Its 5:00 AM and I am excited. Once again I cannot sleep, the only difference about this time is that the normal slight feeling of fear from traveling alone that I am used to is replaced with sheer excitement. The truth is (as I have later learned) that most people are terrified of traveling alone and the reasons make sense. In fact, it is probably well more normal to have that slight bit of nervousness than to not feel it, especially if you are traveling alone. If you have read my other posts by now you are probably aware that most of the traveling I do is by myself. One of the common questions that I am asked by people is in regards to traveling (or backpacking) alone, why I choose to travel this way and questions about safety.

The true reason I started to travel alone was simple, because I had nobody to travel with. From somebody who often gets lost coming home from places in my hometown the idea was very scary. Later though this decision turned out to be one of my best decisions.

Is it lonely?:
Sometimes... The good news is you are NEVER alone. When you travel alone it can be extremely easy to meet people. In fact it seems as if it is easier to meet people when you travel alone then when you travel with someone else. You force yourself to talk to people. If you stay at youth hostels it becomes very easy to join other groups of people and make new friends. When you travel with the same group of people it becomes very easy to get caught up in a bubble where you avoid things outside of the bubble. I would not of had contact with many of the good friends I have met when traveling if I was with someone else, because I would simply spend the time talking to my friend.



Is it safe?:
This is a more difficult question to answer. Safety is always a concern when traveling anywhere (you can read my article about Safety in Europe here, or about common traveling scams here.). Of course as with going anywhere by yourself, traveling alone creates additional risks. Personally, I find that I am much more aware of my surroundings when I am by myself as opposed to when traveling with a group. That being said, this is coming from a 6ft 3 inch 200 pound man. It goes without saying that girls have different travel risks than guys, if you are a girl it may be better for you to travel with someone. I have however met many women backpackers who travel alone and have had no problems with it.


Protect yourself:
Taking simple steps can make you a lot less of a target. Chances are if you are a target of crime in Europe, it will be non violent crime. So your best bet is to watch your stuff closely. While it can save a lot of time and expenses, traveling at night also increases your risk of crime. Besides for the obvious, traveling at night increases the chance that you will be tired and not fully aware of your surroundings and makes it an easy target.

I have always been a fan of traveling alone. Some of my most memorable experiences have came from these trips. While there might be some additional risk, by being more observant you can safely travel by yourself .

If you have any questions about any country I have visited feel free to e-mail me at scott at scottstravelblog.com

Labels: traveling alone

Backpacking through Bosnia



How to get around:

Why I love Bosnia:

Labels: Sarajevo, traveling to Bosnia

So your going to backpack through Europe. You bought your airplane ticket, prepared for your trip and started to pack. Now your wondering about how you will get from point to point once you are there. One very popular option is getting a rail pass. Pending on where you plan to go, rail passes may be valuable option for you. It might be more beneficial for you to combine individual tickets and discount airfare (see my past article about discount flights).

Should you buy a rail pass?

Despite popular opinion, rail passes may not always be the best option for you. Pending on where you go it may be much more cost efficient to buy individual tickets for shorter destinations and use discount airlines for longer destinations.

Recently, I went on a backpacking trip through Eastern Europe. The countries visited on this trip include Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. For this trip, most rail pass options offered would have been a waste of money. Since I was not entirely sure exactly where I would go, it would have made figuring out what pass to get nearly impossible. Out of all the places that I visited on this trip, rail pass options would only be valid for a few of those countries (only the ones that are members of the European Union).

For most European travel east of Italy and Germany Rail passes are simply not worth it.

Calculating individual ticket prices:
One common way people determine if it is better to purchase a rail pass or individual tickets is by searching for the cost of individual tickets online. Than they see if the average cost of the individual tickets are more or less than the cost of the rail pass. If you do Google search for Europe rail tickets you will get to a variety of websites that offer you both rail passes and individual rail tickets. These third party websites often significantly inflate the cost of individual tickets and may not show you all of your travel options. I am convinced they do this (in part) to try to convince you that a rail pass is a worth wild investment.

For instance, when searching tickets from Budapest to Belgrade (Serbia) using a popular online European rail booking site, a second class ticket costs $54 (around 34 euro) and leaves three times a day. In reality however, there are several trains that take this route each day and night and the price is much cheaper. When I bought my ticket, I paid only 20 euro for the same route directly from the ticket window only thirty minutes before the train departed. For many destinations (particularly in Eastern Europe) it is most cost efficient to purchase your tickets directly from the ticket window. Reservations are often not needed very far in advance (if at all). There are so many trains that leave for each destination, that the trains are never 100% full. In the unlikely event that a train is completely full, they will often simply add more compartments to accommodate the additional demand.

