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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Anyone want to go backpacking across Europe?
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11/30/2005 03:19:55 PM · #1
I'm thinking about going on an adventure this spring/summer and maybe even next fall.

I wanna get out and see the world while I'm still young, I just don't want to do it alone. And none of my friends have the same ambition that I do...which makes me sad.

I'm going to head out late spring probably, although I don't have set plans really. I'm just going to head out on adventure and see what happens...I could be gone for 2 months or 2 years, I don't know. I just want to get out there, and experiece the world for all it's worth, and take a whole lotta pictures while doing it.

I've wanted to do this for a long time, and right now I have the chance to...and it may be the last time in my life that I have that chance.

As one really smart man once put it: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
11/30/2005 03:20:53 PM · #2
=-o
11/30/2005 03:22:00 PM · #3
I'm in. Wait, I'm in if I can find some DPC members to watch my kids for a few months.
11/30/2005 03:30:18 PM · #4
I'd love to do it...I've been through Europe as a regular tourist before and it just didn't feel right, I've always wanted to go backpacking and do it right. But there is no way I'll get my parents to let me go...they're extremely anal-overprotective-barely-let-me-go-to-scholl-five-hours-away and I can't even let them know that I walk outside on campus after dark.

Good luck if you make it, take a lot of pictures, remember all the stories.
11/30/2005 03:40:15 PM · #5
It really is a great thing to do and if you do it will change you for the better. I took a couple of years out in the early 90's and traveled and worked in different countries and it was well worth it.

Do yourself a favour and avoid the tourist paths as much as possible - don't miss what there is to see on the tourist path either but some of the best memories for me were the ones in the middle of nowhere where I didn't speak a common language with anybody - the world really is a friendly place (for the most part). Do some stuff you don't think you would like, do some stuff you think is crazy.

The down side is I now know of more places that I want to spend time in then I did before; I never did really understand why the more you travel & experience the more you want to see but it just works that way for some people.

Good luck....
11/30/2005 03:45:34 PM · #6
i might be living in sweden next fall and traveling on the weekends (maybe skip a week of class once or twice) for my last semester of college ... if u need a place to crash or to meet up hit me up
11/30/2005 04:44:34 PM · #7
Originally posted by modgethanc:

I'd love to do it...I've been through Europe as a regular tourist before and it just didn't feel right, I've always wanted to go backpacking and do it right. But there is no way I'll get my parents to let me go...they're extremely anal-overprotective-barely-let-me-go-to-scholl-five-hours-away and I can't even let them know that I walk outside on campus after dark.

Good luck if you make it, take a lot of pictures, remember all the stories.


Ppppssshhh...parents are overrated, lol. Not really...I love my parents, then again...they are suportive of anything and everything I do.

You should come with me:P
11/30/2005 05:16:22 PM · #8
Did this a few years ago. I had a great time. A friend and I hit 15 different countries in 21 days. I don't know that I'd do it the same way again, but it was exactly what I needed/wanted to experience... I spent several nights in taxi stands and on trains.... I think we only slept under a stationary roof for 4-5 nights... And yes, take lots of pictures, I know that I certainly did...
11/30/2005 05:19:51 PM · #9
If you're paying I'll go, my wife would have to go too(she won't let me leave without her), and my daughter would have to go too (no way are we leaving her with my parents). <g>
11/30/2005 05:20:43 PM · #10
Originally posted by DrAchoo:

I'm in. Wait, I'm in if I can find some DPC members to watch my kids for a few months.


do your kids paint? what about landscaping work? do they eat a lot? My house could use some painting and some yard work. it would be a + if they could install a sprinkler system. I dont have a lot of food in the house. I could probablly feed them 1, maybe 2 times a day if they dont eat much. they would have to sleep in a 7x7 tent in my back yard as I dont have a spare room. LOL

James
11/30/2005 05:25:00 PM · #11
Originally posted by stare_at_the_sun:

As one really smart man once put it: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."


Long been one of my favourite quotes that. I have a list of loads and loads of travel quotes somewhere...

Hope you are able to do the trip and have a wonderful time...

If you're visiting London give us a ping.
11/30/2005 05:25:33 PM · #12
Yeah...I wanna go for a few months...

I think I need to do this right now...because if I don't do it now, I probably never will. I talked to one of my good friends and he said he might be interested...

But I think it would be fun to go with someone I dont really know to well. And I'm not sure if he really wants to go or not.


11/30/2005 05:32:28 PM · #13
I'd love to go.. but I wouldn't want my parents to go with me, and I guess you wouldn't want yours either..

I think I'm to old to go with you :(

but if you come to Iceland I could show you the sites here ;)

the best time to come is from june 10. - august 10. then you got daylight 24 hours a day, you can take a picture of a sunset and sunrise in the same hour ;)
11/30/2005 05:42:32 PM · #14
Go alone and without a really set plan. You won't be alone for long and you'll meet SO MANY PEOPLE along the way that you'll be glad you had the flexibility built in!

Originally posted by stare_at_the_sun:

Yeah...I wanna go for a few months...

I think I need to do this right now...because if I don't do it now, I probably never will. I talked to one of my good friends and he said he might be interested...

But I think it would be fun to go with someone I dont really know to well. And I'm not sure if he really wants to go or not.

11/30/2005 05:48:08 PM · #15
Originally posted by frisca:

Go alone and without a really set plan. You won't be alone for long and you'll meet SO MANY PEOPLE along the way that you'll be glad you had the flexibility built in!


