Notes from Abroad

I’m in the 3rd week of my European adventure and it’s been quite a trip so far to say the least!

The first few stops in Spain were a good introduction to hostel life, living out of a backpack, and being in a new city. It was especially helpful that I chose a place where I could at least manage to communicate when necessary to start out. I couldn’t imagine starting this trip in a place like Denmark or Prague.

Copenhagen and Palermo were tough for me. They were the first cities I did on my own and I didn’t particularly like them. At that point I was about a week into my trip and the combination of being on my own in strange places where I didn’t speak the language and being in two cities that I just really didn’t enjoy in hotels rather than hostels (they were the cheapest option) made me consider booking a flight home right then and there.

Thankfully I managed to convince myself that it would get better once I got back into the hostels and once I started on BusAbout. Definitely true. I’ve loved BusAbout so far and I’ve met so many great people along the way. Though we’re all traveling independently, it’s nice to have a group to go home to at the end of the day and to see some familiar faces.

On BusAbout, Venice and Rome were great. I absolutely loved Venice and Rome is a place I’d definitely visit again, not only because I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to (and really, how could you in just one trip?), but because it’s so rich in history and just plain interesting.

I’ve also really enjoyed staying in a campsite. I didn’t think I would, but they’re actually a lot of fun. The only downfall is that they’re often pretty far from the city. We generally had a 20-30 minute trip to get in. Not so bad, and considering the prices, I’m not complaining!

Now we’re in a proper hostel, so I’ll have to get used to being inside more. And, luckily, this place has free wi-fi. Yay!

The most important update, though, is about my trip as a whole. After my experiences in Palermo and Copenhagen and generally getting adjusted to life in Europe, I’ve realized 9 weeks is just way too long. At first I thought it would be great to just have 6 days between when I get home and when I move to San Francisco to pack up and move and such, but really, it’s kind of insane. Money also doesn’t go as far as I’d like it to here. I could skimp and eat once a week and not do things that I find cool in order to save a Euro here or there, but what kind of fun is that?

After looking at my itinerary and the BusAbout map, I’ve planned out a new itinerary that will take me a grand total of 6 weeks and only cuts out a few stops that I wasn’t too excited about anyway. I’ve also rearranged some of the stops. For example, I’m going from Nice to the Interlaken area of Switzerland, possibly to Zurich and then off to Munich and Berlin. I’ve cut out Amsterdam and Budapest and a few others.

Now the trip from here on out looks something more like:
Florence
Nice
Lauterbrunnen
Zurich
Munich
Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Salzburg (still have to go on the Sound of Music tour!)
Brussels
Bruges
London

or something to that effect. This way I get to be with BusAbout for some of the busier cities where I’d like to have company and I’ll be on my own for some of the other cities where I don’t mind just exploring or want to do super cheezy things like The Sound of Music tour or just hang out.

I’m thinking of changing my flight out to July 15th out of Heathrow instead of Edinburgh because I’ve also been putting together a quick trip (maybe a week or so) back here to do the UK area early next year.

I know photo uploading has been pretty much non-existent, but having very sporadic and slow internet combined with a teeny tiny screen and no photoshop or any real ability to properly handle RAW photos has made it really unpleasant to do anything but download and backup the photos onto my external HD. I promise to upload LOTS when I get back to the States and have my MacBook Pro back. Oh how I miss it.

So that’s the trip so far. I’m really enjoying Italy, but I’m ready to move on to a new country. I’m especially excited for Switzerland. Cooler weather and beautiful scenery? It’ll be like a taste of Ithaca without the school work. Win!

Like I’ve mentioned, I really enjoy getting long emails from you about what you’re up to and just general hi-there-and-hellos. I also promised to send post cards to those of you who’ve emailed me your address. I’ve written them but it’s strangely difficult to get stamps around here. I PROMISE to get this round mailed out before I leave Florence so if you want a post card now’s your chance.

Thanks for keeping up with my travels and here’s to another month of adventures!

Tags: Itinerary, Update