My crazy European discovery
Published 9:41 am Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Set the alarms for sunrise and hop onto a coach with 52 other first-time travelers all hopeful of making it to the next destination before dinner time. Run around taking selfies in front of every historic monument and stay up all night experiencing the culture of this new city. Then repeat.
For 12 days this was my daily routine as I traveled to eight European countries and 11 cities with just my lightly-packed 20-pound suitcase and childhood dreams. It’s not exactly what one might call a relaxing vacation. But for an energetic youngster who has never traveled outside of the continent, let alone more than four hours alone before, this trip was all I needed it to be and more.
After burning with a passionate itch to travel the world, I finally found my remedy after booking this trip through Contiki, a travel company that organizes vacations for young people in locations all over the world. I was joined by about 20 other solo-travelers, ranging from college students and recent graduates to those already in the workforce, and the rest were friends and couples traveling together. Among my tour group were people from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. While traveling so closely with these people I not only experienced the cultures of the countries we visited, but also got a glimpse into some of their own.
Rather than stress about planning my own route and accommodations day-by-day, like many travelers my age do when they backpack their way through Europe with friends, my experience was a breeze. I arrived in London on day one with my luggage and money in hand, and let the trip managers guide me through more sights and tastes of Europe than I could imagine. For about $4,000, including all accommodations, flights, food and activities, I made the most of my two-week trip to Europe and fulfilled our trip motto of #NoRegrets.
We visited museums and did all of the iconic activities designed for tourists, like the gondola ride through Venetian canals, the tour of Vatican City and the Colosseum and a trip up the Eiffel Tower to watch the Parisian sunset. We also did things more extraordinary than one might find in the typical travel guide, like whitewater rafting through the Austrian Alps, a canal cruise through Amsterdam’s Red Light District, and losing our breath atop the summit of the Swiss Alps.
Though I traveled here by myself, I was never alone on the trip. The managers paired me up with an easy-going roommate and I made new friends who set off into the cities with me to make sure we checked everything off of our bucket lists.
We had become a family in two shorts weeks. Together, we fumbled over our Italian to get directions back to the coach, watched one of our own couples get engaged in Paris, and cried on the last day when we had to say goodbye.
The long travel days during the trip made it feel like we were gone for so much longer than two weeks, but now I’m wishing that I could go back and do it again. I’ve been home for less than a week and it feels like months since we danced along to songs at the beer garden after our bike tour in Munich. I’m beyond happy that I booked this trip with Contiki, and as my first time traveling alone, this trip was the perfect appetizer of Europe that makes me eager to book my next flight back.
To find out more about my European Discovery trip and more, visit http://www.contiki.com.
