now seem to involve a lot of "pick-up" teams. There are
routes given to/from the nearest airport, port, and/or train station. Often
there are runs from the nearest public transport site to the event site.
Sometimes these runs can be on the order of 1+ hours one way. Drachenwald's
public transit system is much better developed than ours. I have taken the
train to events in another country (Germany to Sweden & Finland), but don't
think I would brave Amtrak. There is aggressive car pooling, to the point
that I have heard stories of groups renting vans or larger transport.

All that said, people compare travel with their comfort level. We used to
travel a lot, so a 12 hour trip to an event, or a flight, would be unusual
but not unheard of. Living in the West, I heard complaints from people about
having to travel 2 hours out of the Bay. "Too far" is a social construct
(much like "too hard" but that is a different story).

Sir Cian, PCS
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