Ahh shoot, managed to hit send accidentally.. Along with my sarcastic comment about the cure for European bureaucracy, I wanted to also say that reading of all the planning and prior approvals and having to fly specific routes on your trip gives me chills and nausea...
I (we) routinely make 1200 mile flights from Michigan to Florida... I check the weather, etc. on DUATS, the wife loads the dog and his treats into the plane, and we go... We stop for fuel when we feel like it, at whatever airport we have not been to before - we have been known to drop down low and fly a river valley that looks interesting, or even deviate a hundred miles to see some land mark or other... I fly high or I fly low, depending on the winds... Same for the trip home... On trips where the weather is VFR I will not talk to ATC the entire trip - only make Unicom/CTAF announcements at the various airports...
In the USA we are slowly losing this freedom as permanent TFR's proliferate and the HSA goon squads consolidate their power...
denny-o