How to travel more than 10 000 km around the Europe

Travel the Europe
Travel Europe

After 4 years spent in Dubai, I decided to move again. From this point of view, it was probably a much harder decision than one when I moved from Belgrade. Life is unpredictable and you never know what is coming next. Last 3 Months in UAE I decided to use a period between switching jobs for planning an unforgettable trip. For those of you who are considering doing the same, I suggest starting planning at least 3 months before, since plane tickets are much cheaper. This is a story of the full process of travel from day 1 planning to last day of the trip.

Importance of Planning

I knooow that this is something that everyone knows but I need to point out again. Planning is the mother of everything. Every single date, every single transportation, accommodation and rest. I understand that it stress you out but if you start on time you can enjoy your vacay on it fullest. For this stage, I turn to my best friend Excel. Excel allows you to create nice templates where you can budget and plan everything. My templates you can download here.

P.S Good planning doesn’t mean everything will go smoothly, you are just minimizing potential issues.

Accommodation

Living in Dubai helped me to meet plenty of people from different places. Some of them allowed me to stay in their homes during the trip and I am so much grateful for contributing to this magnificent experience. Apart from them, I used different apps like Booking and Airbnb where you can find the cheapest prices for spending the nights. There is a cool way to connect your Booking.com profile with your RyanAir profile so you can get an extra discount for renting rooms. Also, after a few bookings, you can become a Genious user and have an extra 10% discount on renting.


Booking.com

 

Transportation

For moving around I used 4 types of transportation types. A plane, Bus, Car and Train + kayak 😛 .

A plane like everyone knows is the fastest way of reaching the places but also and the most expensive. That’s why I used RyanAir which is probably the most famous low-cost agency. The only problem I had with them was a strike of employees which causes delays sometimes. It is important to know that I had only a hand luggage ( less than 10kgs) so tickets, in that case, are way cheaper. Also, I used AirSerbia for flights from and to Serbia.

For bus, I used probably the most famous Flixbus . It is easy to book online and I highly recommend.

I never liked to drive but there are people who love it. All of them you can find on a website call BlaBlaCar. You commute faster, having interesting chats and pay way much cheaper.

City Tour/Travel

When arriving at the city first what I want to learn and feel is a culture of local people. Something which normal travel plan cannot cover. That is why I always check ShowAround where you can find locals to show you hidden gems of the city. Apart from that, I like to check articles on CrazyTourists since they always have this TOP 10 things to do when in ___.

Communication with a World

Staying online was one of the biggest challenges I faced during the trip. Since Serbia is not in EU our SIM cards are not covering internet in roaming. That’s why I found out that Vodafone is the network which is basically in every European country and having this SIM will provide you internet wherever you go. It cost around 30 euros for 4GB.

Financials

People will think that for this kind of adventure you need a bunch of money on your account. The truth is that with a very good planning you can decrease your spending to the minimum. How I like to do it is planning by day. So I dedicate a specific amount of money for every day. If I crossed that line I will be alarmed by my Excel if I don’t, I can reuse it in some other direction. Have in mind that all plane and train tickets are bought 2-3 months before the start of the trip. The template you can download here.

CIties/Coutries

Here is the list of countries and places I visited and which I will cover in the next articles:

  1. Croatia [Split, Omis, Makarska, RIjeka, Pula, Rakalj] – Amazing Dalmatia & Istria
  2. Belgium [Charleroi, Brussels] – Coming Soon
  3. Holland [Amsterdam, Hague, Sheveningen] – Coming Soon
  4. Portugal [Lisbon, Setubal, Lagos, Sintra] – Coming Soon
  5. Germany [Frankfurt, Freiburg] – Coming Soon

Total distance to travel

By Plane

Dubai [United Arab Emirates] – Belgrade [Serbia] = 3800km

Belgrade – Split [Croatia] = 350km

Pula [Croatia] – Brussels [Charleroi] = 970km

Eindhoven [Holland] – Lisbon [Portugal] = 1815km

Lisbon [Portugal] – Frankfurt [Germany] = 1892km

Frankfurt [Germany] – Belgrade [Serbia] = 1064km

By Train

Amsterdam [Holland] – Eindhoven [Holland] = 127km

Lisbon [Portugal] – Lagos [Portugal]{2x}= 600km

By Bus

Rijeka [Croatia] – Pula [Croatia] = 110km

Brussels [Belgium] – Amsterdam [Holland] = 212km

Frankfurt [Germany] – Freiburg [Germany] {2x} =540km

By Car

Split [Croatia] – Makarska [Croatia] {2x}= 180km

Split [Croatia] – Makarska [Omis] {2x}= 50km

Split [Croatia] – Rijeka[Croatia] = 415km [BlaBla Car]

Amsterdam [Holland] – Sheveningen [Holland] {2x}= 120km

Charleroi [Belgium] – Brussels [Belgium] = 62km

Lisbon [Portugal] – Setubal [Portugal] {2x}= 100km

Lisbon [Portugal] – Cabo De Roca [Portugal] {2x}= 90km

By Kayak

Lagos [Portugal] – Lagos [Portugal] {2x} =4km

By Walk

Appx =100km

Grand TOTAL 12600