The one travel habit Europeans get right - and Aussies often don't

At this time of year, Aussies are jetting off to Europe. Whether cruising the Med, the Rhine, the Baltic or the Adriatic, we have much to learn about living la dolce vita.

While cruise lines stack their ships with more and more things to do, Europeans believe happiness is having less to do. Italians have a lovely phrase: Dolce far niente, which means "the sweetness of doing nothing".

Unsurprisingly, in the country of siestas, there's a similar Spanish proverb: "How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterward." In Spain, nobody rushes. While everyone else queues to be first off the ship, grumbling about the delay, Spaniards will eventually make their way to a sunny square for a cold beer and tapas.

Whingeing passengers, please take note of Hurtigruten's campaign using Norwegian sayings to promote expedition cruising. "Ut pa tur, aldri sur" translates as "out on a trip, never grumpy".

Another wise concept is the Croatian fjaka - the art of embracing stillness, slowing down, and enjoying life's simple pleasures.

Marina Rogoznica, cruise director at Unforgettable Croatia, describes her uncle as "the poster child of fjaka, sitting on his porch, staring at the sea, drinking his own wine, and saying there is nothing in the world better than this".

Sounds like a small ship cruise along the Dalmatian coast, where you spend your days swimming, relaxing on quiet decks, and savouring meals with no pressure to hurry.