I would like to make it clear that while yes, I was on a quest to visit my 100th country, it wasn’t as if I had planned this my whole life, jumping in and out of countries on purpose to collect stamps and gather photos. It is true that I was fortunate to travel to so many places as a handy byproduct of my work. Because I had ended up so close to achieving the goal within just months of this birthday milestone, that is why I perused it. I am not a natural country-counter (but I do have to say that it’s hard not to keep track when it’s the first question we get when people hear of our past professions and affinity for travel).
I just wanted to put that out there for a little context. Moving on…
Does anyone else give themselves boat-loads of homework?! I am always assigning myself things to do – write this, publish these, edit those, compile that, contact them, and so on forever and ever! I don’t hate it…it can just be overwhelming at times (cue meditation), especially with my habit of procrastinating in the dark winter months – what is that?! It sucks!
That all being said, I feel like the task of wrapping up this trip has been heavily weighing on my mental to-do list as a precursor for allowing myself to compile and publish posts about our April trip to the Philippines, so without further ado, I present you with some more detailed information on our Eurotrip through the following countries on my quests to reach 100 before turning 30:
Map (click to be redirected to interactive version):
Itinerary:
Tips:
- Vegan Travelers – get the Happy Cow app. Pay for it. It’s worth it. Click the links below to see where we indulged along the way.
- Set up a rough plan before you go – we used google docs and I’m so grateful for being organized from the start. We also had columns for addresses, confirmation numbers, and who paid for each part
- Get travel insurance in case you run into any frustrating travel scenarios
- Know what time-zone you’re in so you don’t almost miss your flight
- Use your phone camera sparingly – when you blow up the photos, the lack in quality will make you instantly regret not pulling out the big camera
- Don’t count on getting much natural sleep on an overnight bus
- Sparkling water on a bus is a terrible idea
- Restaurant shoes with water resistant canvas and comfort soles can actually come in quite handy when walking around various cities of unpredictable weather – check these ones out. I had them leftover from a summer job and am so glad I took them on our trip!
- You don’t officially need a backpack to “backpack” here – I had to stop using mine and purchase a wheelie bag because of the mold and I actually enjoyed rolling my bag around and plopping it open at each stop.
- Luggage straps helped keep me confident that my cheap bag would hold through all the luggage handling
- I am so grateful I packed my long-sleeve yoga top from old navy. It’s not this one but similar. Since it doesn’t cut high up under the arms it stays fresh(ish) smelling WAAAY longer!
- If the hostel is really cheap – you may not like it when you arrive…
- Try using a small vitamin case for your earrings and to keep your necklaces from tangling
- BRING EARPLUGS – for hostels, trains, night-buses, etc.
- If you care about your nails on your trip, bring the same nail polish as you got on your pedicure to fix inevitable chips along the way
- WIPES (both for body and surfaces) – you’ll want them to clean dirty tray tables, gross countertops, and even sweaty little you!
- Re-usable water bottle
- Maybe don’t drink alcohol – it can dehydrate you and keep you from getting the most out of each place. Your call but I went dry for the trip and remember everything! Plus, no headaches!
Photos:
And finally…don’t you hate having tons of photos that never get put anywhere/used for anything?? I do. So I made this quick slideshow. Soon I will do the video. Soon.
For other photos, check the hashtag #SheHits100by30 on instagram and/or scroll through @sheheartsearth.
