2 Months of Solo Travel in Europe: Itinerary + Reflections

I’ve wanted to try longer-term or “slow” travel for while, especially since I’ve had a fully-remote job since Fall 2019.

But then, 2020 happened, and we all had to stay at home. 2021 rolled around, and we were all still cautious. 2022 came by, and I was looking forward to a summer of travel—but then life threw a ton of bricks my way and I was extremely unwell for most of the year due to a B12 deficiency (please take your vitamins if you’re plant-based!). It took me months of vitamins and therapy to feel more like myself, and I’m so grateful to be feeling up to traveling again.

This is the story of the European trip that was supposed to happen in 2022, but actually finally happened from August-October 2023. I’ll share where I went, who I met, and what I learned. It will be more personal, but there will also be some practical tips and cost breakdowns.

This post contains affiliate links to some of the travel services I use and love, meaning that I may earn a small commission on any purchases through those links.

How to Navigate this Post

If you just want to see what I’ve been up to, then this entire post will hopefully be interesting (it’s longggg though). If you want to skip around, Chamonix had the most drama, Paris had the best photos, Brussels had some of my favorite memories, and Berlin was all about the marathon (use the table of contents above).

If you’re just here for the logistics/itinerary of a 2-month trip in Europe, know that my destinations were limited to France (half my time was spent there), Belgium, Germany, and Denmark (plus day trips to The Netherlands and Sweden). This post won’t be that helpful if you’re trying to plan a grand European tour, but it will hopefully be helpful if you’re interested in these countries in particular.

For more touristy/travel tips, check out the blurbs at the end of each stop with my favorite things to do in these destinations, plus the more logistical/reflective sections. 

Where I Went + How I Got There

I decided to stay in Europe for 2 months because I was invited to a wedding in France at the beginning of August, and also had the Berlin Marathon on my schedule at the end of September.

Instead of taking two round-trip international flights, I wanted to stick around in Europe and make my way slowly from France to Germany. It would be perfect for saving emissions and getting blog content.

I stayed in 10 different cities and 3 countries over the span of 2 months. They included:

City	Length of Stay
Paris, France	1 night
Dax, France	2 nights
Bordeaux, France	7 nights
Chamonix, France	17 nights
Annecy, France	6 nights
Paris (again)	3 nights
Brussels, Belgium	7 nights
Cologne, Germany	7 nights
Berlin, Germany	7 nights
Copenhagen, Denmark	3 nights

I also made day trips to:

• Saint-Émilion, France
• La Réole, France
• Talloires, France
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Ghent, Belgium
• Malmö, Sweden

I flew from Ohio (where I’m based these days when I’m not traveling) to NYC, where I then stayed with friends a few days on the way there and back. I flew nonstop into Paris from NYC, and then flew nonstop back from Copenhagen.

It was my goal to take trains the rest of the trip, for both environmental and comfort reasons. I was able to do this, other than a flight from Bordeaux to Geneva, as that was the best way to get to Chamonix without a car.

Pro tip: If you plan to do extensive train travel in France, and you’re under 28 years old, I highly recommend getting a carte jeune, or young person’s card. It costs 50 euros and will save you at least 30% on high-speed trains, plus there are capped prices depending on the length of the trip. It paid itself back in one longer trip for me, and the same happened with my friend.

Logistics: Working, Costs, Etc.

In case you’re curious about the practical aspects of the trip, here’s some info:

Was this work or vacation?

This wasn’t a vacation—I was working pretty much the entire time. I work remotely for an edtech startup and they’re very flexible with location; I just had to work Eastern Time, which was an adjustment, but not as bad as it sounds (2-10pm, sometimes 3-11pm Europe time). I also treated this a trip for gathering info/experiences to be able to blog about later.

I didn’t mind having the morning to myself to explore, and then working the rest of the day. I did get pretty tired around 9pm each day briefly, but then I got it together for the rest of the night.

