I came back from the solo backpacking around Spain and
Portugal last week. Every time I try to
add new threshold to my travel. I always go for comfort travel if not luxury.
This time I wanted to stay in hostels and move from place to place like a
backpacker. Here are some of my finding and learning from this travel.
Hostel stay – It was the first time I stayed in hostels.
Travelling solo and staying in hotels is expensive. With so many apprehensions
of me getting used to hostels I booked
hostels for most of my travel. For those who doesn’t know about hostels, these
are common budget accommodations in Europe having 6-10 beds in each room. There
will be lockers for each one of them to secure their belongings. Hostels are
good places to get to know other travellers across the globe. On my first day I
did feel like why the hell I ended up here to share the room with strangers. Imagine
one wash room for 6 people! As my days moved I learnt to live there. After all
I would go out for rest of the day and would return to bed only at night. It was not as bad as I imagined
it to be. At the same time I can’t live like that for all of 15 days of travel.
May be next time I will choose a combination of hostel and hotel, with a space
for privacy for at least few days.
Slow travelling - I like slow travelling. Going to a place
and be stationed there exploring around is what I want and do in many of my travels.
But with my limited 15 days of leave and the excitement to travel through
couple of countries I was rushing from one city to other. Most of my focus was
on how to catch the train and how to reach the hostel. Need to give a lot of
thoughts on how can I travel slow with the limitations of having full time job
for my next travels. No doubt I love microscopic, snail pace travel than
telescopic travels. That’s the way to absorb the mood, weather, ethnicity,
architecture of the place and I like the feel of pain when we leave the place
behind after you spend few days there.
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| Hostel |
Cities and countryside - I love cities. The vibrant city life
attracts me. This time I travelled through 5 cities of Europe. But when I
travel I would also like to experience the countryside which will be free of
hustle bustle providing a lot of time for introspection. It’s not that I avoid
cities totally. But in my next travel I may limit to one city spending maximum
time in the countryside.
Camera - I carried my DSLR. I believe in exploring through
walking. Ambling for 10-15 kilometers with a day pack which is heavy because of
camera is not so easy. Every time keeping the camera inside the hostel locker is too much for me to handle. I can’t
compromise my traveler self for a photographer self. So if I backpack and stay
in hostels probably I leave my DSLR at home and carry only point and shoot camera
which is not a burden and will allow me to experience recklessly
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| Barcelona view |
Packing for Europe weather - When I checked the weather
forecast it was showing 18-20 degree Celsius in all the places I was planning
to visit. I thought it wouldn’t be bad and didn’t carry any thick jacket but
packed some thermals and fleece. I don’t like jackets spoiling all the
colorful clothes we wear. But for my luck weather was very bad except in
Barcelona. It was raining in Portugal even in the driest places and the
temperature went down. I didn’t want to buy a Jacket to add up to the already
brimming wardrobe or to my backpack. Any extra weight on backpack means weight
on my back. I survived wearing multiple layers and buying wind sheeter for
rain. A good jacket is a must for Europe travel even if need to compromise on
other clothes to accommodate space in the backpack
Are you a backpacker ? What's your experience ?
Other links from this travel