Germany:
If your travel plans include extensive travel through Germany, a rail pass might be a good option for you. German rail travel is extremely expensive. When I attempted to purchase a ticket from Dresden to Stuttgart Germany (on a Sunday night), the cheapest option cost around 104 euro. This is more money than many discount flights cost to go across Europe. When researching if a rail pass is right for you, you should also take into account the many other options available to get around the high cost of train travel in countries like Germany. For example, if you travel on weekends in Germany you can get a 33 euro pass that will allow you to take regional trains anywhere in the country. If you want to travel exclusively in Germany, for more money (over 100 euro) you can buy a pass that will allow you to get half off of train travel for any trains in Germany for a period of one year. Similar options are available in the Netherlands and many other Western European Countries. In Germany, hitchhiking has also become a popular alternative to paying the often exorbitant train prices. That same 104 euro ticket would cost only 25 euro (in gas money) to hitch a ride with two other people. There are many websites that are devoted to helping people find each other for carpools throughout Germany. This is a common practice in Germany and is considered relatively safe by most Germans. Mitfahrgelegenhei (trying saying that five times fast) is the most well known website for hitching a ride in Germany. My good friend Nick outlines some of the advantages and disadvantages to using this service in his blog. He also gives several good tips about traveling in Germany that are definitely worth it to check out.

Advantages to a Rail Pass:
If you couldn't already tell, I am more than a little bit cautious of using prepurchased rail passes, mainly because of the often exorbitant prices that come with them and because purchasing a rail pass often gives you less flexibility in what countries you want to see and in changing your plans once your trip starts. Rail passes do however offer some very distinct advantages. They allow for more adventurous traveling. If you are not sure exactly where you want to go, rail passes allow you to get on and off the train at random places you find interesting along the way. Often times, you cannot do this with individual tickets because the tickets given to you are often for specific trains at specific times. In addition, if you plan your trip well, it could save you some money.

Disadvantages:
Buying a rail pass in advance means you must plan out in advance what countries you want to visit. In order to make the most use of your rail pass you must travel a specific amount of time. If you later decide you want to travel a different route or length of time, you might not get the full benefit of having the pass as you first thought. In addition, there are often individual specials for certain trains that you may not take into account when calculating whether or not a rail pass is worth it. Even with rail passes you still must pay for a reservation on many trains (even trains where reservations are not needed for passengers with individual tickets). Many great countries are not part of the euro rail program. By deciding to only use a rail pass you may be inadvertently deciding to skip a really fantastic country.

Still not sure?

There are many websites that can help you determine if a rail pass is the right option for you. In order for you to determine this, you must have a basic idea of where you want to go. There are also several different types of rail passes that you can purchase.

One website that helps determine the most efficient pass for you is Railpass.com. They also do a good job explaining each of the different rail pass options along with associated costs.

Stay tuned for post updates on how to find the approximate cost of individual tickets.

Happy Travels!

-Scott

As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding this article or any countries that I have visited, please feel free to leave a comment on this page or e-mail me at Scottmaaronson@hotmail.com

Labels: german travel, ic, ice, railpass, train, train traveling

I made it! After nearly two days of traveling, I made it to my first destination: Barcelona, Spain.

The trip:
Despite getting lucky in the airport, the trip was a long one. After several previous cancelled flights (due to weather), I convinced the airline agent to rebook me on a direct flight (from a different airline) to Frankfurt, saving me the extra train trip from Cologne to Frankfurt (and some time to catch my next flight).

The first plane ride (operated by Northwest Airlines)was uneventful. The Ryan Air flight from Frankfurt Hahn to Barcelona was interesting to say the least. It was full of a younger European football (soccer) team, who continued to chant songs and cheers the entire trip. If you are curious about budget airlines like Ryan Air you can check out my previous blogs explaining how they operate here


It cost twelve euros to get from Girona airport to Barcelona. If you have time it is recommended that you also walk around the city of Girona. It is about an hour ride to Barcelona. The bus stops in the main bus terminal.


