If you know
me at all or have read my blog for any amount of time you should be well aware
of my obsession with Europe and the strong desire I’ve had to return. I went
for the first time in September 2012 and came back in January 2013. I’ve been
itching for a new adventure ever since.
As you will
know, Ryan and I are going to Nova Scotia for 2 weeks in July as part of my 6
weeks off work. We had planned to road trip through BC as well but with limited time off
for Ryan that wasn’t going to happen, and that is when my mind started to
wander. What else could I do with my time off? Where else could I go?
It took literally no
time at all for my mind to reach for Europe. I had to assume it would be less
expensive to fly from Halifax than it would be from Edmonton; I wasn’t wrong. I
also quickly realized that leaving from Nova Scotia whose time I would already
be adjusted to would mean I only have 4 more hours of time change to get used
to instead of the 7 hours if I flew direct from home. Those 2 factors alone
were enough to get me searching for my ticket.
If we’re
being honest I bought my ticket to London without any prior planning of what to
do or where to go once I arrived. My flight is on the same day that Ryan flies
home and for $290 there was no way I wasn’t going, regardless of if I had
pre-planned.
From the day
I booked my obsession went into overdrive. No matter what I was doing my mind
was on trip planning. I suppose I should mention as well that I only booked one
way, not because I planned to stay for an open-ended amount of time (as lovely as that sounds) but because
I considered flying home from another city and wanted to wait for a good price.
Without an
end date I went a little wild trying to cram in as many places as possible into
my estimated 2-3 weeks abroad. I started by thinking I would be sticking to 2-3
countries. Croatia and Bosnia? Spain and Portugal? Ireland and the UK? France and
Italy? The key was to visit new places I hadn’t been to on my last trip and it was
thinking back on that trip that caused me to go wild. I did 11
countries in 5 weeks so why couldn’t I do more than 2 in 2 weeks? My list grew
to a point that it simply wasn’t do-able and would be a waste since I wouldn’t
really experience anything properly. London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Porto,
Lisbon, Sintra, Positano, Capri and Florence; 10 cities in 5 countries over 2
weeks.
After a day
or 2 of my plans trying to work themselves out, constantly looking at maps,
looking up planes and trains, researching cities and trying to find the
cheapest city to fly home from I finally settled on a trip that felt really
good.
I’ve settled
on 7 cities in 6 countries over 17 days. 1 day in London, 1 in Paris, 3 in
Barcelona, 3 in Lisbon (with a day trip to Sintra,) 4 on the Amalfi Coast in
Italy (2-4 cities depending how I’m feeling,) and ending with 4 days in Dublin
before flying home from there. This itinerary is still fairly ambitious but
something I’m comfortable with.
Over the weeks since deciding where I would go, I have researched the best route from one city to the next, decided on and booked hostels and found the best way to get from the airport/train station to my
chosen hostel. I don’t mind being lost while I’m not looking for anything, but
when I’m carrying my life on my back I’d prefer to get to my accommodations as
quickly and easily as possible.
Beyond the
when and where I’m hoping to have a pretty accurate idea of some of the costs
before I arrive. If I decide that I absolutely must go to the top of the Eiffel
tower again I’ll be looking for an exact price, opening and closing times,
location and maybe even pre-buying tickets to avoid some
lines at the really busy places. That being said, I do want to enjoy the excitement of wandering through a new city so nothing will be overly planned.
Other than
which cities I would visit and in what order I made almost no detailed pre-plans
at all on my previous trip and once in a while it bit me in the ass. I think
considering how difficult I found it to be alone on that trip, knowing some details
will help me be a better solo traveler this time.
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Read my First Time Solo Travelling post HERE.
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Keep following along for more plans and updates about my summer travels, I’ve got tons of posts already on the go and I’m excited to capture everything as it happens!
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