Ever since I was in high school I’ve wanted to backpack through Europe and hop from country to country on my own time. This dream was my entire reasoning for not spending any of my graduation money when I graduated high school when all of my friends went out and bought the latest MAC computer or Gucci sunglasses with theirs. I just got a normal, everyday PC computer and was content with my non-designer sunglasses. Since then I’ve discovered that to be truly content with your life is to understand it, which I don’t, at least not yet. I had a long-term plan and I was going to stick to it. Now that I’m graduating college next May, my dream of backpacking through Europe will finally be coming true. I’ll be finished taking summer classes but I won’t quite have started the next chapter in my life as a law student. I think this month long trip will bridge the gap between the two and lead me into law school with a fresh new outlook on life.
My definition of a road trip has changed slightly over the last couple months. While I still believe that a road trip is a way of gaining experiences and knowledge, I also now see it as a way to attain freedom from the doldrums of everyday life that can so easily bog you down, especially when you’re trying to figure out what exactly you’re going to do with the rest of your life. Road trips can be something that you pursue alone; however, I would prefer to travel to Europe with a companion. Preparing to embark on a new part of my life, I want to find out things about myself I didn’t already know and awaken things already there, and by doing this with a companion the road will be a lot more enjoyable. I plan to live my month long journey with a simple motto: Life is more about the journey than following directions on how you get to the end.
My companion and I plan to first start out on a plane to Madrid, Spain. After spending a couple of days there getting accustomed to the alien lifestyle I will then travel to Barcelona, Spain. Then we're off to Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, France and England where we will end our extensive and intensely busy trip in London and we will fly back home to Texas.
You may ask yourself why I intend on traveling so excessively throughout Europe. I can answer that simply; this will be the only time in my life I will ever be able to travel like this. After next summer I will be locked in the law library for three years studying my life away to then study my life away as a lawyer. The next chance I get will be when I’m retired and won’t be able to cover the same amount of ground I can while I’m young.
A couple of places that I'm stopping at are very personal to me. The first is Madrid where I want to catch a soccer game. I've played soccer for 15 years of my life and therefore, soccer has made a huge impact on my life. I've always wanted to experience a soccer game in Europe because of how much the Europeans love soccer and how into the game they get! Real Madrid is my favorite European team and I can't miss a chance at watching them play! While I'm in Madrid we will stay at Stadmadrid, which is a hostel situated just off the famous Gran Via and within the trendy district of Chueca-Malasana. By staying at this hostel, I can visit theatres, cinemas and authentic tapas bars which are all in walking distance.
The other stop is Prague, Czech Republic; this destination means more to me than any of the others. I am Czechoslovakian, therefore, I have always wanted to see my heritage in person and see what the Czech Republic is really like. Right next to the Czech Republic is Slovakia. When my great grandparents immigrated from Europe to America, these two countries were one, Czechoslovakia. Since then there have been civil wars that have separated them and I want to visit both to get a sense of what my great grandparents’s lives were like so many years ago. While in Prague, I plan on staying at the Arpacay Hostel which unlike most hostels, offers guests free breakfast, free Internet in all rooms and three fully equipped guest kitchens. It is also located in the middle of Prague.
This long journey fulfills my criteria for a road trip by giving me an outlet to escape my everyday life while also giving me a way to connect to my heritage and quench my thirst for new experiences. By traveling to so many different countries I will get to gain many new perspectives on life from being a part of so many different cultures and traditions. After seeing the Czech Republic and Slovakia I have no doubt in my mind that I will walk away from my Europe trip if not a different person, at least one that is more accomplished and satisfied.
This month long road trip will cost a lot of money, but as I said before I never spent any of my $2,000 I got when I graduated high school. Since then I’ve saved up $2,000 working summer jobs and plan to stay within a $4,000 budget. I plan to take the train from country to country and decided to purchase a Eurail Global Pass which is $759 for 15 days of travel within two months. This pass also gives me benefits like free boat and ferry tickets and discounts on hostels and museum tickets. A plane ticket to Europe is very expensive, however, my parents are going to buy me my ticket as a graduation present.
Lucky for me, hostels in Europe are much cheaper than hotels in America. An average cost of a regular hostel is about $15 a night. So, if I stay in Europe for 30 days, my cost of living will be around $420. Two nights I will be traveling by train in double sleeper cars with my companion. These are 75 Euros/$100 and 110 Euros/$140 extra. I figure I'll probably eat about $30 worth of food a day, making my food costs $900. Adding up all my costs is $2,319, which leaves me with $1,681 left over from my $4,000 budget to spend on museums and souvenirs. These costs vary from country to country usually between $10-$35. This will also provide me with an extra cushion in case something goes wrong and I need some emergency money.
Lucky for me, hostels in Europe are much cheaper than hotels in America. An average cost of a regular hostel is about $15 a night. So, if I stay in Europe for 30 days, my cost of living will be around $420. Two nights I will be traveling by train in double sleeper cars with my companion. These are 75 Euros/$100 and 110 Euros/$140 extra. I figure I'll probably eat about $30 worth of food a day, making my food costs $900. Adding up all my costs is $2,319, which leaves me with $1,681 left over from my $4,000 budget to spend on museums and souvenirs. These costs vary from country to country usually between $10-$35. This will also provide me with an extra cushion in case something goes wrong and I need some emergency money.
Having said this, I realize that I will not be traveling by car that a regular road trip calls for. Instead, my form of transportation is a train. I think that the only difference between traveling by car and my train is that I can't stop spontaneously if I wanted to. I must go from point A to B. However, my trip is planned to begin with, it is not spontaneous nor is it random. I know exactly what I want to do and where I want to go. By traveling by train I can enjoy the trip by watching the scenery and it also provides me with time to think about all that I would have seen so far and what has yet to come.
I only plan to bring a backpack with a couple changes of clothes and other necessities. I can’t do the extensive traveling I want to with suitcases. This will definitely be hard for me as I am not in the least a light packer when I go on the shortest of trips. I will have no choice but to pack light though. I can solve this dilemma by buying a travel backpack that holds a lot of stuff.
I only plan to bring a backpack with a couple changes of clothes and other necessities. I can’t do the extensive traveling I want to with suitcases. This will definitely be hard for me as I am not in the least a light packer when I go on the shortest of trips. I will have no choice but to pack light though. I can solve this dilemma by buying a travel backpack that holds a lot of stuff.
This journey will undoubtedly be the most satisfying thing I will have done in my life so far. It will end my days of partying like a college student and give me new knowledge to use in the next chapter of my more serious life. The experiences I gain will give me freedom from my boring everyday lifestyle and I believe that I will feel more complete as a person. I have many twists and turns ahead of me in life, I want one last hoorah before I have to settle down. This trip is the perfect way to do so.
