The Last Man Standing: Who should you travel with?

I am writing to you from Rome where I have sent off each member of our group over the past two days. It is now time for rest, reflection and a much slower pace of experiencing this city. 

It is weird for me to take this mindset of being alone after being with friends the whole time. I was alone in Florence so that was my normal state but this time I feel like I'm losing something each time they leave. It's interesting to get back into the mindset of fending for yourself without the crutch of others but at the same time enjoying the luxury of being on your own agenda and not having to worry about how your effecting those in your group. 

So I'm sitting here in this cafe as thunder and lightening strike outside and I'm thinking about the different ways the group dynamic works while traveling and which might work best for you if traveling is in your future. 

Traveling Alone:

-traveling alone is perfect for those social butterflies out there. You actually don't even need to be overly social because everyone in hostels is also traveling and everyone for the most part has a mindset of making friends and having a good time. 

Benefits: 

- You are the master of your own schedule. You can do whatever you want, when you want. If you screw up and miss a train, you are the only one that knows. You can make friends wherever you go which will give you a different experience with the different types of people you meet. You will meet people from all over the world and hopefully create lasting friendships and be able to travel and see these people again. 

Negatives:

- You continually have to motivate yourself to keep up the energy and keep traveling. For some this is easier than others. You are making 1-2 day friends and have to keep making friends everywhere you go. No one has your back and there is no one to stabilize you if having an off day. You never have a set group to hang with and become a record player repeating where you're from, how long you've been traveling etc...

Overall: Great way to travel if making friends comes easy to you. If you enjoy the world and want to make new friends that are from every inch of the planet (Mostly Aussies in Europe). Might help to meet up with people you know along the way to balance all the new friends. Can give you the most unique and eye opening view of Europe! 

Traveling with 1 Friend:

Are you and your best friend thinking about taking Europe? Find the right friend and it could be the time of your life. 

Benefits: 

-You have someone there who knows you and can provide comfort while traveling in a foreign country. Since you can't always figure everything out, they can provide a nice balance to your brain and fill in the things you can't solve. Someone will always be there to eat meals with you, to drink beers with and to share in the memories when it is all over. There is only two of you so buying train tickets and other accommodations should be easy since it's a small quantity. 

Negatives:

-since you both are experiencing the same things each day, you start to run out of things to talk about. Unless a lot of stuff is going on in the news (and you actually pay attention to the news), you should still seek to make friends with other travelers so you can have fresh ideas in your brain! You might want to do something separate but because you're with one other person it's going to be a give and take system where compromise is going to be the name of the game. 

Overall: 

-Choose a travel partner who you can be yourself with. Hopefully one that has the same interests and one who is easy to compromise with. Having a good balance in a partner is crucial. You will have the time of your life with this person but they will also be with you when the going gets tough! 

Traveling with a group: 

Grab your crew and get ready to hit the road, you don't even all have to always be going in the same direction. 

Benefits: 

- there is no way you won't be having fun with a bunch of people. Even if you may not know everyone in your group super well, you will get to know them and there will always be lots to laugh about. You have the freedom to talk to others if someone is having an off day (it happens plenty with two months on the road) You don't always have to do everything together, you have the freedom to break off in groups. You are always bringing fun and people since you are a large traveling group. Staying in an AirBnB tends to be cheaper since you aren't paying per bed in a hostel. 

Negatives:

-you are a large group so if you don't plan ahead, trains and places to stay might be hard to come by last minute. You tend to be less social since you already have a group to hang with. If you chose the AirBnB route you meet less people since you are mainly doing your own thing. 

Overall:

- after having 6 weeks of practice, I think I enjoy this option the best. You can usually find someone in your group that wants to do something similar to you and when you are all together it provides a good time.

All in all, every option will provide you with a good time and a memorable experience! I mean come on, you're traveling the world. You have to think about yourself and what might work for you. Some people might prefer to be alone and some cringe at the idea of that. Take some time and think for what works for you. Maybe a blend of all options is the best! I think the blend method is perfect for me! 

