I love that guy. Have you ever heard of him? He's America's favorite travel expert - a normal, average Joe American like us who knows more about traveling Europe smartly than anyone else I've ever heard of. His platform is maintaining a tight budget while sucking out as much life, character, and experience from Europe as you can - while staying safe, happy, and healthy.
I got his book, "Europe Through the Back Door" (2010 edition) for my birthday and have literally read every single page from the front cover onward. I'm barely on page 77 and I already have 15 sticky tabs marking pages that hold information I found particularly interesting or informative (or both).
For instance, Rick wants me to travel 4-6 weeks through Central and Southern Europe with nothing more than the clothes on my back and a 9 x 22 x 14" bag. Airline carry-on size.
I about had a heart attack when I read those dimensions, and I think I laughed out loud. Obviously I know I have to be frugal and extremely picky when it comes to packing, and I knew it would have to be a smallish bag, simply for the sake of convenience...and my back. But a carry-on-sized bag ONLY?! For that long?!
I would have continued laughing if Rick hadn't included pictures of his bag and its contents - everything he traveled Europe with for 8 whole weeks. Plus his justification of the bag size, and the packing list. Proof that it can be done. The man is a magician.
As a woman, I'll have to improvise a bit and stray from that master packing list slightly, but I know already I will be going the whole trip sans makeup, hair products, perfume, and jewelry. Deodorant, a small bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap, washcloth, toothbrush and toothpaste, brush, nail clippers, and tweezers will be my only bathroom. I'm no cosmo girl, but this will be a challenge! LOL
Anyway, I'm reworking my itinerary now and making alternates to accommodate possible tighter budgets (since the trip will be so soon after moving into a new apartment with Bjorn, my bank account will be QUITE depleted). I figure since I'll be over there for at least a year (and I'm starting to think it will be more like 2-3...) I can always see the sights I don't see this time around at another time. Not that I want to sacrifice the integrity of this particular trip, though! It's my post-graduation self-discovery adventure.
If I had all the money and time in the world, I'd want to see the following:
All of Europe (and Great Britain).
LOL okay really...
Great Britain -
England (especially London)
Scotland
Ireland
Europe -
Germany
Poland
Hungary (Budapest)
Czech Republic (Prague)
*Austria
*Switzerland
*Italy (Florence, Rome, Milan, Naples, Sicily!)
*Greece
Turkey
Spain
France (countryside chateaux, the big city lights of Paris again, and Normandy)
Norway
Denmark (Copenhagen)
Sweden
Finland
As you can see, I'm particularly interested in the Mediterranean area, Switzerland, and Austria. (I have a friend in Vienna, too!) It's hard to prioritize, but at the bare minimum I want to see Switzerland, Italy, and Greece. From Zurich straight down to Crete.
I don't just want to see the capitals. I want to see LIFE. People, culture, arts, history...everything that gives Europe its character, its flavor, its spirit. I am so intrigued and enchanted by it - I'm entirely under its spell and I have no intention of waking up from it.
So let's see how well I do "prioritizing"...or I can just try to win the lottery, and see it all in one go. ;)
*Don't forget to follow the actual blog for my backpacking trip: http://www.beckyonthego.blogspot.com. You can "follow" with any Google, Yahoo, or Twitter account, and sign up for email updates to your inbox. Once the trip starts, I will only update that blog, not here!
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