The City:
Barcelona is a big place. It has tons of streets each similar to the next. luckily, taxi rides are relatively inexpensive (between eight and fourteen euros should get you between most places in the city). Make sure you ask the approximate price in advance for the taxi or they may try to rip you off. One taxi asked for fifty euros for my mother to be taken from Barcelona Airport to a hotel outside the city center. Instead she took a bus to her destination for around three euros. It is important to know that unlike many other popular tourist destinations, there are less people in Barcelona that speak english. If you search hard enough however, you can find someone who speaks the languages. If you make an attempt to ask the locals for help in their language, many are friendly and more than happy to help.



Where to stay:

It is recommended that you stay near las ramblas. This is the main street and tourist destination. There are SEVERAL affordable hostels and budget hotels that are all over the city. Since I am traveling here with my mother, we decided to stay at a nicer hotel. We stayed at the Villia De Emilia, a four star hotel located slightly outside of the city center. It was a little farther out (about twenty minutes walking from Las Ramblas) but the service was amazing and up to American standards for customer service (which is unusual for European hotels). It was however very expensive (around $190 a night). Normally I opt to stay in youth hostels. They are much less expensive and provide a nice opportunity to meet other young travelers (in Barcelona they cost around ($20-$30). However, for this trip (with my mother) the nicer hotel was a perfect option. When my mother arrived (and her bags did not) she was very distressed (we had a cruise the following day). The hotel worked all day to try to retrieve the bags. I arrived late to Barcelona (receiving my luggage and getting to Girona airport took much longer than I expected). The hotel receptionist could sense that my mother was worried and called all the airports to have me paged. The receptionest stayed well after his shift was over to make sure that I arrived and that my mothers fears were calmed.



Barcelona Tips:

Watch your things: It is important to watch your items closely. While this is true everywhere, Las Ramblas street is particularly known for pickpockets.

Learn Spanish: In MANY places in Europe you can get by pretty easy by only speaking English. In Spain this is simply not true. If you do not speak the language it is harder to get help. A good idea is to buy a simple phrase book. I have found that even if you attempt to speak Spanish, people are much more friendly towards you. When approaching someone instead of asking them in English, first ask them nicely if they speak English. If they say no, try your best to get the message across that you need help before they walk away.


Las Ramblas: This is a great place to see, however if you plan on purchasing anything (including food and souvenirs) it is advised that you wonder off Las Ramblas. Food on Las Ramblas is about twice the price of food in the rest of Barcelona and often the quality is worse. To give an example, on Las Ramblas I could buy a small personal pizza for about 10 euro. Right off of Las Ramblas I found a nice buffet for about 9 euro including all you can eat pizza, frozen yogurt and more.



Getting your baggage: Any time I fly into any part of Spain (on any carrier) I have noticed the large amount of baggage that gets lost by the airline. In the hotel we stayed at we could see several bags behind the counter and more bags constantly arriving from different airlines. The good news is most lost baggage are recovered within twenty four hours (for about 95% of the cases). If your baggage is lost, most airlines also pay for you to buy basic necessities and give you money for each day your bag is late (in Spain, it seems that 50 euro a day allowance is common for most carriers). It is still recommended that you pack some of your essentials (medicine, a change of clothes etc.) in your carry on bag. If your bag did not arrive with your plane try to take care of it at the airport as it is more difficult to take care of it at the phone from other places. Some airlines like Iberia (who lost about 50% of the baggage received on my previous flight to Madrid) actually make you pay to speak to their representatives through the phone about your lost baggage. Their rate was exorbant (something around 30-40 euro-cents a minute). They often put you on hold for a while before picking up. If you are at the lost baggage counter and they give you a number to call about your bags, demand that the situation is taken care of while you are there (so you do not have to waste your money and time making long phone calls). Give them the address to where you are staying. If your bag does not arrive before you leave, give the place that you are staying a new address to tell them where to forward the bag. If your bag is lost, don't worry too much! Remind yourself your on vacation! If you choose to have a great time, you will have a great time.. no matter what.



Touring the city:
You have several options on how to see the city. It seems that the most common option is the bus tour. It has three different lines and takes you through most of the city. The drawbacks to this method is that there is a long wait for the bus at many of the larger destinations. At one point the wait was over an hour long. It also costs 19 euro for a one day pass (the bus operates from 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM). If you are the type that likes to see all of the tourist spots than the bus tour is probably for you, but if your like me (and can only take so much of the site seeing) I found that it was much easier to get around to the more popular destinations using the metro and walking.

Things to see:
There are several great things to see in Barcelona. Stay tuned to future updates and additions of this article to hear all about it (right now it is time for me to enjoy my next destination).

