After much thought and hand-wringing, I've decided to spend my vacation in Europe - Italy to be exact.
Long story short - I had a long list of things I wanted to do and places I wanted to go. But nothing really popped out at me. Some places were too expensive, too domestic, or just didn't seem like it would be fun for the solo traveler. But after thinking about it (and spending hours on the Intarweb), I settled on:
-a moderately long time frame: 3 weeks
-living the austere lifestyle: will carry one backpack with a total volume of ~50 L depending on how many pods I attach (separate kit review coming up)
-european destination but concentrating on one country and really trying to experience depth; the final 2 were Spain vs. Italy, with the latter winning out
-the concept of "couchsurfing" rather than hostelling, because it truly lets you interact with the locals....and it's cheap!
That was my framework - the rest would be details to be filled in later. So then, first step? Transpo, my man. My research had led me to several sources for flights. These included the usual suspects: Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, Sidestep. Studentuniverse is also a good site; they advertise special fares available only to students/faculty and actually go to some length to verify you have a legit .edu address. I didn't happen upon any incredible deals when I bought my tix...in fact, rechecked Sidestep just now and I see my itinerary available on Delta for ~$100 less than I paid on Iberia. *sigh*
So. I'd chosen a destination and committed to it by purchasing airfare. With a timeframe set, tasks to do started faling into place. Next up, I'll talk a bit about the nitty-gritty planning that is ahead of me. Countdown: 6 wks, 1 day.
Until next time...
Addendum: In my research I came across a myriad of sites dedicated to international travel, backpacking tips, forums for youths and the youthful at heart, gear reviews, networking sites....the list goes on. These have provided good info so far, as well as introduced me to the world of couchsurfing!
couchsurfing dot com
nomadbackpackers dot com
raileurope dot com
No comments:
Post a Comment