I’ve decided that since most of my readers have already seen all my pictures and heard my stories, that a better use of this blog would be to give some advice based on my experience during the two month journey.
What to bring:
backpack
*To carry everything: Using an internal frame backpack is a great idea when it comes to touring Europe. Trying to roll a suitcase along cobblestone streets is not something I would recommend. One thing I would be cautious of is buying a backpack too big! When shopping for a backpack, buy the smallest one that you think it is possible to fit your essentials in. Try the bag on and make sure it fits your body. I ended up buying one that was too long for my frame even when it was on the smallest setting. It worked, but it would’ve been much more comfortable had I ensured a good fit before I bought it.
*Items to remember
-A student ID if you have one! Many attractions and museums offer discounts if you show your student ID. Even if you aren’t a current student, if you have your old ID, bring it! By the same token, some sites offer a discount just for being under 26, so having any form of ID handy is a good idea too.
-Bottle opener/cork screw/utility knife! There were several occasions on this trip where we found ourselves with alcohol and no tools to open it. Of course, we improvised and managed to find ways to open our bottles. Needless to say, it would’ve been much easier/less messy had we brought something with us.
-Medicine! Especially when traveling in the colder seasons, it is smart to bring with you your normal required medicines, but also bring some pain pills, allergy pills, birth control pills, cold medicine, dramamine, etc. if you feel there’s any possibility you might need it. Which you will!
-A padlock! Bring a lock with you if you are staying at hostels because they are most often not provided, or you must pay for the lock. Be sure to buy a standard looking lock, not an oddly shaped one that looked neat in the store but wont fit on any lockers!
-At least one cute outfit! Trust me, you think you’ll go through the trip with dirty backpacker clothes the whole time and be happy about it, but you’re going to want to go to a club and look nice. So bring at least one cute outfit and a decent pair of shoes, or else you’re just going to end up buying it while you’re there anyway!
-Boots/umbrella/other weather related items. I went in the fall so these items were necessary. If you’re going in summer, substitute boots for flip flops and umbrella for bathing suit!
How to get around:
train compartment!
*Trains! Taking trains is the easiest most convenient manner to travel from one city to the next. You can buy individual train tickets, but purchasing a Eurail pass is a GREAT idea! My friend and I both used Global Eurail Passes valid for any 10 travel days within a 2 month period. We used all 10 travel days and got our moneys worth for sure!
-Advantages to the Eurail pass:
If you are under 26 the passes are much cheaper. Be smart and research approximately what individual tickets would cost you… but we found that for our planned route it was much cheaper to do the passes.
In addition to possibly being more cost effective, having the passes is very convenient because for the majority of train rides you do not need to stand in line to buy a ticket. As long as the train does not have a compulsory reservation, you can show up and hop on it without any hassle whatsoever. Some trains require a reservation for a small fee. For us it was 3 out of 10 train rides with the fees averaging about 15 dollars, so that’s not bad at all.
-Tips for riding the train with a Eurail pass:
+Make sure you know if you have to transfer trains to get where you are going, because if your train requires no reservations, you just get on it and you do not receive a ticket that outlines your journey. Arriving at the train station a bit early in order to ask the information desk if you must transfer is a smart idea if you aren’t sure.
+When making a reservation for a train that requires them, make sure it’s for the right day!!!
+Couchettes on overnight trains are kind of terrible, so just know what you’re in for if you plan to reserve one.
*Metros & trams! For transportation within a city, it’s all about the underground. Once you figure out how to use one, you’ll be able to figure them all out. Super easy!
*Plane tickets! If you’re under 26 years old you can go to the STA Travel website and get cheaper airfare! This is also the website I purchased the Eurail pass from.
Where to stay:
*Hostels! I highly recommend staying in hostels if you are a young person on a budget. I will point out some particularly good hostels in my posts on individual cities, but here are some general tips:
-Read the reviews. Go to websites such as hostels.com, hostelworld.com, or hostelbookers.com and see what other people have to say. Some reviews should be taken with a grain of salt but overall they can be helpful in choosing a good place.
-Make sure the place you pick is in a good location either close to the attractions or close to a metro/tram stop! This should be one of the first things you check before booking a place.
