"I laughed, I cried....I missed my plane."

"these are the days when anything goes. everyday is a winding road." - sheryl crow

So I figured a good use of this whole blog assignment would be to organize my thoughts and information regarding my impending trip to Europe. As a transfer student I never was able to fit a semester abroad in during my college career so I decided to take the next best option: spend a month backpacking through Europe after graduation. A little less than a year ago this thought entered my mind and as exciting as the prospect seemed, it also seemed completely daunting and rife with complications. I let it sit idly in the back of my mind until September, when a casual conversation with two of my friends turned the whole notion into a reality and the planning frenzy began.


My basic idea is to benefit my own need for organization in the formation of this trip as well as explore and educate everyone on all the fun attractions various European cities provide. The idea of venturing across the ocean for a month, essentially by myself, for the first time, ever in my life, causes my head to spin at various moments so this blog will provide me an outlet to organize and a means in which to ground myself in my plans. The tickets are bought so I know there is no backing out now. It's just a matter of preparation.


My basic layout will be to introduce a new country in each entry and outline one or two cities that I plan on seeing. I'm going to try my best to see as much as possible in my limited time over there but I also want to make sure I don't just do the "tourist attraction" things because I don't think you get to really see the heart of a city that way. I mean those things are all well and good and trust me the Eiffel Tower will be on my list to see in Paris, but I also want to see the not so well known spots. So if anyone has been to any of the cities that I list and wants to volunteer any ideas I would be extremely grateful. In fact, if anyone has any suggestions in general, if perhaps anyone has studied abroad or done a similar trip, please share. I'm going into this pretty blind as of now and am actively seeking the information to make this trip a truly memorable one for me and my fellow travelers.


Right now the site I've been frequenting the most is http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/index.html. Fodor's is a pretty well known travel guide so I've just been looking over any links and information they have on various countries. Eventually I will try to post a map of my tenative itinerary.