phazan
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Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Jan 12, 2011 14:50:49 GMT -5
Before I went on my 5 week trip I was pretty nervous, and I tried to figure everything out before I got there...But honestly I would have been fine just showing up with my train pass, and backpack full of necessities. When I got there I had a few nights in London booked, and a train ticket from London to Brussels booked, so that was helpfull for me because I was pretty clueless. Traveling Europe I think is one of the easiest things I've ever done, even though everyone I talk to it seems like tells me I'm some kind of daredevil for going alone.
But I think I should mention that just showing up and deciding where to go next at the train station is my favorite way to travel...So if that's not your style of travel, maybe I'm not the best person to listen to ;D
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Nov 10, 2010 15:49:48 GMT -5
This was the furthest, and longest time I've been away from home. I didn't really stick to my route, or my budget. Once I got there I quickly figured out how it all works, and the trip went very smoothly! Here is what I ended up doing -London, stayed at the Astor Kensington -Brugge, for 2 days -Amsterdam. Stayed at the flying pig on the last night, the other 2 were at bob's hostel -Berlin, met two girls from Hamburg who I ended up becoming great friends with! -Prague for a few days -Munich, for the night -Tubingen to visit a friend I know from the states for 2 nights -Mountain hostel in Gimmelwald for a couple nights! -Took a night train to Hamburg to visit my friends I met in Berlin, also returned to Amsterdam for one night to let them get some work done since I came in the middle of the week -Milano...Got sick and laid in my hostel bed for two days/nights..The only city I did not enjoy! (Because I was sick the whole time) -Levanto, north of the Cinque Terra. Rented a scooter for the trip! Was so fun -Rome I met so many awesome people during this trip. Every single place I stayed at, I wasn't alone because I always had some new friend from some other place. (Also a few Americans...but they were boring! ) I had such a great time, and of course there were times that I hated. In the end though, I think it's probably the best thing I have ever done for myself. I feel like I'm ahead of everyone else here in the states, because I can see so many differences in how we live compared to other countries. (Good differences, and bad ones) I'd like to say thanks to everyone who helped me plan this trip!!
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Oct 2, 2010 23:19:18 GMT -5
My mom said she would give me money for a phone, so I was just going to get one sometime when I arrive. I don't really know exactly what I will get, but from what people have explained to me it sounds like you can get a pre-paid phone easily
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Sept 7, 2010 20:58:46 GMT -5
Thank you for the link eagle! Yes, I am getting the one month consecutive day railpass. I wasn't sure whether to get this one or not over the 10 day flexi pass, but I think it is worth the extra money to be able to go wherever I want without worrying about using up days.
I have not got to the backpack or the phone situation yet. Hopefully I will take care of all this stuff tomorrow
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Sept 2, 2010 15:39:25 GMT -5
Ok I have made a supposed itinerary for this now. Here I have a map I made. I hope it's big enough to be able to read, I'm not that great with photoshop and stuff. EDIT: I accidently skipped over Florence, somehow, but just put Florence in between Rome and the Cinque terre I have 35 days to get from London to Rome, and I think this is how I am going to do it. In case you can't see very well, this is my new proposed route. Start in London London, stay 3 days Amsterdam, stay 3 days Paris, stay 3 days Alps (Recommend me some amazing places to hike?) stay 4 days Tubingen, stay 4 days (I have a friend who resides there at the moment I want to visit) Munich, stay 3 days Venice, stay 2 days Cinque Terre, stay 3 days Florence, stay 3 days Rome, stay 4 days That's a total of 28 days, which gives me 7 free days to get from place to place, or to stay longer somewhere. Now should I figure out the trains and stuff when I get there? Or should I plan all of the train rides ahead of time? I don't really want to plan all of it out just to change everything later. If it's easy to just look online a day before I change cities, I'd like to do it that way. Please let me know any of your thoughts on this. Help is appreciated!
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Aug 28, 2010 3:15:00 GMT -5
Sorry about the late reply, I've been away from home for a while. Looks like I will be hitting up a few stores in my area.. There are about 10 from those lists pretty close to me. I'm in the Bay Area, near San Francisco. Thanks a lot for your help!
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Aug 23, 2010 0:04:39 GMT -5
Eagle, thanks again for all your help. I'm researching the phone stuff you talked about. Looks like I'll be doing something like that, and I'll work on getting my parents to pay for this, since I'm getting it for them pretty much. I have an REI store near me, and I went today but they were closed. I will have to go and check it out. Are there any stores that sell traveling backpack kinda stuff in California that you know off the top of your head? The rail pass I have covered. I'm still taking time reading about different places so I will decide on which pass to get when I know more about what kinda budget I will have. Thanks so much for your help. This is a lot to figure out, and a little overwhelming so the help you have given me is appreciated.
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Aug 20, 2010 14:29:02 GMT -5
Thank you so much for your help, Eagle. the $3,000 does not include my airfare or train pass, or anything else. It's just for the day to day living expenses. Though I will probably end up having more than that. I just under-estimated to be on the safe side. I don't plan on doing a whole lot of museums and stuff either. Mostly exploring cities, probably renting a lot of bikes
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Aug 20, 2010 14:08:07 GMT -5
Hey eagle, I have Europe Through The Back Door and Best of Europe sitting right in front of me as I speak haha. I've been using both of these to figure stuff out. I think I'm going to book a couple nights in London so I can at least get settled in without a lot of stress. I basically have everying covered accept for
-Phone situation. My dad really wants me to have a phone with me so I might get there and look for a cheap pay as you go thing
-Still need a backpack. Where would a good place to buy this? I know there are online places but if there is a store I could drive to to see the backack in person I'd very much like that
-Still debating on the global pass vs 5 country select. I'm leaving this trip very open ended. I know it might not be very efficient, but at this point in my life all I want is to see what other places are like. I might want to take a side trip to Prague or something
-Still need to find a bank without a 3 percent fee for taking out money in other countries -_-
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Aug 17, 2010 1:40:09 GMT -5
Thanks to the people who replied to my threads in the past. I just booked a flight from San Francisco to London, then a month later from Rome to San Francisco. Got it through STA Travel for $710. I thought maybe that price was too good to be true, but even Rick Steves talks about booking through them so they must be legit haha I'm very excited, it doesn't even seem real that I booked a flight to another country. But this is it, in October I'm leaving. So please, if you have any advice for me let me know...Anything from London to Rome.
