Europe

Backpack Europe like a Perry: A How-To Guide
in 10 easy steps

#europerry2013

1. save your pennies. we had a jar on top of our fridge for 3.5 years that said "ireland or bust". we had been married 2 months when we saw the movie up for the first time, which inspired me to always have an adventure jar to put spare change and cash into. when we cashed it out before our trip we had saved $300--which went straight towards gelato. worth it. 

2. pinterest. do it, you won't regret it (who could possibly regret pinterest) and you will learn tons. my europe board: here 

3. make a euro playlist to listen to while you plan/while you travel:

4. book flight 4-5 months out (we booked in january for our may trip) we flew Aer Lingus and is was fantastic. we found the flight on google flights but couldn't book online so we had to call--BONUS everyone you speak to has a lovely irish rogue. ALSO everyone on the plane is irish! and the plane has a shamrock on it! just fantastic

5. book hostels 2-3 months out. i used hostelworld.com for all our bookings and had a great experience- supes user friendly and they have an app and the reviews are very helpful. 

6. book trains 1-2 months out, i like having a set travel plan se we booked about 80% of our trains online about a month before the trip and then just brought the printed tickets **this really is optional, you can book as many or as few trains ahead of time as you like depending on how free you want to be with your schedule. i would recommend booking any overnight trains ahead of time.

7. solidify itinerary! here's what ours looked like:

Aer Lingus Flight SLC to Chicago to Dublin to Paris

May 26 arrive in Paris 9:50am

May 26-27 Paris

May 28th-31 Rome

June 1-2 Cinque Terre

June 3-5 Venice/Milan

June 6-9 Bergamo/Savona Italy

June 10 Paris

June 11-12 London

June 13-17 Ireland (Dublin, Cork, Killarney)

June 18 home at 11:45 pm

8. get all your crap for backpacking! we did amazon and free super saver shipping and it was perf. here's what we got: 

	1	"The Original Dreamie All In One Sheet and Pillow Pocket" Kitchen; $10.49
	2	"SE Dual Zippered Durable Lightweight Travel Pouch Fanny Pack, 10"x3.5", Olive" Misc.; $4.75
	1	"Master Lock 1500T Combination-Alike Locks, 2-Pack" Tools & Home Improvement; $8.29
	1	"Insten Universal World Wide Travel Charger Adapter Plug, White - by eForCity" Electronics; $4.99
	2	"Aqua Sphere Aqua Dry Towel" Sports; $8.93 +sleep masks + earplugs + 2 backpacks by field and stream at Dick's Sporting goods = total europe package

9. plan activities--what i tried to do was 2-3 "things" per day and that worked well. sometimes the activity didn't take long so we broke out the map and added another one, but sometimes it took longer than we thought. i think the key was being flexible, very flexible. actually that's the key to the whole trip: be flexible. unexpected things will happen, lines will be super long (i'm looking at you versailles), bathrooms will be gross and cost money, you won't get quite enough sleep because some gypsies are yelling outside your window from 2-4 am, trains will be late, some intoxicated irish men will try to grab your american butt, you'll eat way too much foccacia and fall into a food coma in the roman forum...

things happen, you know? so the trick is to remain calm, don't panic, and laugh

10. pack up that back pack, and seriously: don't. overpack. practice walking around in it--make sure it's not too heavy. get an awesome friend to drive you to the airport. grab one last american breakfast at the airport, and cry when you hear that first irish accent-- because you are europe bound!