Traveling Europe 101: Electronics

If you plan to bring electronics that will require an electrical outlet, a European Outlet Adapter will be needed. Check the voltage ratings on the electronics you plan to bring. Nowadays, most electronics are capable of handling 220 V, if not, a converter will be needed.

Most hostels accommodate Wi-Fi, so bringing a lap top is a definite option. If you are planning to bring a digital camera and are concerned oh how much memory to bring, there are several options:

1. Buy more memory cards
2. If you plan to bring your laptop, transfer your files to your laptop
3. Use a digital camera backup device such as CLICK HERE
4. Go to a camera shop and have them transfer your digital files to a CD. Most metropolitan areas will have camera shops that can accommodate this task.

Traveling Europe 101: Clothing and Travel Bag

How much clothing you plan to pack is all preference. Some people pack heavy and others pack light. Personally, I do my best to pack light. Facilities to wash your clothes are available everywhere, so I tend not to bring too many articles of clothing. For a three week excursion, the clothes that I bring consist of (summer months):

1 Light weather proof jacket
5 T-shirts
2 Shorts
1 Swimming shorts
2 pants
5-7 undergarments
1 set flip flops

Some Travelers like the traditional large hiking adventure backpacks, but I prefer the hybrid backpack/luggage (I have an older model in comparison to item in the link provided). It features:

A detachable day backpack
Wheels on the Main Bag
Hidden straps on the Main Bag to convert to a large backpack

At times when stairs are the only option, the backpack conversion comes in real handy. When fatigue from traveling sets in, the wheels on the bag are very useful.

Traveling Europe 101: Cash, Credit, and Traveler’s checks

Before embarking on your trip, make sure to call your credit card companies and bank to inform them you’ll be traveling. This ensures your Credit Cards and your Bank Card will operate during your trip.

There are a plethora of banks throughout the metropolitan areas of Europe, so bringing a large sum of cash isn’t necessary. Depending who you bank with, the transaction fees when exchanging currency with Currency Exchange Booths may be higher than your bank fees when withdrawing money from a foreign bank. Check with your local bank for foreign transaction fees and withdraws.

Because of the accessibility of banks and the numerous merchants that accept Credit Cards, Travelers checks are a distant option. I carry Travelers checks for emergency purposes. Because they don’t’ expire, I still have the same travelers checks purchased from my first Euro trip. The left over checks became my emergency checks after learning it cost less to withdraw money from a bank rather than going to a cashier to exchange currency.

As mentioned, to avoid any surprise when you receive your bank and credit card statements, check with your local bank and your credit card company for foreign transaction fees.

Traveling Europe 101: Hostels or Hotels

When traveling on a semi budget, from my experience, Hostels are an excellent alternative to Hotels. It’s like staying in a dormitory. The amount of people in the room will vary. Suites will have it own washroom and regular dormitory rooms have a community washroom. Hostels are not only a cost effective way of sleeping but also an excellent way of meeting other travelers. Hostels with their own private pub usually have an excellent social atmosphere. Some facilities will also offer a complimentary breakfast which may consist of bread, juice, and cereal. Like Hotels, when booking Hostels, I tend to book hostels with a better than average review.

If I’m traveling with a group, I try to rent a flat. There are people whom rent their properties for an extended period of time. In addition to the privacy you’ll get from renting a flat, it may be cheaper than a hotel and hostel.

For the most part, I tend to stay in hostels then stay in a hotel on the very last night of each trip for the sole purpose of privacy prior to a long flight back home.

Although I’ve never tried it, Camp grounds and couch surfing are other alternatives when traveling on a budget. I’ve met plenty of travelers who have couch surfed. The feed back that I’ve received are mixed – good and bad reviews. As far as Camping, camping is camping. There are tons of backpackers who do all of the above. On my part, hostels, hotels, and Flat rentals have been my choice.