The Notion of Train Travel

On the journey from Brussels to Amsterdam, Jess and I got into a silly argument. Those that hang out with me know I like to be right so if I feel that I am right, I will debate until you understand my point. Well poor Jess decided to throw out an innocent statement about the comfort of trains vs the comfort of planes and how she liked trains better because they were more comfortable. I went into a long point about how you can't compare the two equally without taking time into it as a factor. I do not need to spell out the whole conversation but it brought up a common theme on our trip: trains. 

The train has been our main mode of transportation. We purchased a Eurail pass before we left the U.S. (Which I HIGHLY recommend if you plan on backpacking all over Europe) and we have used it on almost every train journey. It basically lets us take the regional trains for free and provides a minimal fee for the more expensive, high speed trains. 

You might be wondering why I even bother writing about trains but I wanted to share one thing I have learned, everything about train travel is dramatic. 

-You fly past little villages in a dramatic fashion and in a blink of an eye you're gone.

-You will never find a calm train station, names of places and times are constantly flashing up on the scroll and then disappearing, each flash causing a group of people to scurry off to the right platform. 

-you can hop on and off as you please and you can even get left behind in random cities (trust me, we know)

-Goodbyes- WOW, watching someone say goodbye to a loved one is one of the hardest things to watch. They may hug or kiss goodbye on the platform but then the one who isn't leaving just stands on the platform waving goodbye as the train slowly rolls out of the station. This is literally perfect for movies and now I understand why it's in so many!

People handle train travel in one of two ways; to plan ahead or to wing it. Most of the time we are in the first group. We manage to reserve our tickets to leave a city when we arrive and most of the time it works flawlessly. For the times it doesn't, it's a cluster. As much as I love things that are free, nothing is worse than sitting on an  unreserved regional train for 4 hours. Sometimes you do what you have to do and I'm currently in this situation. Luckily we all found seats. Some unlucky folks have been standing the whole journey. Sometimes we luck out with entire rooms to ourself, and sometimes we are stuck with screaming toddlers. It makes airline travel seem so organized and orderly (even the Southwest Boarding Process!)

All in all I am thankful for the expansive train system in Europe. Not only has it allowed me to see more of the continent than I would have imagined but it has really allowed me to slow down and reflect. It allows me the time to write my blogs, to play card games, share stories and even meet fellow travelers. So every time you read a blog posting, you can guarantee I am in transit from one place to another!

The Junk Food Diaries: Waffles, French Fries and lots of Beer

I laugh because these past three days are probably the worst I have eaten all trip. How are you supposed to eat healthy when there are waffle stands, chocolatiers, frieteries and bars that have over 2,000 different beers in them? The answer: You don't.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived in Brussels was the genuine hospitality of the people. They take pride in their land and go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. I say this because we came from Paris and people who expect you to speak their language (or try) and don't cater to tourists as much. I can appreciate both ways since I live in a major city and I cater less to tourists than I probably should. It was a nice change to come to Belgium and experience a little slower pace of life.

We planned our trip to stay in Brussels the entire time and then take day trips to both Bruges and Ghent. I think for our group this worked out perfectly. The only hiccup was that we stayed in an AirBnB on a street that was basically like the "WEHO" of Brussels. It would have been fine other than the fact that everyone parties obnoxiously loud until 6am. I sound like some old grandma but when you sleep with your windows open and people leaving the clubs are yelling at the top of their lungs, you can't help but to wake up in a panic that something is wrong. Other than that, our apartment was great! It was a duplex with this view of The Grand Place!

As we wandered around the first day, we took in the majesty that was the Grand Place. In this large square you have some of the most beautiful buildings in the city, emcompasing you on all sides. I tried to take a panorama but it really doesn't do it justice.