Things NOT to see:
There are also several things NOT worth seeing (in my opinion). Stay tuned to future blogs and I will update this article


Happy Travels!

-Scott
Current location: Savona, Italy


As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns about any article I have wrote about or any country I have visited please feal free to leave a comment on this page or e-mail me at scottmaaronson@hotmail.com.

*I apologize for any mispellings in this article. The spellcheck function does not seem to be working on this computer as it is set in Italian mode.

Labels: baggage delay, Barcelona, Spain

Starting today I will begin another European adventure. Countries on my wish list to see include: Germany, Spain, Italy, Tunisia, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Greece and Turkey. This trip will be slightly different from the rest of my adventures, as I will be meeting up with my mother for the first ten days (to see Spain, Italy and Tunisia). This is her first time leaving North America. I am sure she will have a great time! You will hear all about it.

Anyways, thanks for reading my blog. Checkout some of my other articles for some travel tips. Stay tuned for further updates from the road!

Happy Travels
-Scott

Current Location:
West Bloomfield, Michigan

In route to: Barcelona, Spain
Detroit, MI USA --> Newark, USA (airplane)
Newark-->Cologne, Germany (airplane)
Cologne-->Frankfurt, Germany (train)
Frankfurt--> Frankfurt Hahn (Shuttle Bus/Train)
Frankfurt Hahn-->Girona, Spain (airplane)
Girona, Spain --> Barcelona (Shuttle Bus)

(Yes, that is what happens when you change your plans last minute)

It was my first time backpacking in a foreign country by myself. In fact it was the first time I pretty much traveled anywhere by myself and the first time I have left North America. I could not sleep the entire night before I left. I had read a ton of articles that mentioned the many various types of street crime in Europe. In particular I remember reading about pickpockets and how prevalent they were on the tube (London's subway system). I was paranoid, very paranoid. In fact I was probably too paranoid. I kept looking over my shoulder every second. It was to the point where I probably stood out. Needless to say, nothing happened.

Am I going to get robbed?
If you have already researched traveling abroad to Europe, you have probably read many articles (you can read my article about common scams here) regarding the high level of crime in Europe. These articles may of scared you. The TRUTH is that the chances of being involved in a violent crime are actually much lower in Europe than if you would walk through most major cities in the United States. While there is a higher percentage of petty crimes, if you are aware of your surroundings (and follow my advice) chances are you will not encounter any problems. Over twelve million people from the United States alone travel to Europe every year. Most of them return home without a problem (and everything that they came with). Thieves look for easy targets. If you have locks on your bag and are aware of the common threats, you will probably be fine and the crooks will move on to someone who is more of an easy target.

Risk Vs. Reward
Needless to say there is always some risk when traveling (along with doing anything in life). Nothing is ever certain. To say that crime cannot happen to you is also the wrong way to look at things. Only you can decide if the slight increase in risk of theft is worth the rewards of traveling. Personally, I refuse to let my worries, or negative articles ruin my trip or prevent me from going all together.

In anything in life you have to take a little bit of risk to gain the benefits of the reward. Traveling is no different. When I first traveled I was afraid. Mostly I was afraid of the unknown, of being lost or alone in a different world than I was accustomed to. Even though I did my research, it was not until I traveled a bit more that I became more comfortable with the concept. Even today, I still often feel uneasy before a big trip. In the end my adventures have always been worth it.

A big part of backpacking and traveling somewhere new is learning how to manage when you are out of your element. This can be uncomfortable, but the more you do it the easier it will become and the more you will learn about yourself and be able to adapt to different situations.





Happy Travels,

-Scott


As always if you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to leave a comment on this page or e-mail me at ScottMAaronson@Hotmail.com .

Labels: europe, safety, train traveling

It is clear that the most expensive part of traveling on a budget is the airfare to your desired region. This is also the cost that will vary the most and is the most unforeseeable expense. Airfare that costs $700 one day may become $550 or $900 the next. There is no doubt that finding a good deal on airfare is the hardest part of keeping the cost of any budget trip down. Not to worry though, there are several tips and suggestions that can help improve the chances of you finding the perfect flight. There are also several ways where you can save a bunch of money by flying budget airlines within the region you want to travel.

Getting to your destination:

You probably have heard of several different sites like Expedia.com and Travelocity. These sites allow you to search good deals from multiple airlines at once (you save even more if you are the type that likes to stay in a hotel at one location). When you find your desired flight, you book through them. They tack on a slight service charge and you get your cheap flight (or flight/hotel package). Generally these sites work pretty well in getting you decent fares even if you choose airline only. These sites are not the best. My favorite site is Kayak.com. This site searches hundreds of different airlines along with most of the sites like Travelocity and Expedia. In addition it does not add any additional service fees for helping you find the cheapest flight.