-Book at least a few days in advance… more if it’s the weekend or during the busy summer season. There were a few times where my friend and I waited until the very last minute to book a hostel for a weekend and we ended up paying twice as much for a crappy place.
-Check for things like curfew and lockout for hostels. If you plan to be out partying all night and like to sleep in during the day, you might want to pick a place with no curfew or lockout.
-Look at your food options. Free hostel breakfast is usually no big deal. They give you bread and cheese on average. It’s nice to have but honestly I didn’t wake up in time for it the majority of the trip. The rare hostel offers free dinner! That’s a huge plus. Many hostels will have a kitchen the guests may use. Any of the hostel booking websites will outline these features.
Tips for site-seeing:
*Do the free walking tours! Almost every major city in Europe has at least one free walking tour that you can take. Visit Sandemans New Europe for info on one such tour company. The basis is that you receive a free walking tour (3 hours on average) and at the end of the tour you pay what you feel it is worth to the tour guide, who works only on tips. Do the walking tour on your first day and you’ll get a small taste of the major attractions, which you can visit in more depth later.
*Check to see when attractions you are most interested in are closed. Some museums in particular are closed on odd days. We missed out on seeing Picasso’s Guernica because of this. Also, Many museums have days or times that they offer free or discounted admission! Find out, and plan to go on the free day.
some pubcrawl friends! photo courtesy of Patricia
*Pub crawls/tapas tours/etc! In general, a pub crawl or tapas tour type of organized food/drink group is a little pricey (15-25 euros). However, it can be worth it especially if you’re not sure where to go and want someone to guide you around. Make friends with the folks running it and you might just get some free drinks the next night!
*Make friends with people who live there! Some of the coolest experiences we had were with locals who showed us around to their favorite places.
My final tip is to JUST GO! You’ll figure things out on the way! It’s super easy. If you would like any more tips or advice, please comment with your questions!
It has come to my attention that I have been severely neglecting my blog! I have been traveling since September 29th, and it is now one month later! This marks the half way point of my journey. I have been posting all of my pictures on Facebook, so most of my readers will have already seen them on there. But I figured I could use my blog to share some amusing details. A few pictures too of course 
We’ll start from the beginning: a very very long series of flights to Seoul, South Korea! I had the opportunity to start my trip there because my friend Diana (who I am traveling with) had been there for a year teaching English, and her contract had just finished so she was free to show me around. It was totally worth the plane ticket and the entire day I lost in order to travel there.
Some things I noticed while in Korea:
-Most people don’t speak English, but most everyone is ridiculously nice. Except old ladies, they tend to glare at you and elbow you out of their way.
-There is street food everywhere. Such delicacies as silk worm larvae, octopus tentacles, delicious delicious mandu, and the infamous french-fry-covered-hot-dog-on-a-stick can be found on nearly every corner
-The abundance of American companies is crazy. Of course I expected to see McDonald’s, but TGI Fridays? Outback Steakhouse? REALLY GUYS???
Diana eating kimchi jjigae and bibimbap
-The traditional food is amazing. My personal favorite was Bibimbap, a mixture of veggies, rice, fried egg, & chili sauce. Kimchi (fermented cabbage?) took some getting used to, but I think I could learn to love it if given the chance.
-Korea was the beginning of my realization that some things are universal. These things are: Doner Kebab, and H&M. THEY ARE LITERALLY EVERYWHERE.
So I saw some pretty rad things in Seoul. Some palaces and touristy things like that. But the best part of being in Seoul with someone who had lived there for a whole year is the epic party adventures we had. We would go bar hopping with all Diana’s friends and literally be out until the subway re-opened at 6am the next morning. Bars don’t close there until the last person leaves! Also, DRINKING IN KOREA IS SO CHEAP!!! We’d go to a bar, pay like 5000 won (approx $4) to get in, and as ladies we would drink FOOOORRRR FREEEEEE the entire time we were there. Not to mention the Soju that is consumed during “pre-bar drinking”.
I am so glad I took the extra time and money to go to Seoul. It was such a great time. It’s a safe city with friendly people, great nightlife, and incredibly easy public transportation. What more could you ask for?
Side note: I did managed to lose my vintage Burberry overcoat somewhere on the street there, so I hope some old homeless Korean dude is sporting it proudly.