The worst part of working Eastern Time in Europe was the social aspect. I wasn’t able to hang out in the evenings, and that made me feel like I missed some experiences or social connections. Next time, I’ll definitely arrange a day a week where I work European hours.

Was this trip expensive?

This was relatively expensive because of housing, especially since I was moving around basically every week. I stayed in Airbnbs (mainly shared with the host), and I spent just under $4,740 on housing for 59 days, which worked out to $80.30 per day.

I would’ve loved to spend a lot less, especially since rent in Europe is cheaper in comparably-sized US cities, but the cost of short-term housing is just much higher. You could definitely save money by staying in places for longer, and you’ll save the most if you sublet or have an actual rental contract.

The most expensive places were Copenhagen, Berlin, and Cologne (almost $100/night or more). I spent a little extra in Berlin on a hotel since I wanted to be close to the marathon start/finish, but looking back, I should’ve saved and relied more on the very good public transport.

All that said, I didn’t have rent to pay in the US since I’ve been traveling so much that all my stuff is at my parents’ place. So, this works out to about the cost of a 1-bed each month in a city like Boston.

Food and groceries seemed pretty much similarly-priced, so no complaints there. You can go out to eat and get a good meal for around 20€. I cooked as much as possible to save money.

Also, I still had euros leftover in my Wise borderless account from when I lived in Dijon, so I used that along with my US credit cards with no foreign transaction fees.

Any other questions?

Leave them in the comments and I’d add my response to the post if I think it would help others!

Trip Recap/2-Month Europe Itinerary

Let’s dive into a little storytime off all the places I went, plus my favorite spots in each city.

Dax, France

I arrived in Paris and only stayed one night before heading south to Dax for a wedding nearby in the French countryside. This wedding was super special because I actually introduced the couple (totally by chance).

When I studied abroad in Bordeaux in 2016, I befriended my French and math tutors (Aurélie and Stéphane). On a visit back to Bordeaux the following spring, I stayed with Aurélie. I caught up with Stéphane at a teahouse, and then he joined us when I met Aurélie for dinner.

The story isn’t exactly linear, but Aurélie and Stéphane got together about a year later, and they had a beautiful baby last fall. I joked that I’d never been “responsible” for a whole family (of course, causality isn’t actually that simple). The story really makes you realize how random and wonderful life can be.

Their wedding was at their countryside home, and I loved all the romantic and sustainable details. The chairs and tableware were thrifted, we threw dried flower petals instead of confetti or rice, there were tons of veggie food options, and wedding favors were handmade candles in thrifted teacups as well as flower seeds.

I’d worried a bit about whether I’d find people to talk to at the wedding, since I wouldn’t know anyone other than the couple, but everyone was super friendly and I ended up hanging out with another couple from abroad for most of the evening. It was also of course really lovely to see Aurélie and Stéphane again after several years, and meet their new baby!

A couple random tidbits of French wedding culture:

• French weddings often go all day and all night! The civil ceremony was at 2pm and then there was a more personal ceremony, plus games, snacks, dinner, and dancing. I left a little past midnight, but the party was still going strong, and I’ve heard of weddings going until the wee hours of the morning.
• There’s usually a brunch for close friends and family the morning after. I guess this is also kind of common in the US (the “farewell brunch”), but I think it’s even more common in France. 

Bordeaux, France

This was my third time back to Bordeaux after I’d studied abroad. Since it was only 1.5 hours from Dax, and I still have friends in the area, I figured I’d stop by.

It was both lovely and strange to see people after anywhere from 4-6 years. It feels like forever has passed, but you pick up and catch up as if things haven’t changed much.

I got to see Alicia, a friend I’d made while playing for an amateur orchestra in Bordeaux, as well as Alex, who’d been in one of my classes. Both of them had even come to visit me when I was studying at Oxford!

I also took a day trip to Libourne to see another friend I’d had a class with during study abroad (who’d invited me over for Christmas that year, and later came to visit me in Ohio during her year abroad!). Caroline and I biked through the vineyards to Saint-Émilion, a medieval village I’d wanted to visit but hadn’t had a chance to see during my semester abroad. The winding cobblestone streets and coral rooftops were definitely worth seeing in-person.