When trying to book a trip to Europe I have found that (for the most part) it doesn't matter where you book to in Europe, because once you are in the region you can often use discount European carriers to get you anywhere you want to go in Europe. (I will explain how to find cheap discount European carriers later in this article). In many cases, the combined price of your direct ticket to Europe and the budget European carrier to your specific destination is less than the cost of buying a direct ticket to the end destination.

For example, say you want to backpack through Spain and Portugal but you only have ten days to do it. You decide to leave from Detroit. You notice that the cheapest airfare Kayak is pulling up is $1800 to any point in Spain (yes you REALLY waited till the last minute). However you notice that there is a flight to Frankfurt, Germany for $1200. You than look and find that you can get to Barcelona through a discount airline for only 40 euros (each way). By taking the second option you saved roughly $680 off of your last minute flight.

When I fly to Europe I generally fly into Frankfurt (airport code: FRA), Cologne (airport code CGN) or London (airport code: LON). This is because I have found these particular European destinations to have the cheapest flights coming from the United States. They each also have large hubs for major discount airlines. Prices of flights to different areas change frequently as new routes are created. So make sure to do your research, it pays!

Finding Discount (Regional) Flights:

You might have heard of the concept of a budget airline. In Europe the most popular include RyanAir.com and easyjet.com. There are HUNDREDS of these airlines to choose from (way too much to list in this post). The good news is that this means there is a better chance for you to find that perfect flight for a perfect price. The bad news is that it makes it harder to find the absolute best deals. Unfortunately Kayak.com does not search most of these budget regional airlines so it would not be of good use here. Luckily for you there is a website that searches several of the budget airlines for the best price. I found the absolute best website to find the flight you are looking for to be Skyscanner.net. I found whichbudget.com to also be a helpful site when it comes to searching for multiple discount airlines.

Things to remember when booking budget airlines:
It is true that budget airlines are significantly cheaper than regular airlines and traveling by train or bus, but there are some important things to remember when booking.

Book in Advance- While these airlines are very very cheap (and you can often get decent rates close to the time you want to fly), the farther in advance you book the better rates you will receive.

Customer Service-I have found customer service to be much worse on these type airlines. Check in closes strictly 30-40 minutes before scheduled takeoff and if you miss your flight (for any reason) there is often nothing they can do to help you find another one (you might have to pay a fortune to book your next flight). Sometimes if I am not 100% sure I will make it on time for my flight, I book an extra flight for the next morning just so I don't have to worry too much if I miss it. This is a great way to guarantee your flight (think of it as buying insurance).

Extra fees- Certain budget airlines (like Ryan Air) charge extra fees for things like checking luggage (Ryan Air charges a separate 7 euro fee). These fees are not listed in the quoted price of airfare and often are not shown until the last checkout page.

Destinations- To cut cost some carriers do not take you to the main airports that you might think you are headed to. Ryan Air is well known for doing this. For instance when traveling from Frankfurt to Barcelona with Ryan Air you actually are flying from Frankfurt Hahn (almost two hours away from Frankfurt) to Girona, Spain (about 45 minutes away from Barcelona). They often provide decent transportation (either shuttle bus or a train) from the city to the airport, but it is important to allocate extra time for the transportation service. To make it less confusing airlines that do not leave or enter from the main destination now put the real airport location in parentheses so you know (so on the drop down menu Barcelona would show as Barcelona (Girona).

Are budget airlines safe?

I have often heard people question the safety of these airlines (mainly because nobody associates budget anything with being safe). The truth is while budget airlines like Ryan Air learned to cut cost in many ways (through bad airports and customer service just to name a few) they are just as strict when it comes to public safety. They follow the same procedures for safe travel as any other airlines and the planes are also often the exact same type as used by many of the airlines you may be more familiar with (don't worry, you wont be flying by yourself in a propeller plane flown by a dutch farmer, I promise :) ).

Simply said, combining regular airlines, regional discount airlines and other means of transportation are a great way to save a ton of money while traveling.

Happy Travels!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding this article or any countries that I have visited, please feel free to leave a comment on this page or e-mail me at Scottmaaronson@hotmail.com

Labels: airplanes, Budget airlines, discount carriers, easyjet, flights, Ryanair