Please visit my Flickr album here for a few more pictures from Seoul!
In less than 10 days I am leaving for a 2 month international adventure! My first stop will be in South Korea, where I am meeting up with my friend Diana who has been living there for a year teaching English. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience the country with someone who knows their way around, so I’ll be hanging out there for several days and then the two of us are off to Europe! Starting with the UK, we will make our way across Europe through France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia, northern Italy, and Spain!
I am super excited! We hardly have anything planned out in advance, so I hope that everything works out. If anyone has any tips on what hostels to stay in, what places are must-see, or really anything at all about the whole backpacking through Europe thing… please comment!!
This is the last installment of my Italy posts! It has been a while since my last update, so I figured I’d make a big one and finish this up… finally.
On our way to the Amalfi coast, we stopped and visited the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Honestly, I don’t have that many interesting shots from there. We didn’t get to see any dried up mummies! And believe me, we were looking.
Here’s a nice shot of some old ass pottery though.
Yeah yeah ruins okay whatever… let’s get to the good part! Beautiful views!
Ah, the Amalfi coast… Specifically, we stayed in a place called Conca dei Marini. Our bed and breakfast was friggin sweet and we had an awesome view of the sea. My aunt & uncle stayed at a different B&B owned by a dude named Claudio. He turned out to be quite a life saver. He drove us around to the various places we wanted to go (Ravello, Positano, Amalfi…), and he made us a fantastic dinner too! The guy was pretty smelly though, and had a tendency to spit when he talked…
He also had a tendency to tell me how I should take my photos. I hate that. And that, my friends, is the reason why this image is completely back-lit. (By the way, he’s the guy waving in the very back).
His property was RIGHT at the water level, so you could just jump right in…
That is, unless you’re afraid of jellyfish. Look close! There are two huge ones! (CORRECTION: Apparently I was not looking close enough myself, because there are actually THREE)
This is one of my favorites from the whole trip. In Ravello we walked past these ladies and I said to my aunt how it would be nice to have their picture. She was kind enough to ask them for me in Italian. When I started setting up the shot, they exclaimed “OH, you want a picture OF US?”… they had thought we were asking them to take our picture for us. They were excited when they realized it was them I wanted to take a picture of.
Here are some random pretty ones:
The Amalfi coast is a beautiful place to visit! We spent 3 days there, and I am glad we did. It is such a different type of scenery compared to Arizona! Plus we had great company, great food, great drink (this region of Solerno is known for their amazing Limoncello), and lots of laughs.
One of my favorite parts of our visit to the coast was our journey to the island of Capri. Normal people wake up early, and take a big boat with a bunch of other tourists from one of the larger cities on the coast (Amalfi, Positano…) to the island. BUT NOT US. No, our group did not realize that boats stop traveling to the island at a certain hour. By the time we got to where you buy the tickets, you either had to buy a tour package that takes you to several stops, or you were SOL. Lucky for us, we have several fluent Italian speakers and we managed to haggle with one of the guys to get us on his small boat over to Capri. When the boat arrived, it wasn’t a boat at all… it was two boats. Two REALLY SMALL boats. My aunt and I were worried we might get seasick, but it was absolutely fantastic. It was one of the most fun and relaxing things the whole trip.
Also, my mom and aunt were drooling over the boat boy.
They were upset that I only got a shot of him from the back.
So if you ever visit Conca dei Marini, I can recommend two awesome B&Bs, and a boat boy!
My mother’s mother’s father was from a town called Palena in the region of Abruzzo. We weren’t originally planning to go there, but the opportunity presented itself and we decided it would be a once in a lifetime chance for my mom to see the town her grandfather lived in. Nobody seemed to have heard of it so we basically punched it into the GPS and let it lead us. It took us WAY UP into the mountains and through some little towns and we saw some of the most breathtaking views from the entire trip. We eventually got to the town and my mom was able to gather a few remembrances to bring back home for relatives that will never get to see the place. Here are some pictures from on the way there, and from in the town.
This is one of my favorite shots from the whole trip. Someone stuck a flower into the bench.
Still to come: Pompeii, the Amalfi coast, and Gaeta!