The week went by quickly, and I didn’t want to leave. It felt good to be in Bordeaux as an adult with disposable income and no classes to take. It was a stark contrast from my study abroad experience; the French university system is notoriously disorganized, and I was so worried about doing well in my classes that I didn’t end up having as much fun as I could’ve. Seven years later, I feel like I’ve kind of turned the story around; I’m still coming back to the city, still in touch with my friends, and making better memories.

If you want to know more about Bordeaux as a city, I have blog posts with my favorite spots in Bordeaux and the best vegan/veggie restaurants in Bordeaux.

Chamonix, France

As soon as I arrived at my Airbnb in Chamonix, I wanted to leave. The hallway was cluttered with furniture and the kitchen appliances were dysfunctional. The host was also nowhere to be found, and he’d asked another guest to check me in.

The biggest problem was the fridge. It froze my vegetables, ruining my lettuce and turning my lemon, carrot, and tomato as hard as rocks.

On my second day there, someone booked last-minute, and the room he reserved was a huge mess, with dirty clothes and linens were strewn everywhere. I had to check him in since the host wasn’t there. Then, a couple days later, a girl arrived and said she’d reserved by text, as she’d stayed at the place two years ago. There were no more rooms left, and she had to sleep on the couch a night before finding somewhere else for the rest of the week.

When the host did come around, he stayed for a few days, and each night, he unplugged the fridge. If I woke up in the middle of the night, I sneakily plugged it back in. Even so, I ended up getting food poisoning my second weekend in Chamonix, and was totally incapacitated for a day.

The host seemed like he meant well overall (he shared food and cooked once for us), but I ended up leaving a 2-star review because of how dysfunctional the place was (I felt so guilty about it, but it was so justified; I had no idea how the place had had 4.7 stars, and I suspected that recent guests just didn’t review it at all rather than leave a bad one).

While I had the worst Airbnb experience I’ve ever had, I really enjoyed Chamonix overall. I was lucky to be able to commiserate in the Airbnb with another guest, Aoife, an Irish ultrarunner who’s super accomplished and even holds the Irish women’s record for most miles run in 24 hours.

We spent a lot of time sitting in that cramped kitchen, complaining about our host, and talking about running and random life stuff. Without Aoife, I would’ve definitely left the Airbnb (I contemplated it, but because I was in Chamonix before/during the UTMB, one of the most prestigious trail races in the world, there was nowhere else to go).

Here are some other highlights:

• Chamonix is a trail runner/hiker’s heaven, with rails galore starting directly from the city. I went on hikes and trail runs basically every other day (and my quads paid the price). I’m planning to do a separate post on the hikes I did, and will link it here when it’s done. I even got to do a hike with my friend Claire, who I met while I was living in Dijon in 2018-2019.

• I got to be part of a running photoshoot! (For a small UK brand). I saw a post by the photographer in a Chamonix trail runners’ Facebook group, and I ended up joining 3 other runners for the shoot. It was a LOT of running back and forth all day in the summer heat. But it was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing the photos when the collection releases in the spring.

• I got to see the UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc), the reason I stayed in the city for so long. This prestigious trail race is made up of multiple races of different distances, with the UTMB itself being 170km (106 mi). I didn’t stay long enough for the UTMB itself, but I did get to cheer some runners on during the TDS, which is almost 100 miles. The COROS team was also in the city for the event, and I got to meet with the partnerships manager.

• I met Molly Seidel (Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon) one day while running on the track! She was in Chamonix for a photoshoot and to spectate the UTMB. I’ve always appreciated her openness about mental health, especially since she was going through her own struggles around the same time I was last year. We chatted for a little and it was so cool to randomly run into her (pun not intended).

