Polar Opposites

Okay,

So I'm back home ... I've had a good nights sleep, unpacked all my stuff, answered emails and had a bath.

On reflection the last three weeks had gone so quickly; I cannot believe where the time has gone. Also what I cannot believe is where I've been ... Romania - Did I dream that I was at the top of Mount Tampa in Brasov?

In the final days of my trip I was ready to come home; I remember thinking, I had enough of the snoring, rubbish breakfasts, cheesy feet, meal times, messy dorms, slow trains and keeping my world possessions in a small 65ltr backpack. I also missed home things, my DvD collection, driving and friends and family. However, now home, I wish I was out there again ... not sure where, but out somewhere new looking around the grounds of a palace, getting lost in a city, seeing the world outside a window or maybe bathing in 35oc spring waters. It's weird how you always miss the things you don't have.

During my trip I thought allot (well lets face it, I had a lot of time to think on all those trains) about my 'world trip'. It became apparent that I'm not sure I could do 18 months of continuous travel; in fact, towards the end of my trip I had decided to scrap the whole idea and break it down to 2/3 week holidays instead.

You see there were two main problems I encountered on my trip; company and privacy.

As I said earlier, meal times were an annoyance and I was fed up with staring at an empty chair. However it wasn't just that, I had no one to share my experiences with ... you can only explain a certain amount through text, speech and pictures to people; you can't really share smells, temperatures, noises or on the spot 'it was funny at the time' moments. Plus it would have been great to talk to someone on the train trips, or when I was waking into town. I did miss this allot.

The other thing I missed was abit of privacy. A total polar opposite to the point above and it's quite weird; you're on your own but there is always someone around ... sometimes the only privacy I got was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. This can be solved though by, occasionally, staying in a single room however this does eat into your cash flow.

Speaking of cash I bet your wondering how much this trip cost me; well I reckon, over 21 days I had spent around £1,300 (this includes £300 on my Inter rail ticket). This means I spent on average around £60 a day which is waaaay too much. However if you remove the presents I bought, the swimming trunks and my souvenirs (around £150) it comes to £54 per day; this is still too high and I should be looking at around £40/ £45 in Berlin / Vienna and £35 in Budapest / Brasov. However I thought I was quite good with my money ... I'm not sure how I'm going to cut that down.

Which then leads me onto my next question;

- Have I been on holiday or have I been travelling?
- What is the difference?

I suppose travelling is being away for a long period of time and being careful with your money; whereas a holiday is possibly staying within one, or a couple, of locations. Or it could be booking onto an organised trip ... therefore I would say my trip has been a 'travelling holiday' ... i.e. abit of both.

What about my equipment?

Well I have to say I used 98% of my stuff and, apart from a headset for my netbook (oh and a secondary phone I had to take as Orange STILL haven't unlocked my phone to allow foreign sims) I would take it all again. However, if I was to do the world tour, there would be a couple of additional items I would want to take; milk of magnesia, swimming trunks and a trip pod for my camera.

Would I inter-rail again?

You bet-ya! I think its probably the best way to see Europe; the process maybe a bit ancient but it works. Actually I've already planned another three - trips:

If I'm loaded - Scandinavia finishing in St Petersburg
If I'm okay for money - Southern France and Spain
If I'm poor - Hungary / Romania / Bulgaria etc

However if there was one piece of advice I would give others who fancy inter-railing it would be that patients isn't a virtue ... it's a necessity. Leave plenty of time to catch your trains and to get to, and from, the hostels. Also don't rush around ... spend some time wandering in a park, getting lost around the city (by far my favourite thing to do) and watching people in a train station.

So how to round this last european thread off (sob) ... ummm I know. This last three weeks has gone very quickly, there have been some downsides; I've missed having someone around to talk to and I'm not sure I could do 18 months travel. However I have had a brilliant brilliant time and I wished I was back in Europe somewhere, anywhere. I've now got some serious thinking to do ... do I go for my world tour and just go for as long as I feel like? Do I just do '3 week travelling holidays' and find a new job?

I guess fate might have a little part to play in my decision, but there are two catalysts that could decide for me. For now this Otter is no longer around the world...










... he is home.