I think it would get kinda lonely though...I know I'm going to meet a lot of new people. I just want someone there with me the whole time to share the experience with.
11/30/2005 05:52:06 PM · #16
I'll agree with Frisca. Having someone there to share the experience is fine and makes the idea of being alone less daunting, but being master of your own domain the entire time will make it (imo) what you're looking for : your (heavy emphasis on your) experience.

The second time take a friend. There will be a second time if you do it a first.

Edit to add: something I may try some day.

Message edited by author 2005-11-30 17:57:52.
11/30/2005 05:56:03 PM · #17
you won't be lonely, in fact, you'll meet MORE people this way because you'll be more inclined to talk to people and isn't that what travelling is about? Meeting people and seeing things you have never seen? If you go with people you know, you only get half the show.
11/30/2005 06:21:14 PM · #18
Originally posted by DrAchoo:

I'm in. Wait, I'm in if I can find some DPC members to watch my kids for a few months.


If you pay for travel for me and my husband, we'll watch your kids over there ;-)
11/30/2005 06:23:33 PM · #19
Originally posted by frisca:

you won't be lonely, in fact, you'll meet MORE people this way because you'll be more inclined to talk to people and isn't that what travelling is about? Meeting people and seeing things you have never seen? If you go with people you know, you only get half the show.


That's some pretty good advice. I'm kinda scared...I've never been on a true adventure, and deffinately not alone. I'll have to put some thought into it.
11/30/2005 06:27:27 PM · #20
Caleb, are you a college student? If so, talk to your student affairs staff at the campus. There are ways to hook up with other students on Europe; for example, if you speak German, you can find a German student who wants to work on his English and is also planning a summer of traveling, and so forth. This might be your best solution. Also, of course, simply advertising your proposal at your college might troll up a joiner for you.

My family lived in Geneva for four years from 1957-61, and I got to do a LOT of this trekking around when somewhat older friends of the family would show up from the states, make our home their base, and wander around the continent backback-laden for a couple weeks at a time. My parents let me accompany them sometimes, and that was a thrill for a young boy :-)

Good luck in your planning!

R.
11/30/2005 06:29:38 PM · #21
I don't think I'd be able to do it completely alone either...if I were to do it someone would have to leave and arrive back at the states with me. I wouldn't want to do it with more than one other person, though, because it's a lot harder to compromise with three. I agree with you, that it'd be fun to go with someone you don't really know well to begin with...

You're lucky if your parents support you in this...I definitely have the money and the time and the guts and flexibility to go, but eh. It would be hard enough for me to convince my parents to let me go even on something like an internship, like hell they'd let me go with someone I hardly know.

I'm thinking about it. I might work on them.
11/30/2005 06:37:07 PM · #22
Originally posted by stare_at_the_sun:

Yeah...I wanna go for a few months...

I think I need to do this right now...because if I don't do it now, I probably never will. I talked to one of my good friends and he said he might be interested...

But I think it would be fun to go with someone I dont really know to well. And I'm not sure if he really wants to go or not.


Yeah...I have some pretty cool parents, but I've learned something over the years; Although they are my parents and I adore them, I'm not going to live my life by their standards. Because this is my life, and I'm not going to live it for anyone but myself. I made the mistake of coming to college right out of highschool even though I didn't want to, but I was expected to. I got here and I don't like it very much...I really wish I would have taken a year off to mature a little bit.

I've been wanting to do this for a few years now, and even if my parents didn't support me one hundred percent...I would still do it more than likely.

Anywho...let me know what your 'rents say if you mention it. I need to talk to mine a little more about it now that I think about it, lol...

Caleb
11/30/2005 06:39:46 PM · #23
I would definitaly, 100% want to go with you. Backpacking through europe sounds fantastic. Too bad I don't graduate till june...
11/30/2005 06:46:36 PM · #24
Originally posted by liebe:

I would definitaly, 100% want to go with you. Backpacking through europe sounds fantastic. Too bad I don't graduate till june...


That's about when I'm planning on leaving:P

I'm really flexible with the dates...I can leave as early as April or as late as August. I'm flexible on the return dates as well...

If I left later, say June, it would just give me more time to make money...

Drop me an email if you want: calebphoto@yahoo.com

Heck...anyone that wants to email me can, if you have any advice or whatnot...
11/30/2005 06:50:29 PM · #25
Originally posted by modgethanc:

I don't think I'd be able to do it completely alone either...if I were to do it someone would have to leave and arrive back at the states with me. I wouldn't want to do it with more than one other person, though, because it's a lot harder to compromise with three. I agree with you, that it'd be fun to go with someone you don't really know well to begin with...

You're lucky if your parents support you in this...I definitely have the money and the time and the guts and flexibility to go, but eh. It would be hard enough for me to convince my parents to let me go even on something like an internship, like hell they'd let me go with someone I hardly know.

I'm thinking about it. I might work on them.


You are 18! You must be at the stage when you are considered an adult officially as well as physically. Lots of 18 year old in the UK take off for a gap year - backpacking, travelling for weeks or months to Europe, Australia etc. I think you must try to get your parents to cut the apron strings and realise you need to stand on your own feet and make your own mistakes! You can't be protected from life - you have to go and live it!

BTW if you get to England, Caleb, we would be pleased to see you in Yorkshire and have lots of room for you and travelling companions to stay.

And Vincent, thinking about it, we are very respectable, old enough to be your parents ( even grandparents!), teachers and so your parents might even feel we were suitable chaperones while you were over here! (Big joke!)

P
:)))
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