So, while Chamonix was a rough time, I’m glad it survived it and had some fun in the process. I hope to be back one day to run the UTMB OCC 50k (but I’ll stay in a different Airbnb 😝). 

Annecy, France

Annecy is known as “the Venice of the French Alps,” and it’s just as romantic as it sounds. The water is an unreal shade of mint (kind of like the “Gatorade water” you may have heard about in Nice, France), the old town is full of pastel buildings and canals, and the large lake named after the city is surrounded by mountains.

I’d been to Annecy twice before for day trips, but had never stayed there. It just happened to be a good point in-between Chamonix and Paris, so I booked it.

I was glad to be back down at elevation for my 20-mile training run for the Berlin Marathon, and to have a chance to get some lake swimming in.

Since I’d just gotten food poisoning the weekend before, I attempted the 20-miler twice before just trudging through it on my second attempt. I just seemed to have no endurance both times and lost steam very early on. After 9 miles on my second attempt, I had to start run/walking. While it was very rough, I got it done, and had a couple more days to enjoy the city.

Some of the highlights were:

• Running/hiking to Talloires, a beautiful little lakeside village with a covered bridge leading to a dock covered in flowers. I would also recommend renting a bike and doing the ~40k all around Lake Annecy. I did this on my first visit, and it’s a beautiful way to spend a day.

• Swimming and reading at the Plage d’Albigny. There are several beaches around the city, and this one is the only one (as far as I know) with sand and in walking distance of the old town. The swimming area is small, but there’s a beautiful view of the mountains, and there’s a good amount of shade. I also passed by Plage les Choseaux – Clos Berthet on my long run, and while it doesn’t have sand (it’s grassy), the views looked absolutely breathtaking.

• Walking through the Annecy Market (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday mornings). The town is filled with vendors, from food to artisanal items. Just be wary of pushy salespeople–I got flagged down by a tapenade vendor who had me try at least 5 different tapenades, and I didn’t feel like I had a chance to stop him in-between each one. After all that, I felt pressured to buy some tapenade, and somehow ended up with 13€ worth of it, even though I’d only asked for a little haha. Luckily, my Airbnb host liked tapenade and said he’d finish the rest, but I was still bitter about this experience.

Paris, France

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been to the city at this point, as I stopped by during several connections when I lived in Dijon, and I’ve visited with multiple people. But no matter how many times I go to Paris, I never get tired of it.

Paris was a natural stopping point after Annecy since it was time to go North and start making my way over to Berlin. My childhood friend Jingwen was on her way to see another friend in Nice, and what better place to fly into and visit than the capital?

I spent 3 days exploring the city with Jingwen, doing all the touristy and basic bitch things, and having a wonderful time. Here’s our entire itinerary:

Day 1 (half day):

• Arrive in the afternoon (we stayed near the Parc de Buttes-Chaumont, which is closer to the outskirts of the city and was very calm and charming).
• Visit the outside of the Arc de Triomphe and walk down the Champs-Elysées
• Go grocery shopping for a picnic
• Take the picnic to the banks of the Seine by Pont d’Iena, where we ate and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night

Day 2:

• Lunch at Hotel Grand Amour (gorgeous interior with okay veggie dishes, but they lacked protein).
• Walk along Canal Saint-Martin, a place where many locals go to hang out and picnic.
• Browse Les Sales Voleurs thrift shop (they have a flat rate depending on the day of the week, and it was only 1,50€ on Wednesdays). It’s pretty small and we didn’t find anything unfortunately.
• Walk through the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, a cemetery with graves of many famous people like Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Marcel Proust.
• Have a pit stop at the Used Book Cafe/Merci. Merci is a heaven of trendy/hipster/high-quality home goods. You’ll find stuff like candles in the shapes of vegetables, maximalist clothing, and unique beauty products.
• Eat the best vegan falafel pitas in the world at L’As du Fallafel (I literally teared up being able to eat these again after 4 years), and stroll around the quaint shops of Le Marais.
• Walk by Notre Dame and the Louvre around sunset.

Day 3:

• Lunch at La Maison Rose (you must reserve in advance). The veggie options are decent but again lacking protein. I always love walking around the artsy Montmartre neighborhood and taking in the view of the city beneath the Sacré-Cœur Basilica.
• Visit the Bibliothèque nationale de France and walk around the covered passages in the area (Galerie Vivienne is right across).
• Have tea and pastries at the Grand Mosque of Paris. You can also pay a small fee to visit the beautiful mosque, which I’ve done a few times. Just make sure you wear more modest clothing (cover your shoulders and knees), or use one of their scarves.
• Grab crêpes on Rue Mouffetard (Au P’tit Grec has HUGE crêpes, but make sure to bring cash; also keep in mind that they only have vegetarian and not vegan options)
• Eat pastries from Too Good to Go at sunset at the Square du Vert-Galant in the middle of the Seine

When I told my manager at work how I spent my time in Paris, he said it sounded like scenes you’d see in a movie when the main character is seeing flashbacks of their life. I can totally see that because Paris is really such a special, beautiful city to experience with friends and create “core memories.”

Brussels, Belgium

Brussels was a really special time for me not because of the city, but because of the people I was able to meet while staying there.

I got to take a day trip to Amsterdam and meet Nina, a blogging friend I’ve had for a few years now (definitely check out her blog Lemons and Luggage for vegan and sustainable travel guides!).

Nina and I spent the day together walking around the city and eating vegan food. My favorite spots were Margo’s for pastries and TerraZen Centre for Caribbean and Japanese fusion. MILK Cafe was also super aesthetic for a mid-afternoon drink break, and it was fun to check out some sustainable fashion shops on The 9 Streets (De 9 Straatjes). I wrapped up the day by going to the Anne Frank House, which was sobering to see the cramped quarters, but really helpful to learn more history and context of the Jewish experience during WWII.

I also have fond memories of Brussels because of my Airbnb host, Andries. Sometimes you just really click with people and don’t really know why. I definitely think part of it was some shared interests. His space was full of plants, vintage items like record players and his grandma’s radio, and charming used furniture (pretty much what I’d love my future home to be like, though I’m not sure I’d be able to keep the plants alive). He was learning the cello, which gave me nostalgia for my violin and orchestra days.

We had a lot of interesting chats about culture, music, food, and life. We even cooked together; he made endives, mashed potatoes, and brussels sprouts (Belgian specialties), and I made my signature fusion dish, broccoli and tofu with Indian spices. Staying with Andries felt like staying with a friend, and I was really sad to leave.

In terms of the city itself, I didn’t actually see as much as I wanted, so there’s all the more reason to go back. Here’s what I did do that I enjoyed though:

• Grand Place—the iconic, historic square in Brussels. The architecture is truly impressive and takes you back to another era.

• Melting Pot Kilo—a thrift store where you pay for items by weight. The price by weight was on the more expensive side, but you could still get a trench coat for ~20€ and a long skirt for ~5€.

• Marché aux Puces—flea market with all kinds of jewelry, art, and home goods. The prices seemed to be pretty high, however.

• 58 Rooftop—free rooftop viewpoint of the city. There’s also a bar/cafe. Lines can be super long on the weekends, so go early or go on a weekday.

• Day trip to Ghent—a beautiful medieval city in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. I didn’t do much, other than going on a run and going to the grocery store haha, but it was a beautiful city. Next time, I also want to go to Bruges, Lille, and Mechelen from Brussels.

Cologne, Germany

I didn’t actually want to go to Cologne that much, but I needed somewhere to stop between Brussels and Berlin. Hamburg was my top choice, but it was too out of the way.

My time in Cologne was my least favorite. I went from really getting along with my Airbnb host in Brussels to a more impersonal Airbnb in Cologne where the other two guys there kept to themselves.

The city itself also wasn’t my favorite. A lot of Cologne was destroyed in WWII, so it lacks the same old-town charm as some other European cities.

That said, the city was also my first introduction to German supermarkets (loved REWE), which are a vegan’s heaven. There were so many meat substitutes (I really liked the cold cuts) and they weren’t that expensive.

Here’s what else I did that I enjoyed:

• Cologne Cathedral—I only visited the outside, but you can climb the spires (I was just tapering at that point for the marathon). The cathedral is the largest and most impressive I’ve seen. The scale is simply incomparable to other cathedrals.

• Flora and Botanical Garden—this botanical garden was really beautiful and free!

• Lindt Chocolate Museum and Fragrance Museum Farina-House—two classic museums in the city, one dedicated entirely to chocolate and the other to the original eau de cologne.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin meant marathon time. My only weekend in the city was basically completely dedicated to the race, from packet pickup to actually running and then recovering.

I started the weekend by meeting up with a Strava friend, Jeannette, who was in the city to cheer for her niece running the race. Jeannette had found my Strava through a blog post, and we started following each other after she’d commented on one of my runs about the post. It was super sweet to meet her after seeing each other’s runs this year, and she even cheered for me during the marathon and got a couple photos of me.

I was pretty nervous for the race itself since it was my first marathon in almost 1.5 years. My last marathon was when all my health issues started happening, so I had a lot of trauma associated with racing. I luckily made it to race day without too much nerves, and I was also extremely grateful to make it there uninjured (I’d had a bone stress injury at the beginning of the year).

The race was the biggest I’ve run—47,000 people—and it was pretty fun (it’s hard to say it was a lot of fun because there’s always so much suffering in races haha). I knew going into it that I wasn’t in PR shape, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I could run since my long runs had gone weirdly. I ended up running a 4:09:34, which I was overall satisfied with. I slowed down a decent amount in the second half, but it was nothing too out of the ordinary for me, and I was glad to be able to run the whole time after the disastrous 20-miler. You can read more about the race in my Berlin Marathon recap.

The city itself was one of my favorites because of its vegan restaurants and diverse neighborhoods. It reminded me a little bit of Paris and its arrondissements, and it was also like Paris in that you could keep visiting and never get tired of it.

I also made a friend, Octa, through the Berlin Marathon Facebook group, and we limped through the city a couple days after the race and sampled veggie food. I was happy to see the city with someone who’d lived in Germany for a while, and who was vegetarian, so we could enjoy the same restaurants.

My favorite vegan restaurants/cafes were Miss Vegan, Quy Nyguen, FREA Bakery, and Brammibal’s Donuts. Dervish, a Uzbek vegan place, was also a cool stop (thanks to Nina for the many vegan recs in Berlin!). I would’ve loved to also try Försters, a vegan German place, but I didn’t end up having time. Quick tip: make sure to have cash in Berlin as many restaurants don’t take card.

My favorite sights were:

• East Side Gallery—section of the Berlin Wall that is covered in murals by over 100 artists from countries around the world.

• Charlottenburg Palace—Baroque palace built in the 17th century and greatly expanded over the years. The rooms are so lavish and intricate.

• Hackesche Höfe—a lovely network of cafes and shops in different courtyards. For something more alternative, check out the Haus Schwarzenberg, a street art alleyway next door. I also enjoyed the open-air market at the nearby Hackescher Markt, which had tons of artisans and food stalls (it happens every Thursday and Saturday).

• Museum Island—a collection of 5 museums in the heart of the city. Even if you don’t go to any museums, it’s fun to walk to the island and admire the architecture.

Copenhagen, Denmark

I didn’t intend to go to Copenhagen when I initially planned the trip, but I ended up adding a weekend here since it had better flight options and was “only” 6 hours away from Berlin. I’d also always wanted to see the colorful houses at Nyhavn (that was literally the only reason I wanted to go to Copenhagen).

I actually didn’t like Copenhagen as much as I expected. Everything was expensive, the vegan food options were sparse, and the city just felt colder (literally and figuratively—I went from warm and sunny weather in Berlin to cold and cloudy in Copenhagen; I also didn’t meet up with anyone during the trip, and my Airbnb host kept to herself, so I just felt lonelier).

