For my Sunday personal/ lifestyle posts, I thought it could be fun to sometimes take a trip down memory lane an rehash some of my favorite moments from my life. I thought I’d start with a very recent memory. Just last year I went on what you could call a trip of a life time. I spent 21 days on trains across Europe visiting 9 different cities.
I visited Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Venice, Vienna, Berlin and Copenhagen. In that order. I spent roughly 1 – 2 days in every city apart from Barcelona and Copenhagen. My trip was all about those two cities as the idea of taking a train trip across Europe came from a long time wish of visiting these two cities. That is why I spent 3 full days in both Barcelona and Copenhagen.
The reason why this trip was so epic for me was because it was a trip where I truly went back to basics and was able to reflect on things. It was a great opportunity to see how many wonderful things are around Europe and it gave me a chance to revisit some of my favorite places that I wanted to go back to (Paris and Berlin), but to also visit some new spots. I, for instance, had never been to Italy before and when I was in Venice I fell in love with the city so much that I feel I need more. So my travel wish list now includes a 2 week trip in Italy.
One challenge for this trip was lugging around my stuff for 3 weeks from train to train as I traveled to all these different places. That’s why I decided to pack lightly. I just took my Herschel back pack and a smaller back pack and that’s it. I didn’t take a large suitcase, packed a small, capsule wardrobe and that was that. That in itself was new to me, because I was always used to packing an outfit for each day I was away, but this time I had to make do with just 10 days worth of outfits.
But of course the trip wasn’t epic because of the challenge of packing lightly and the fact that I had a chance to reflect. I also made some great memories along the way. From getting stranded in the south east of France where no one spoke English and being just fine, to spending an entire day hanging out with some other travelers in Prague: I met so many people and saw so many amazing things, that I gained memoires that will last me a life time.
Highlights of the trip were seeing Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Venice, celebrating my birthday in Vienna and pretty much everything I did in Copenhagen (apart from the weather). I finally got a chance to see Brussels, I shopped in Milan, and had great food in each city. From sitting on Punta Della Santa Maria in Venice overlooking St. Mark’s square to revisiting Angelina’s in Paris for some hot chocolate and macarons: I did everything I wanted to do and more. Not to mention the beautiful landscape you see passing by from behind the train windows. Europe is so pretty!
Last year’s trip formed the preamble for my plan for this year’s trip. I love traveling and seeing different cities and having been to so many places in Europe in just 3 weeks, made me want to go back to the US. I will be visiting fewer cities (5 in 3 weeks, rather than 9) but then again US cities are slightly larger and since I don’t drive it is sometimes a bit of a challenge to get around.
In any case, this trip rekindled my taste for straight up travel and thus I have already come up with more ideas for future trips. From a tour of Italy, to a trip to Norway and, the big dream, traveling through Asia & Australia for 3 months, now all I need is the time and the funds.
What was your favorite vacation?
You can read my report on each city by clicking these posts: