EuroTrippin' 2012: How It Started

Summer 2011: My best friend Ida went to London to study so before she left, of course I said I'd be going to visit her but it was kind of half-jokingly. I knew I would eventually visit but I was thinking maybe in 3 or 4 years' time. Anyway, the more we talked about it the more excited we got and before I knew what had happened we were going to tour Europe as well. At that point I decided to see how my parents would react so one day when we were walking from the car park I was just like... "Oh yea btw, I'm going to visit Da in London." And they said No. LOLOLOL. Then they tried to compromise and said we'll all go together. And I said No.

Da and I eventually decided we'd go in May-June because we both end our exams then and she had to come back to SG for at least a month to spend time with her family before going back to London. So we got our dates sort of fixed. Every now and then I would just tell my parents "I'm going to London. Then we're going to Europe" and they'd be like OHMAIGADDDNUUU and freak out again. But I'd give a speech on how this is my life and I must make my own decisions and travel on my own to gain independence etc etc etc. My Dad was more supportive but his condition was that they had to come too (right until the week before I left he kept trying to tag along) and my mom was just saying no because it's too dangerous etc etc etc. Then my mom threatened me and said I can't go because they won't pay for me AND THEN I REALISED I had money because I worked after my A' Levels so I just told them that I'm going and they can't stop me and they said ok. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. My parents are damn funny. I think in their hearts they trust me enough to know I will look after myself.

December 2011: Ida and I made more plans. I went to the Library and borrowed a couple of books on Europe. Talked to Raied about Europe because he's been there. My dad also talked to his friends to help me get info. Narrowed down to the couple of countries- Amsterdam, France, Spain, Italy. We were deciding one more from Switz, Germany and Greece. Greece was pretty out of the way and given all the instability we decided not to go there (which was a good decision because we found out later that the Eurail Pass stopped its services there). I FB-msged Marion who is my brother's godsis and a dear family friend. Thought if she was in Switz we'd def go there so I can visit her because I hadn't seen her in a couple of years. Turns out she was in Switz so we chose that as our final country.

I had a lot of research to do because my world map/general knowledge skills are pretty much zero and I didn't even know where Europe was and what country was in Europe (very good i know). My books helped alot and I wrote down what tourist attractions I wanted to visit, what we had to see, what the culture was like and what food to eat there (lolol).

In 2012:
We decided I would fly in on 14th May because I end exams on 6th which would give me time to pack and get whatever I needed for the trip. Ida also ended around that time so it was perfect. The plan was to chill out for 2 weeks in London and she could bring me around and I could help her pack and move out of her student accom. We also FINALLY decided on which order of countries we'd visit first. Had to plan with my other friends who were meeting us in Spain! I think we only finally agreed in April or something because there were alot of other things to consider.
So we agreed on London- Amsterdam- Switzerland- France- Spain- Italy. And I'd fly back from Milan on 28th while Ida flew back to London.

Up next was deciding which cities we wanted to visit in each country and how to allocate our days to which countries and how to get from country to country.

We decided to visit Amsterdam and Zurich. For France we were trying to go to at least two cities, think we narrowed it down to Nice and Paris. We had to check the Eurail route and map to see how long it'd take and if it was on the way or not. Then for Spain we decided Barc and Madrid, those two were pretty easy but deciding which one first was a pain in the ass. For Italy we wanted to go to Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan and maybe a day trip to Pisa.

We basically had a month for everything except London. So we roughly decided on 3 days in Ams, 4 in Switz, 5 in Paris, 3 Barc, 2 Madrid, 3 Rome, 3 Florence, 1 Venice, 2 Milan.

As for which mode of transport, we were deciding between plane and train. Many people who've travelled in Europe go by train through Eurail and Eurorail and Interrail. It was all very confusing but I found out Eurail and Eurorail is the same thing and Interrail is for EU citizens. So Ida had to get an Interrail Pass because she's of UK citizenship and I had to get a Eurail Pass but we could still travel together and everything. The Eurail pass was especially frustrating because we had to buy the pass in advance since it's delievered to your house and there are many different types of passes you can buy- based on the number of countries you're travelling and the travel days needed. Travel days were especially annoying because if you buy too many you're wasting your money and if you buy too few you're basically screwed cuz without the pass a ticket can cost 200 Euros. We also wanted some flexibility and it was damn difficult to see how long you'll take to train from one country to the next because different train timings have different routes, etc and it's hard to plan for something 2 months earlier.

My dad booked my plane ticket and I wld fly Thai Airways cuz he works there. Apparently Eurail pass doesn't have routes from Amsterdam to Switzerland (I don't know how come, I'm still convinced Ida checked incorrectly hahahahaha) so we decided to fly from London to Amsterdam (because Interrail doesn't allow you to train from your home country- in Ida's case) and Amsterdam to Switz. The plane tickets were quite cheap, we booked in Feb. About 30 Euros per flight. Which is about 50 SGD.

We decided to train the rest of the way since everyone trains and we wanted to get the 'real experience' hahahaha. From Spain to Italy the trip was pretty long, like 27 hours (because we have to pass through France again) and I wanted to fly but Ida didn't because her Interrail pass is unlimited so it didnt make sense to pay for the pass and for the air ticket which I understood, so we just decided to train. Finally bought my Pass sometime in April!- 4 countries, 8 travel days 315 Euros.

In the week before I left, I borrowed a backpack from Kiron. Not that I was going to backpack. Ida and I planned to drag luggages the whole time in Europe. We had experience in HK/China when we went in July 2011 and Ida's mom basically ran around the whole of China and HK so Ida and I had to chase after her dragging our suitcases EVERYYYWHERE. But my luggage was tiny. It was the same as what I use for my 4 day trips. And this was 45 days. So my plan was to use both luggage and towards the end if I wanted to buy stuff I could put it in my backpack.
The day before leaving, I did a final calendar outline of our trip, mainly for my dad. But it turned out to be sooooooooooooooo useful for us. Seriously if I didn't do that we definitely wouldn't know where to go and for how long. LOL. I don't know how come I didnt think about doing the calendar for myself. Luckily I printed two copies so I brought one along.

Just realised it's too small for you to see but basically it's a calendar of which country I'd be in and when I leave for the next country and what time I take the train and arrive. (You can get all this info on the Eurail website). When I came back I found out my parents had been crossing the days in anticipation of my return LOLLLLLLLLLLL so cute. Got my dad to photocopy my passport and Jiejie Lydia bought me a travel wallet (the kind you wear beneath your clothes) and I compiled a list of all the Singapore Embassies in the various countries (in case I lose my passport). So basically waz all set to go!