After this we had to go see what all the fuss was about with the statue, Manequin Piss. This is their most famous monument in Brussels and it is of a baby peeing into a fountain. It is so tiny and is based on a bunch of different legends so if anyone knows the real story of how/why it became so famous, I would honestly love to know. We continued to just walk the streets and soak in the city for the rest of the afternoon. Jess and Tara fell IN LOVE with the waffles and were doomed for the rest of the trip. I held off until the second day but boy were they yummy!!

I peer pressured the girls into trying Moules Frites which is just a bucket of mussels and fries. It seemed to be a specialty there with just about every restaurant offering it on the menu. Jaz and I had tried it while in Reims and I always feel the need to make them try the local food. Most of the time they refuse (like escargot or foie gras) but for some reason they said yes. Well they didn't love it or really like it at all, but at least they tried it! (Small wins!) 

That night we said we would nap and head out to Dellerium (you will hear more about this later), but instead the naps grew longer into the night and at 11:30pm, Jaz and I got up and decided to wander. Keep in mind the sun goes down around 10:45pm so it had just gotten dark. We ended up at Delirium which is a bar that has over 2,000 beers. They are officially the bar with the most beer options in the world. Rumor has it, if you bring them a beer they don't have, you drink free for the rest of your life. I loved their Delirium Tremens beer on draft. Delirium has turned into such a thing that they have a whole alley called none other than, Delirium Alley. They have a bunch of bars, legitimately in an alley all specializing in a certain type of alcohol: vodka, rum, tequila, absinthe and then Delirium with the beer. Pretty cool experience if you ask me! 

The next morning we were up with the sun and headed out to Bruges. It would have been perfect except the fact that it was raining. This is the first time in 20 days that I have put on a jacket. It was the type of rain that just comes from all angles, not heavy but that annoying mist. I think this really impacted our day. We walked around for a little, took a canal tour and then ended up finding refuge in a bar and participated in some beer tasting. This sounded like a perfect way to stay out of the rain (it's how I justify it to myself to spend the day inside.)

That night we bummed it... Well what actually happened was we all became addicted to the show Suits so we all watched for a while, chilled, and then Jaz, Jess and I went adventuring to this Ramen restaurant called Umamido. I found it on a 10 best places to eat in Brussels list. It was good to mix up our food intake and to try some good Ramen.

Instead of rushing out the door the next morning, we took it easy because we found out that the city of Ghent was in the middle of this 10 day festival. The festival gets started around 1pm and lasts all night. We went out in the morning to do some necessity shopping and quickly found out that everything was closed because it was the Belgian National Holiday. (Oops! Guess we should have known!) 

We arrived in Ghent to find a lively festival that took over the whole city. Stages were set up, music was blasting, beers were being handed out and it looked like everyone from 5 years to 85 years old was waking around enjoying some fries or ice cream and the shows. We walked around for a little before finding the area most suited for our age. Good music, good drinks and even better views! There was also a whole section that was dedicated to all things: food trucks! Those that know me know how excited I was with this discovery. The craziest thing for me was that this festival has been occurring every year since 1843 and creates such a lively atmosphere in this medieval city!  It seemed like everyone brought their entire family and someone told us that within the 10 days, 2 million people visit the city.

Jess and Tara decided they wanted to go back sooner than Jaz and I so they headed back only to realize I still had the key in Ghent. So Jaz and I rushed back, met them for some beers and enjoyed our last night in Belgium! 

We just arrived in our next stop: Amsterdam! Stay tuned!

The land of Tapas, Gaudi and Mustaches

I am continually trying to sit down and write about each city but then we start the next and the procrastination continues. The good news is that we continually have a lot of train time but yet I seem to do other things and put it off. It's ironic because I started this blog as a way of keeping a journal as well as letting my parents know what is happening on my trip. With my parents growing knowledge of social media and my feeling of procrastination, my journal is incomplete so I am trying to slowly pick up the pieces before I forget the little things!  