The sources that I use to book my Hostels and Hotels are:

Hostelworld.com
Hotels.com
Travelzoo.com
Travelocity.com

Information on Flat rentals can be found through on-line search engines.
Information on Couch surfing can be found on couchsurfing.org

Traveling Europe 101: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

There are several ways of getting around Europe. The type of transportation that I’ve used frequently to get to city to city or country to country is the Train. The website with answers to all questions in regards to the Euro Rail can be found at

- RailEuro.com

If you’re planning to partake in a festivity or will be traveling in and around an area with a special event, it’s best to go ahead and book your ticket in advance because the seats on the train will sell out (see blog posted on Dec 12, 2008; Bus Ride to Pamplona).

When traveling between destinations, booking an overnight train is an economical way of traveling if the distances between the cities are great. The overnight train may save you 8 hours of daylight and save you money by not having to book a room in a city. Basically instead of traveling during the day, travel at night if the cities are distant. You can book a ticket with a bed.

There are also other ways of getting around - bus, car rental, or airplane. It sometimes is cheaper and faster to fly to another country than taking the train. The Bus is also a good option. My experience on it was excellent. It was actually faster getting to the destination and a lot cheaper. The only draw back was the bus rode in did not have a facility to urinate in.

Traveling Europe 101: Destinations and Searching Air Fares

1. Figure out where to fly in to and where to fly out from
2. Take travel time into account
3. It is all relative

If you have a general idea where you’d like to go and you have your holiday dates figured out, take the biggest step and book your multi city ticket. Clamp down on a specific destination by booking your ticket and let the places in between develop on its own. Once the plane ticket is purchased, everything will fall into place.

Deciding that I wanted to participate La Tomatina as the highlight for my third trip, I randomly decided where I wanted to fly into and where I wanted to fly out from. This decision was based on wanting to start my holiday on a nice slow pace and end it in a party city. In doing so, I choose Lisbon as my in route and Prague as my out route: two countries that are completely distant from each other. As I started to go through my reference books, everything in between began to develop including La Tomatina. As I decided each city I wanted to visit, travel time and the amount of days I wanted to spend in each city were accounted for. The in between cities that I choose were Florence, Bologna, Venice, and Salzburg. I chose Florence because I wanted to taste the Tuscan region, Bologna because just because, Venice because I wanted to go back and get another painting from the same artist whom I purchased from during my first trip, and Salzburg because I wanted to do the cheesy Sound of Music Tour.

When planning destinations, travel time must be accounted for. In addition the amount of time you’re willing to spend on the road traveling should also be thought out. Distance between cities is all relative. Europe is a large country. The technique I use is thinking in terms of how long it takes me to travel from San Francisco to LA; or how long it takes to fly to New York from San Francisco.

There are several web sites that I use to search for my multi-city Airline ticket.
- Travelzoo.com
- Cheapoair.com
- Cheapair.com
- Cheaptickets.com

When purchasing tickets, I’ve discovered bookings during midweek are cheaper than bookings during the weekend. In addition, flying in and out of the country is cheaper midweek rather than the weekend.

Traveling Europe 101: Dates and Days and Books

1. What do you want to do

2. How much time do you have

3. Get a(some) reference book(s)

When planning a trip to Europe the first step is to figure out what country you would like to explore and what you want to do: Go to a festival, party like a rock star, see some art, shop, etc? Theoretically and realistically, all of this can be accomplished in the same trip pending on time and locations selected.

Prior to my third trip out to Europe, I wanted to participate in La Tomatina (The Tomato festival). I started planning my trip by finding out the dates of the festival and how many days I would be able to spend in Europe. I then accommodated my destinations around the event and gathered as much information as I could on-line on La Tomatina. The internet is your best friend.

I highly recommend going to the book store or library and start looking at some travel reference books. Europe is a large country and figuring out where to go can be overwhelming. Get familiar with the books and find out which book or books you’re comfortable with. I personally use 2 books. One published by Rick Steves entitled Best of Europe 2006 and the other published by the Lonely Planet entitled Europe on a Shoestring. Every time I travel to Europe, both of these books travel with me. They’re both useful for places to see, places to stay, maps, and how to get to here and there.