I also lost my self-cleaning LARQ water bottle at the airport, which my brother had gotten me as a gift, so that was a big downer. I left it in-between two seats and totally forgot it. The lost and found can only be visited in-person, so if anyone happens to be in CPH in early November and wants to check for me, I’d be so grateful!

Here’s what I did that I did enjoy though:

• CopenHill—a huge waste-to-energy plant that has ski slopes off the building, a climbing wall, and a bar.

• Boat tour from Nyhavn—the iconic colorful houses were beautiful, but quite crowded as you can imagine. I took a boat tour through the canals to learn more about the city and see iconic sights like the Little Mermaid statue (it’s very small). The boat tour was over just fine, but it’s how I learned about Copenhill, so I’d say it was worth it.

• Freetown Christiania—an anarchist commune where you can do anything as long as it doesn’t infringe upon the freedom of someone else. There’s lots of graffiti, veggie food, chill vibes, and weed. I ate at Morgenstedet, a veggie restaurant there, and it was good (just make sure you have cash).

• Magstræde—a quaint street with colorful buildings

• Day trip to Malmö, Sweden—Malmö is only a 20-minute train ride away, so I visited at the recommendation of Nina. The local park (Slottsträdgården) was quaint, and their cafe looked super cozy. I ate at Vegegården, a vegan Chinese buffet that was very satisfying, as well as Farm2Table, a cozy cafe (thanks again to Nina for her vegan Malmö recs!).

What I Learned

This was my first time doing longer-term traveling, and here are the tidbits I learned along the way:

I should’ve stayed longer in each city. I stayed in most places for a full week, but when you’re working most of the time, 7 days isn’t enough. This was especially true if I had a specific event that took up most of the weekend (like the Berlin Marathon or a day trip to another city). Next time, I would try to stay in each place at least 10 days or even 2 weeks. If I can only stay a shorter time, I’ll try to find housing closer to the city center so it’s more convenient to explore.

I kinda wish I had been more flexible in my plans. There were a few places I wished I could’ve stayed longer (Bordeaux, Brussels, Berlin). But, because I had nonrefundable transport at that point (most train tickets are only adjustable without a fee up to a week before), I didn’t change my itinerary. I know you save a lot of money by booking trains and Airbnbs in advance, but I’m almost tempted to kind of play it by ear in some places next time.

I’m happiest when I prioritize connection, but I also need to understand that they may not last. My favorite stops on my trip have one thing in common: spending time with old or new friends. I’ve always been a big solo traveler, but there’s something special about sharing these experiences with others. Travel friendships can be hard though, as you connect in this specific time and place, and then you disperse across the world. I’m still trying to learn to appreciate the moments and memories, rather than focusing on how ephemeral they were.

I like feeling foreign? There’s a sense of awe that comes with being in another country, even when you’re going about mundane tasks. Being a foreigner also lends itself nicely to connecting with other open-minded people. They’re curious about your culture and you’re curious about theirs. I definitely miss this headspace when I’m in the US.

What’s Next?

Well, my carte jeune (young person’s railcard for France) is still valid until I turn 28 in June, so…

In all seriousness though, this trip was the most alive I’ve felt in a while, especially after a really rough 2022. My therapist says it’s like I was able to take all these pieces of me (travel, running, languages) and hug them.

I also didn’t get to do everything I wanted this time around, so I might have to go back and do those things.

While I have appreciated this year of travel, I also have a sense of longing for a home base and my own space. After I came back from Europe, I was mopey for a while (until I went on my next trip haha), as I felt like there were very few constants in my life, particularly friends I can see physically. I wonder sometimes what it would be like to live consistently in one place and have more of a routine. The closest I got to this after college was living in Boston from 2019-2021, but the pandemic kept me from making a lot of plans during that time.

I don’t have a particular place I feel like I need to be right now though, so we’ll see what happens.