Back to Barcelona... 

This was my second trip to this wonderful city. This time I was able to appreciate it in a different way. Barcelona can be a lot to handle for more than a weekend. They eat dinner starting at 10pm and it seems that everyone flocks to various bars and clubs until the sun comes up. It's exaughsting. The only way to relate is that it reminds me of the craziness of Vegas while also maintaining its beach vibes which contributes to the uniqueness of the city. 

When we arrived in Barcelona this time it was a little different. I had started getting sick in London and hit my peak sickness as we hit this leg of the journey. I was not going to be able to keep up this time. 

Our arrival was swift and easy thanks to our Easy Jet flight. We set foot in Plaza Catalunya and proceeded down Las Ramblas with ALL of our stuff in tow. Those that have been to Barcelona can picture the scene around 5pm on probably the busiest tourist street in the city... Aka nightmare. 

We stayed in Plaza Real at the Kabul Backpackers Hostel. I would HIGHLY recommend it due to their location and cost as well as the fun environment they create within the hostel. Free dinner every night, top floor bar lounge as well as clean rooms and fun people! 

We ended up Yelping a tapas place and somehow struck gold. Sensai Tapas was walking distance from the hostel and cooked up some delicious gourmet bites! I am a HUGE tapas fan especially with a group because it allows you to try a variety of things while providing small bites for each person. I am all about sharing so I can get a vast knowledge of the entire menu. This place was so perfect for the first night and getting the Spanish dining experience. 

That night the U.S. Women's National Team won the World Cup vs Japan. The game started at 2am in Barcelona. I ended up finding a bar and convincing the owner to let us stay even as they closed the bar so we could watch. Well they just decided to stay open and around 3:30am after a U.S. Victory, we headed home. Those that watched the game know it was well worth watching so we are extremely happy this worked out. 

The next day we all headed out to sightsee. Jess, Tara and I wanted to check out Camp Nou (home of legendary FC Barcelona) while Jaz was interested in the museums. Little did we know, some of the museums are closed on Mondays so while we hit Camp Nou, Jaz enjoyed local life at the park outside the museum. 

Getting to Camp Nou was the struggle of the day. For some reason I confused it with a shopping mall. Sounds stupid... Yes I'm aware, it was stupid. When we finally realized that the mall wasn't the stadium (we gave the information lady a nice laugh) we made our way to the stadium. Wow. That's all I can say. FC Barcelona is one of the top fútbol programs in the world and they have the titles to back it up as well as the best player in the world, Messi (who also happens to be #10)!

We spent the morning touring around and kissing trophies and then I went to meet Jaz while the other two hit La Sagrada Familia. 

Jaz and I did some sightseeing, mostly Gaudi places and then I hit a sick wall and needed a nap. We relaxed for the afternoon and then headed out in search of Paella. We were very lucky to have some amazing food recommendations for Barcelona (thanks Noveen!)  we had dinner under the W at Pez Vela. Over a bottle of Cava, seafood paella and the sunset, Jaz and I really got to live a night in the lives of those that live here. On the way home we stopped into this trendy gelato place and not only did they have delicious gelato, they made my little dessert into a person! 

The next morning we got up early and headed to Park Güell. I have already been here but it has changed a lot since I was there. No, none of the actual structures have changed but now they charge to go in all of the popular areas. This was a bummer because one of the coolest parts of being there last time was you could go, hang out, and walk around on your own time. This is no longer the case. You have a 30 min clock timing you in each section. I understand the park needs money to maintain itself but I didn't think this was a good solution. Since we were on a time schedule, we saw what we could and then we headed out for breakfast at Milk. If you are in Barcelona, GO HERE.

I had an amazing Salmon Benedict and still think about it to this day. It was a perfect way to end our quick trip to Catalunya and off we went to the South of France!  

