I’ll Take The Window Seat Please!
My mom came to visit me at school yesterday to take some of my winter and miscellaneous stuff home to make moving out next month easier. I took her with me to go try on backpacks and look at some tevas for my trip because she would be honest about whether I looked like a moron in goofy shoes and a giant bag.
I think that’s when it hit her that I was actually serious about this trip and she proceeded to try her very hardest to convince me that going by myself was not a very good idea. I should find someone to go with me. I should stay in hotels. I should only go for a month. I should, I should, I should…
I know what the risks are and I don’t want to be talked out of going.
So I bought my ticket. Non-refundable. Open jaw into Madrid and out of Edinburgh. With 50 days to go (how about that nifty countdown I made up top there?) it was due time to set something in stone. Getting tickets gives me an exact window to plan my itinerary. I’ve had the tickets picked out for a while, but actually having a beginning and an end makes it so much more definite. This isn’t just a big idea anymore – it’s a reality.
The good news is that my flight to and from the US is the only part that’s set in stone. I really can do whatever I want for 63 days – I can go wherever I want for however long I want. As long as I make it to Edinburgh for my flight home on August 7th I’m good to go. Such freedom!
Next major steps include finding a hostel in Madrid and Barcelona and finding myself a backpack. I found one that fit like a glove yesterday but I’m worried that it’s slightly too big. I might order 2-3 bags and just return the ones I don’t like. That’s one of the downfalls of being in Ithaca (read: middle of nowhere) – there’s no place to actually try on a variety of bags. Ahh well. Online shopping to the rescue!
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Hi Jenn. I´m glad you´re making a trip to Europe backpacker style. I am in the process of building a travel site for budget travelers (we are all in a budget, right?). Let me know if I can help you with tips on your trip (I promise, I don`t sell anything), just glad to help!!!
Hey Jenn,
have fun in europe! and if you have any questions along the way feel free to IM, email or facebook me as i have been to most countries there :-)
also check out “www.couchsurfing.com” which is a great resource for finding a place to stay and i have only heard good things about it.
See you in the bay area soon!
Cheers,
Chris
I think you’ll be in luck with hostels in Barcelona. There’s loads of em, and many seem quite nice. I stayed in an apartment in the old town ‘Barri Gothic’ I think it’s called, but we walked past a hostel that looked BEAUTIFUL and sooooo well positioned! It might have been this one: http://www.hostels.com/hostels/barcelona/itaca-hostel/1279
This looks like a good location too: http://www.hostels.com/maps/Gothic-Point-Hostel/1273
I would prefer to stay in the old town or the Triangle area, rather than near Ramblas, which is a bit touristy and cheesy. But maybe it’s cos I’m an old fuddy duddy :)
Park Guell is a must for photography, btw, even tho it’s a bit out of the way. We caved in and bought a two-day pass on the cheesy tourist bus, but it was actually a great way to get around, so I recommend it! You can also rent bikes that you can pick up at one place and leave at another; I totally wanted to do this, especially to bike along the beach, which has such gorgeous wide walkways and sidewalks. I was a bit intimidated by the process, tho, so didn’t attempt it. They had the same thing in Berlin, however, and we did it there and it was SO FUN! Best day on the trip. So yeah, do it! :)
Good luck!
Couchsurfing.com is definitely worth signing up for, if only as a backup plan for when affordable hostels don’t present themselves, or are full. I’ve had some neat folks stay at my house over the last few years; the prefrosh who stayed with me Monday night after staying on campus Sunday night (why do they only put them up for one night!?) is actually the son of the couple who visited last summer.
I`ve never tried couchsurfing but I`ve heard great stories about it (and a few bad ones). Hostelworld is also a great site to check for accommodation. You may want to check out the low fare airlines like Easyjet, Ryanair, Wizzair, etc. I recommend you to use Skyscanner.net to check and compare them all at once instead of clicking into every site. Flying is not as fun as taking the train but many times is much cheaper and may save you a lot of hours when you have to travel big distances. BUT, remember that when you travel by air, you also have to include costs from the airport to the city. In many cities you can take the subway or check out Terravision.eu if you go to Italy or London. Enjoy your trip!!!
Remember to put some weight in the bags when you try them on!
Doesn’t the EMS downtown sell backpacks?
@meghan – yeah EMS has them but not a very good selection and not a very wide range of sizes. I ended up ordering 2 different bags (the one that I know fits like a glove and a smaller variation) and I’ll return the one that doesn’t fit as well.
I stuffed the bag with whatever was in the surrounding aisles in the store and it was still incredibly comfortable. Seriously, I wish my school backpack fit this well!! We’ll see when my bag arrives next week which one wins :)