With 7 weeks, 34 days of work and 2 more pay cheques to go, the planning for our 4 month Europe excursion is characteristically weak. We have a route planned-ish - which I was going to attach here but I seem to have lost it. We're driving from London, through France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium...and back to London. In around about that order, give or take. Any advice or recommendations are welcome!
We have so far booked Sail Croatia, and that is all. Oh and I booked a
half marathon in Budapest - one week after Sail Croatia. Some people say
that it is hard to train for a half marathon aboard a sailing boat but I
aim to prove those people wrong.
Our little group consists of me, Annette and Becks - plus Claire who is joining us and leaving us for a month in the middle. We are all like chalk and cheese but I think the mixture should work quite well.
Practicalities - we have a car that is currently in the process of being insured. Annette's parent own it and have very generously offered it to us for the trip. All I know about it is that it is small so once we put in the tent, 4 sleeping bags, a gas cooker, I think we will have room for 2 t-shirts and a pair of shorts each. But that should be about all we need...right? Becks had a marvellous idea of attaching a big tupperware container to the roof for the stuff we can't fit in the boot. I have a driver's license in theory, but I have misplaced it. I also just realised it is expiring in June. Becks can't drive manual cars so her first practise will be on the other side of the road in France. She'll be fine. Annette won't drive on motorways...
I'm in the unfortunate situation of having only, as I said, 7 weekends
left in London so trying to tick off the remaining Londony things, while
at the same time desperately saving. It's difficult and consists of a variety of techniques. Wearing the same outfit to work since last July - I have one skirt
that I wear on Mondays and Wednesdays and a dress that is kind of
work inappropriate (not my fault, it shrunk in the wash) which I wear on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also have a
favourite charity second hand shop that I have helped fund since I've
been here, it's just down the road. It's wonderful guilt-free shopping.
Food is an interesting one - the problem is, I quite like it, so trying
to be cheap without getting bored has led to some odd combinations.
Tonight was frozen fish fillet, with leftover beetroot, avocado, tomatoes and
spinach on the side (not recommended). Alcohol is more difficult but we
have found that filling a child's juice pouch with vodka and sticking it
down the front of the shirt for festivals/sevens/etc works quite
well....And if you drink slowly enough, you can usually get away with
just the one pint in an evening.I have so many useful tips.
Well tomorrow I am off to be the live studio audience of QI, so better get some sleep xx
test
ReplyDeleteHi Em, have just spotted this post. Good to hear you have your trip pretty well sorted.
ReplyDeleteHere are my suggestions:
- Get a map or list of all the campsites in europe with addresses before you go. And take a GPS. Kathy and I stuffed around too much finding places to stay. The GPS is also pretty handy for finding your car again after you leave it.
- Get your licence, or make Annette drive. I found it pretty difficult driving in Europe - and I'm used to driving a manual. Too many poky wee streets, and hills. The motorways are the easy bit.
- Don't book too much stuff if you can help it. I don't know how busy the campgrounds are in summer tho. We were there in September and didn't need to book anywhere.
Umm, thats about all I can think of. I don't recommend any places in particular - they are all good.
Love Stew.
Thanks Stew! Was not expecting anyone to actually read this so was a nice surprise to get your message :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to get a GPS...I am a bit worried that the driving is going to be much worse than expected. And we'll end up making it as far as Spain and staying there. But actually, could be worse!
Where do you get a list of campsites? I looked on the internet a little bit but couldn't see much...
xx
Hehehe great post - less planning is winning.
ReplyDelete