Training Wheels

You may be confused at the title but London was our version of training wheels. My crew is full of new travelers. I have come to the realization that when traveling you need to try things out, learn from the mishaps and you'll be better for the next time around. I don't need to go into all of our lessons learned but what I can say is I know our next stop will be that much better... We did lots of learning in London.

The greatest part about London is that it shares many similarities with America while still being a forgeign city. The worst thing about London is the British Pound, as Americans we lose lots of money on every purchase. 

The first day, Jaz and I got their a couple hours before Tara and Jess so we went and acted touristy with Carly who was there visiting Anne (a friend from OC who is studying to get her Masters in London). Anne played as our unofficial tour guide and took us to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Harrods. In a short time she showed us the ease of using the Tube and got me really excited to be back.

*I was in London two years ago for about 24 hours so I was very excited to explore London beyond the tourist spots. 

The first night we took a trip to Covent Garden (thanks Bronte for the recommendation!) and had to pick up a little gadget at the Apple Store. I only mention this because while at the Apple Store, we made friends and got a killer recommendation for dinner. We ended up at this pizza place called Home Slice. Home Slice was this tiny little shop bursting at the seems with lively conversations, liters of Wine and lots and lots of delicious pizza. Unfortunately the wait was around 2 hours so instead of sitting in, we found a curb in the little courtyard and sat and ate our pizza in the street. Sounds silly but it was so perfect after a long travel day!

After dinner we walked around for the rest of the night to try and stay on London time for as long as our bodies would let us. We walked all around Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street before calling it quits. The city was absolutely beautiful at night. 

The next day we began the marathon touring. Our first stop was to watch the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. *first I would like to start a petition to ban selfie sticks. They were OUT OF CONTROL in this crowd.* There were a ton of people around but we ended up picking a spot next to this wonderful couple from Arizona. These are the times when the world feels really small and friendly. The changing was cool to see and we continued on our tour. We went into an art museum to use the restroom and ended up losing Jaz to the art. Those this know her know how typical this is. The rest of us hit the touristy stuff in Westminster before we went to tea. Tea time will get its own post because it was so memorable and unlike anything we do.

After tea we decided to continue the site seeing. Site seeing is a LOT more fun after unlimited champagne at tea... We went by the Thames and walked to the Tower Bridge and Tower of London. Stopping of course for impromptu photo shoots along thre way. 

We had big plans for the night but after the idea of a nap happened, we weren't going anywhere. Jet Lag finally got the best of me and I was up awkwardly from midnight to about 2:30am then forced myself to sleep. That was really the only night I had sleeping issues and it actually worked out fine because I got to chat with my fam bam!

The 4th of July came and went without any actual fireworks but I was a super fun day. We joked all day (with American superiority) that they should be mourning the day but instead they did what we do on Cinco De Mayo, turn it into a drinking holiday. We explored Shoreditch and ended up at markets, outdoor bars and discovered some amazing food! (I will update with more pictures soon!)

The night brought some fun local surprises and earned Jess a gold star (yes we give out gold stars!) One of Jess' cousins hooked us up with one of her guy friends who completely stepped up and gave us a great night. We started the night at this Tapas place in South London and then walked over to this parking garage where they were casually holding a full orchestra concert. The coolest part was that they played Appalacian Spring which I studied endlessly in AA10. (Yes, I studied in that class) The orchestra was short, only 45 min, then we continued up the parking garage to the roof where a lively rooftop bar showed us the whole London skyline. The view completely won over our hearts and the night was made. However, our night wasn't over and we enjoyed the London nightlife scene. 

This was a perfect end to our time in London. The next morning we said goodbye to the hostel and headed to the airport to catch our plane to Barcelona!

Turbulent

Before I get into stories, we made it safely to London and have already started adventuring!

With that being said, the whole process of getting here was just that... Turbulent.

