ryone enjoys the pleasure of travel; but nearly all shrink back from
its tiresomeness and drudgery. The transportation companies are
constantly scheming to overcome this disagreeable side for both pleasure
and business travel. One of the popular ways of pleasure travel of late
is by means of personally conducted tours. A party is formed, often by
the railroad company, and is accompanied by a special agent to attend to
all the business matters of the trip. A variation of this is to arrange
for a group of congenial people to accompany some well-known
accomplished gentleman. This gives the trip, not alone the convenience
of having all business matters cared for, but also the decided enjoyment
which this gentleman's wide knowledge and experience, and personal
contact incidentally give. There are some criticisms however of such
parties, from the standpoint of greatest comfort and of freedom in
moving about.

Probably the very pleasantest way--the ideal way, to travel anywhere,
either in our own home land, or abroad--is to form a party of only a
very few persons, mutually congenial, and personally agreeable, _one of
whom is an experienced traveler_, to whom checking baggage, buying
tickets, studying timetables, planning connections and all the rest of
that sort of thing which, to most, is disagreeable drudgery, to whom all
that is mere pleasant detail; and who in addition knows all the ground
you will cover, the best hotels, the inconveniences to avoid, the
desirable places and things, and who finds rare enjoyment in making the
trip delightful and inspiring, and restful too, to these dear friends of
his.

For instance if the trip is a foreign one beginning with a run through
Great Britain it would add immensely to have such a friend in London who
knew that great whirling world-metropolis, as you know your own home.
After a bit you may slip over the Channel to Holland. It is only a few
hours away, but the strange language, new custom-house rules, new
usages, new sights, different sort of people, all make it a totally
different world. A few hours will bring you into Sweden, or west from
the hollow-landed Dutch to the higher-landed Germans, or south through
Belgium into sunny France, and so on. And in each place the customs, and
language, and sights, and people, the food, the sleeping arrangements,
and apparently everything, especially to a stranger, are totally
different. It is this very variety--the constant change of
surrou