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phazan
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Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Aug 10, 2010 13:59:52 GMT -5
So I'm getting ready to book everything for my one month trip to Europe, in October. My budget is going to be around $3,000 for the month long travel. I'm thinking about getting a 5 country rail pass. Here is what I have so far..I'm leaving this pretty open ended, because I don't really know what I'm interested in seeing, to be honest. I really just want to see what it's like to be in different countries. I think I will decide when to do stuff when I get there, even if it isn't the most efficient, I love the idea of being free to go and do what I want on the spot. That being said, here's what I'm thinking so far, please feel free to make suggestions. -Start in London, spend a few nights there to get used to being in a different place -Head to Amsterdam (leave when I feel like it ) -Continue to Belguim -Head down through Germany, visit a friend who is studying abroad, find some cool cities to visit (Note: I can't enter France, as it won't be on my Eurail pass) -Go down to Switzerland, stay in Gimmelwald (Will it be too cold to hike in October?) -Enter Italy, maybe stay in the Clinque Terre, but I would like to see Rome, Florence, and Venice if possible. It also depends on how much money I have left, as it's kind of expensive down there I've heard. (I'm budgeting $100 a day, can't go over that at all) -Possibly go back up and see Eastern Germany and fly out of Berlin? So that's what I've got for 4 weeks, I could possibly extend my trip and have a lower budget (If you guys think it's a good idea to live off of less than $100 per day) Anyways, that's the idea of this trip. Of course I'm always willing to make changes, as I don't know if I can do all of this in just a month. Advice/input are appreciated! Thanks
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Jul 13, 2010 12:35:30 GMT -5
Hey Phazan, Because you're traveling in October, you shouldn't have to worry too much (actually not at all) about booking hostels ahead of time (unless you're visiting small towns with only one hostel). I've been to Europe in the July/August and was still able to find hostels in the major cities (Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam) with only a few days notice. Although it was a pain. Same thing for trains and buses, everything is kinda dead so no need to reserve anything more then a few days ahead of time, unless of your course you're trying to save a buck or two, in that case booking ahead of time could definitely help you out. Which countries do you plan on visiting? I would like to start out in London, possibly (Just to minimize culture shock I guess) then travel down through belguim/amsterdam, through western Germany, through Switzerland (see the Alps) then down to the Clinque Terre in Italy, maybe down to Rome and Florence, then travel through Austria and then up to Berlin. Also, I may just shorten this trip to ONE month, though it's sad to say. I want to have money to do stuff, as much as I hate to shorten it like that. I could easily make a $90 a day budget. However, there is always the option to be patient and wait it out untill next spring when I can travel with a global pass, instead of a 5 country pass and stay even longer...I just worry about spending a lot of time in my life saving up just for one trip, and also I am not even sure I want to be gone for 2+ months on my first time leaving home, by myself...Any thoughts?
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phazan
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Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Jul 5, 2010 13:19:46 GMT -5
Thank you for the reply, herrbert. Shortening the trip to 6 weeks was something I had been thinking about. I could have a better amount of money after I'm done getting my passport, and flight and everything but I won't find out untill I book my stuff in September...I have a few more questions, though..
As for the booking of hostels, and traveling around Europe..I have heard that a lot of people don't really plan out their trip before they leave? I don't know a lot about Europe, though I am reading about it everyday. I don't really know exactly what kind of places I'm looking to stay in. If I were to book my first hostel only, would it be somewhat easy and realistic to show up to hostels and decide which cities to travel to while I'm already there? Sorry about the simple questions. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm trying to figure all this stuff out. Thanks for any help
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phazan
Full Travel Member
Posts: 14
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Post by phazan on Jul 2, 2010 14:44:04 GMT -5
I need help... So I'm trying to plan a two month long trip to Europe in October. However, I might not make it because of my lack of money. I currently have $2,300 in the bank, and I am estimating I can get at least $5,500 by October. My plan was to tell my work about my plans one month before hand and ask them if they can still promise me full time hours for my last month working there. At that time, I would book my flight, and buy my 5 country rail pass. That would leave me about $3,500 for two months of europe, and would equal to about 48 euros a day to pay for food, hostels, whatever else I need. I am pretty good with my money, however I am concerned about this budget. I have read some places that I could get by with this, but is this a realistic budget? I have also read that I need to pay for train reservations, in addition to my already purchased rail pass. My options are: ---Do this 48 euro a day budget (possibly more though, if I can find a way to get more money) ---Wait to travel a month, leave in November (winter trip) and move it up to 75 euros a day ---Wait alllllllll the way until next spring, and get to travel in the spring/summer and basically have a more-than-enough daily budget (however I will have to wait almost a year longer in addition to the time I've already been waiting)
So, with me being young and new to traveling (I am also traveling by myself) I would like advice on what to do in this situation. Any help is appreciated!
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