Opportunity Knocks

“It’s been a long time. Long time. I shouldn’t’ve left you. Left you without a dope beat to step to. Step to. Step to. Step to. Step to. Step, step. Freaky-freaky.”
-Aaliyah, Try Again

Well, you heard it here first (or more likely in that email I sent you with the link in it..why would anyone still be checking this blog after it’s been inactive for over a year? Whatever. I know who my real friends are.) I’m hitting the road again! Not quite as aimless as last time, so that’s something to look forward to. Here’s the setup: 3 month round-trip to India, Jan 29-April 30. This opportunity came to me as a nice way to turn apples into…when I put on my rosy colored…when something shitty actually turned out to work in my favor. Back in New York for over a year now, having a holly-jolly time. Truly. I almost want to say that my year here has been more eventful than my time abroad, but that would be a tough call. I’ve worked virtually every job known to man, braved the life of a citygirl, moved twice, ran a half marathon, and tricked quite a few strangers into becoming really good friends. A lot of my time has been funneled into the hERE Arts Center, where I boast a plethora of part-time/freelance little jobbies. Uuunfortunatly, the theatre is closing for a number of months for renovation, leaving me with a lot of free time on my hands and not so much income. Granted, I could have opted for another bout of craigslisting to see me through, but I decided it’d be better just to travel again. Am I right? Yes! Maybe. I do have the plane ticket (and visa this time!), but the airfare cost me more than I was expecting, so once I’m over there, it’s gonna be real interesting to see how I manage. But hey, that’s what India’s all about, right? Asceticism? Who needs people food when you have MIND food. Boy, let’s hope so…

In the meantime, any advice on where to go, what to see, how not to starve, etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

This one goes out to all the will-be travelers out there who want some structure in their lives while backpacking, or who just want a better idea of what is possible. Granted, this is not technically “preparatory” for me, in that I made it up as I went along (with the exception of knowing, “I should go east/west today”) But I thought it might be beneficial for anyone else who was looking to plan a trip like this one and wanted an idea of an itinerary. I broke it down into two parts, the first is a list of the cities I saw in the order I saw them, so some may occur twice because I back-tracked, etc. The second list is a list of countries and how long I stayed in each. Details: I had a 3 month unlimited eurail pass, and for all the bad rap they get for occasional hidden reservation fees, I would say for the amount of cities I got to see, it was definitely worth it. Also, there are many countries where you pay no surcharge, notably: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, most of Italy. (Countries most notorious for charging extra are Spain and France). Virtually all night trains-unless you’re sleeping in a seat, as I usually did-will cost the equivalent of a hostel. Also, I flew in from New York to London, which does not honor eurail, so my 3 months does not start until after get to Paris. So here it is:

London, UK
Paris, France
Brussels, Belgium
Antwerp, Belgium
Brugge, Belgium
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Coppenhagen, Denmark
Malmo, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsinki, Finland
Goteberg, Norway
Trondheim, Norway
Oslo, Norway
Bergen, Norway
Hamburg, Germany
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Munich, Germany
Budapest, Hungary
Vienna, Austria
Salzburg, Austria
Interlaken, Switzerland
Venice, Italy
Padova, Italy
Florence, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Bari, Italy
Athens, Greece
Rome, Italy
Florence, Italy
Salerno, Italy
Legnaro, Italy*
Padova, Italy
Verona, Italy
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Nice, France
Barcelona, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Alacante, Spain
Granada, Spain
Chefchaouen, Morocco
Fez, Morocco
Marrakesh, Morocco
Moulay el Mehdi, Morocco**
Algeceras, Spain
Rondo, Spain
Cordoba, Spain
Lisbon, Portugal
Sintra, Portugal
San Sebastian, Spain
Bordeaux, France
Paris, France
Madrid, Spain
Escoria, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Montpellier, France
Geneva, Switzerland
Montreux, Switzerland
Luzern, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland
Zurich, Switzerland
Innsbruck, Austria
Munich, Germany
Fussen, Germany
Grunau, Austria
Vienna, Austria
* Though this is a lovely village, it is probably not at the top of every travelers list. I went here to get a taste of real Italy and to visit my friend, Nicole. I spent about 4 days here.
**Morocco is not covered under the eurail pass, but I had the time. I spent about a week here.

Country Totals:
UK: 1 week
France: 9 days
Belgium: 4 days
The Netherlands: 3 days
Denmark: 2 days
Sweden: 4 days
Finland: 2 days
Norway: 4 days
Germany: 4 days***
Luxembourg: 2 days
Hungary: 3 days
Austria: 5 days
Switzerland: 8 days
Italy: 2 weeks
Monaco: 1 day
Spain: 2 weeks, 3 days
Morocco: 1 week
Portugal: 3 days
Greece: 4 days
***Germany is a big, beautiful country and it cannot possibly be done justice in 4 days, I was lucky to have spent last spring break there, so I’d already seen a lot of it. I would recommend a week at least.

Places I would like to have seen:
Bilbao, Sevilla, and Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Faro and Porto, Portugal
Milan, Italy
Ireland-it IS included on the eurail pass, but I never quite worked out how to get there.
Somewhere in the arctic circle

Hope this helps somebody. Happy travels.

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