Let's start with packing.  I wish I was sitting here outlying the perfect way to pack; finding a perfect balance of bringing the "right" things but still managing to pack in a small enough backpack that you don't topple over. Unfortunately when you wait until the last minute to shop and pack, this process becomes stress inducing and there is no "right" thing to bring. Packing for a trip like this brings out the truest bit of your personality. I learned a lot about myself just in the way I packed for this trip. For me personally, I have a huge need to be prepared so I packed everything from a toothbrush and toothpaste to wrinkle release spray. You may laugh but with no dryer, my clothes will still be looking good! I am the type of person who feels a sense of calm when being prepared so I made the choice to pack more to feel secure in the things I'm bringing. My travel partner Jaz is the complete opposite.

Our Bag Comparrison 

This girl could be thrown in the jungle and be so fine living in the trees. As neurotic as I am, she is a perfect balance and it has proven itself so true in the just 15 hours of travel. Let's just say I have an amazing mother who completely helped me keep my head on straight while still managing to pack everything I need (or so I hope!)

Try and think about what you would pack for two months... Would you rather go with everything you need or as little as possible and buy as you go? I think it's a great personality question to ask people!

So of course I turned into a stress ball and stayed that way until we got on the plane. We arrived at LAX and needed food, so of course Umami burger was the absolute greatest option! Let's just say it was a really good idea with poor execution. We had 20 mins to be at the gate and after 25 min I finally asked what the hold up was and they had completely forgotten my order... Lovely! So I sent Jaz to hold the plane (literally) while I waited,  then after I got my order proceeded to RUN through LAX. Don't worry Coach Linn, still got my killer form.

Another bout of turbulence hit when I couldn't convince anyone to switch seats with Jaz and I so we could sit together. So I tweeted out how unhappy I was that the old lady next to me wouldn't switch. Turns out that that lady was the sweetest thing to ever happen to that flight. I am totally guilty of judging a book by it's cover but I could not have been happier to spend 10 hours next to this wonderful woman. The flight was full of chatting about life, plenty of sleep and I even still had time to watch a movie. ( I highly recommend Into the Woods!) Everything was smooth sailing until the actual turbulence began!

HOLY SICKNESS. When three people in my section are using their vomit bags and I am on the verge of joining, you know it's bad. It wasn't the kind of turbulence that you worry over your life but instead the type that drops your stomach and churns anything inside it. It was miserable and I felt terrible from the point it started for the next couple hours.

Jaz and I made it through customs (woo!), into the tube easily (double woo!) and to the hostel all in the morning to start our journey. We met up with Carly and Anne and started the sightseeing while waiting for Tara and Jess to get here. Good news parents: we are all here, in one piece, and having way too much fun already! I will write all about our trip soon but it's adventure time!

The Blog is Back!

The blog is back and I am ready for my next European Adventure!!

I haven't been on the blog since I left Europe two years ago. I offer it as reference to people traveling to the places I mentioned but other than that, I have kind of forgotten it is here.  With that being said, I had a couple posts from two summers ago that were drafted but never posted, so this morning I pulled the trigger and posted the last couple.  Of course there are some that are half finished that will never see the light of day because my memory doesn't take me back to those minuscule details so the posts will remain as drafts.

For the next two months, I will be taking Europe...again! However this time I am brining along 3 adventurous friends and we are backpacking across the continent. Tune in for stories of our travels, exciting pictures and recommendations of every place we encounter along the way. Hopefully, I can entice each of the group to do a guest blog post so you don't get board of just one voice! I can't wait to share with you all, cheers to many more adventures!

Here is the Europe group, I don't think you will see us this cleaned up for the next two months! 

Last night I reached out to my Facebook friends to hopefully gain some insight and recommendation on the places we are traveling, I was completely blown away by the response. Not only did people share their recommendations on the post but they began messaging me and sending me emails filled with their own experiences.  I am so thankful for all their advice and I cannot wait to see the best of all these cities.  I truly believe recommendations are the way to go when traveling, especially as a jumping off point to create my own adventures.  So thank you to everyone who contributed, you are making our trip so much better!