Category: Europe09

When I say we are backpacking, that’s exactly what we are doing. One backpack per person. No suitcases and no giant backpacks either. We are using the small backpacks that count as airplane carry-ons. We’ll do laundry on the road, at laundromats or in the hotel sink. So you will see us in the same clothes in all the pictures. It’s 2 or 3 pairs of pants, 3 or 4 shirts, enough socks and underwear for a week, one pair of shoes, one jacket. That’s it. If we forget something or need something we’ll buy it there. It’s not like we are going to the middle of the desert.

If it doesn’t fit in the backpack, or weighs too much, it stays home. No laptop, too heavy. I’m going to be using my Nokia Tablet (which is the size of an iPhone). I wrote a small app for it that will allow me to post these blog messages to hovorka.org. So forgive any typos, as the device has a very small keyboard.

There is so much to see and do, it was hard to set limits. I know we will be missing a lot, mostly because we are never staying more than 4 days in any city, but this is a highlights only European Grand Tour. 6 countries, 21 days, roughly 3200 miles (5150 km), not including the flight from Seattle.

We will start in London, hitting some of the museums and renting a car for a day to drive to Stonehenge and Windsor Castle (and for the excitement of driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the car). Then we travel by train to Brussels Belgium for lunch, and on to the Rhine River in Germany to view some old castles. From there, we go to Europa Park for some roller coaster thrills. After spending a night in Basel Switzerland, we fly to Naples Italy so we can see Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. We fly back to Switzerland, this time to Geneva, and catch a shuttle bus to Chamonix France to hopefully see Mont Blanc, if the weather cooperates. Then we take a series of trains to get to Arles France to see old Roman ruins. Finally, it’s off to Paris for about a day and a half before flying home. Whew! We will be busy.

Denise and I never backpacked through Europe after college. I’m not sure I even realized it was an option, but I probably wouldn’t have appreciated it back then anyway. So now, 20-something-mumble-mumble years later, off we go to backpack through Europe – of course Denise is much younger than me so it’s only been a couple of years after college for her Although the budget will be slightly larger than a college kid can afford, it won’t be by much. We won’t be staying in $10 a night youth hostels, but we won’t be staying in big chain hotels either. We will be staying at Mom-and-Pop hotels-pensions-zimmers. More along the lines of a bed and breakfast in some cases, or just a really small hotel in others. Much cheaper than chain hotels. Living where we do, you can’t help but get infected by Rick Steves and his style of European budget travel. Hopefully his recommendations are good.

Also unlike college kids, we won’t get to travel for 3 months or more. This trip is limited to 3 weeks (still nothing to complain about). One drawback of being a responsible adult, you can’t go off for 3 months, not if you want to keep your job (but I guess I could lug around a laptop. Hmm, maybe I should rethink this trip).

Leaving soon, setting up blog.