European travel can be planned and streamlined considerably with this interactive encyclopedia featuring a personalized planner. Focusing my attention on Germany and the Baltic States, where I have an upcoming trip planned, I spent the most time with the Northern/Eastern Europe version of the Berlitz Executive Travel Guide; there's an equivalent CD-ROM for Southern/Western Europe as well.
Installation was routine, and the opening screen is dazzling, including the background music. The main interface is a Topic Browser, which acts as your guide to the rest of the program. The Reference section is straightforward and well organized, giving a once-over-lightly on most matters of relevance to the business traveler ranging from banking hours to hand gestures. The foreign language section has hypertext links to audio with an abundance of phrases which one may practice along with the professional pronouncer. I am looking forward to learning a smidgen of Lithuanian, which is undoubtedly one of the more difficult languages in Europe.
The personalization feature, called the Planner, is a little complex but well worth configuring for your own needs. Once you have created your own workspace, incorporating information from the other three modules (Reference, Language, and Travel), this section automatically saves to your hard drive when you close the application. Using this feature, you can put together and print an itinerary, list of foreign-language expressions, and many other organizational aids provided on editable templates. These templates include expense records, auto logs, and other record-keeping outlines typically used by business travelers.
Common with other Allegro programs, you can logon to the Prodigy online commercial service within the program, for travel weather updates and anything else you may need. The standard Prodigy subscription fees apply, less some free introductory hours for new users.
I did catch an editorial inconsistency right off the bat: in one section it said that lunch hour in the Baltic States is typically 2-3 p.m., in another it said 12-2 p.m. All this means to me is you wouldn't want to read this stuff on the fly. But everything in the Executive Travel Guide, from the reference material to the language practice and planner modules, encourages preparation and organization before a trip. Most business people already do this, but the beauty of the CD-ROM is having the information at your fingertips, right there alongside the personalized planning pages you have put together. This makes for a powerful package, allowing you to quickly collate and review material.
Being able to manage this much information conveniently makes the prospect look less daunting. It may appear you don't have time for a little pleasure jaunt; perhaps you do after all. You thought you'd have to leave restaurant selection to chance; now you can plan your meals from this side of the Atlantic. The Berlitz Executive Travel Guide seems a little pricey at over $100, but if you employ the personal planner workspace module, organizing the details of your trip in advance, it will probably save you at least that much in time and hassle.
