Preparations

After years of talking about it, I'm finally going to Europe. Over time, the plans have altered. Originally I was going to work in England for a while and travel on the side. Then, I was going to go with Amanda and Kevin. Now, in the final form of this trip, I'm going alone, just me and a backpack full of stuff that will hopefully make the trip a little easier. So, I discovered this nifty little site and I'm going to use it to update everyone on my travels. You can even auto-subscribe and be notified when I make entries (just click on 'Get E-mail Updates' on the left-hand side of the page). Crazy, huh? There are RSS feeds for it and Facebook integration and it's all pimped out, yo.

My soon-to-be trusty backpack!

So much crap! Useful crap, though.

I've been spending the last couple months trying to get things lined up. I've been combing over places like Lonely Planet (most especially, the Thorn Tree forums) and Couchsurfing, asking advice and trying to learn form people who've done this sort of thing before.

Part of me is really quite nervous. I've never done something of this magnitude before. Sure, I've gone to Toronto or Los Angeles on my own, but to cross an ocean and be gone for over a month is, well, a bit daunting. A large reason I'm spending so much time on these sites is because part of me is nervous as all hell. Thankfully the majority of Justen is excited. I'm finally going to see a dream come true. Getting to experience different cultures and go to countries that are steeped in such history is going to be a welcome shock to my system, not to mention a little bit of clubbing and boys with cute accents! It's kind of like the Mini-Wheats trip; I get my cultural, historical wheat side and my fun-filled, partying icing side!

Guidebook, HI card, packing lists, and stuff

As of right now, I have a fairly solid itinerary, but after Brussels, I'm keeping my options more open and may make a few changes as I travel.

Edmonton-Dublin (Plane) Jul 9-10

Dublin (w/ jet lag recovery) Jul 11-14

Dublin-London (Train) Jul 15

London Jul 16-19

London-Paris (Train) Jul 20

Paris Jul 21-24

Paris-Stockholm (Plane) Jul 25

Stockholm Jul 26-30

Stockholm-Amsterdam (Plane) Jul 31

Amsterdam Aug 1-4

Amsterdam-Brussels (Train) Aug 5

Brussels Aug 6-9

Brussels-Lyon (Train) Aug 10

Lyon Aug 11-12

Lyon-Nice (Train) Aug 13

Nice Aug 14-15

Nice-Rome (Overnight Train) Aug 16-17

Rome Aug 18-21

Rome-Edmonton (Plane) Aug 22

Total: 44 days!

So, that's the current plan. Finding a balance between seeing enough and spending enough time in each destination was difficult. I'm leaving out places like Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, but there's only so much that I can do in one span of time. If all goes well, I'll do another trip (and therefore have another blog) and catch some of those other places.

Tickets (!!), passport, and hostel bookings

So, you may be wondering why I'm updating things so early. Well, basically, I'm excited. Right now I have my backpack and a bunch of equipment purchased, as well as my plane tickets and a few hostel reservations. I've got a guidebook and a phrasebook. (The phrasebook isn't pictured, because I forgot to take a picture of it. It's the Lonely Planet Western Europe one.) I've signed up to take a couple workshops with Hostelling International on "Hostelling in Europe" (March 6) and "Backpacking for Beginners" (April 3), so I plan to post after each of them, talking about insights and other fun things I may have learnt, and I may just update randomly when the swell of excitement rushes over me. Once the trip starts, however, I really plan to update this blog often so I can keep in touch with everyone back in Canada and let them know what's going on. Especially my parents, because I'm sure they'll be reading this and be worried sick about me ever step of the way. [waves to Mom & Dad]