I Never Once Thought I Couldn't Do It

It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't be able to do this European holiday as a solo adventure. I will admit that a couple of days before I left I did feel a little panic set in, but I pushed it aside. I think it was mostly due to language issues and being so far away. But now that the trip is over and I am home, I am so glad I didn't let anything, including fear, keep me from following my dream to go to Europe.

I learned a lot about traveling overseas and I learned a lot about what I can do if I put my clear-thinking mind to it. I got lost, I got sore feet, legs, knees, hips, and back, I didn't always sleep well, I had some difficulties with the money, and there was certainly the language barrier, but I worked through all of it. Calm acceptance really helped.

I kept track of a few things as I was traveling that I thought might be helpful to someone else in my position - traveling to Europe for the first time, especially as a solo traveler. I hope it helps!

Luggage – Weighty Matters

You have to carry your own luggage wherever you go. That has been my least favorite aspect of this trip to Europe. My daughter was surprised at how light my suitcase was when I left Seattle, and I thought I did a really good job paring down. I am generally an over-packer, but I did really well in packing for this trip. I’ve worn almost everything twice or three times since leaving home 2-1/2 weeks ago. There is only one shirt I haven’t worn. I’ve done laundry in the sink twice and had the privilege of having an actual washer and dryer in Geneva and at the Airbnb in Paris (albeit, very small, washer/dryer one unit). So, as far as luggage goes, I kept it as light as possible. My backpack held the essentials, including my laptop and tablet, as well as my money and trip information. I have since collected some souvenirs, half of which Brandon is shipping back to the states for me and half I have purchased since Switzerland. I am carrying these items in a medium sized tote which I can sling over my shoulder.

All that being said, luggage is heavy when you have to haul it up the stairs, and more stairs, and even more stairs. Of all the lugging up steps, I only had ONE person offer to help, and that was a young woman in Venice, Italy. Not another soul offered to help so don’t plan on it. Overstuffed suitcases and large backpacks don’t always fit nicely through metro entrances. And there are always steps up onto a train. This morning, for instance, was a nice, cool Paris spring morning, but by the time I hauled my suitcase and other belongings down the narrow steps of the apartment building and across a couple of streets to the metro station, pulling my suitcase down several sets of stairs, and, because I did not enter the metro station at the best place, I had to pull that same suitcase up several sets of stairs and then back down again. Then I hurried to catch the metro, praying to God I was getting on the correct one. (I did.) I was a sweaty mess! My shirt was clinging to my back where my backpack was pressed against it, and sweat was running down my face. Did I mention that I hate to sweat?! I hate it! I hate being fully dressed and drenched. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. Not that I would have benefited from having a companion because he/she might have had their own luggage, but when I went to Paris from Switzerland with Brandon, he carried my large suitcase whenever possible. It was so nice! So far the whole hauling luggage thing has been my least favorite part of the trip.

Zippity Do-Da

Zippers! I used my big purple backpack as a carry-on when I flew to Europe and on each train trip to a new destination. This backpack has FIVE zippers, so I learned very quickly that if I didn’t want to always be searching in each section to generally put things in the same place each time. The smaller daypack I brought has only THREE zippers, so that was relatively easy to keep organized. The small travel purse (Bagglini) I brought has SEVEN zippers! That seemed to be the bag I was constantly having to do a lot of zipping and unzipping. That got old right away so I tried using just the main sections and cut the use of zippers down to three. It’s to have sections in your bags to keep things separate, but I got a little tired of constantly unzipping and zipping up. Oh, and my suitcase has FIVE zippered sections, and an extra zipper to enlarge it. I’ve worked very hard not to have to enlarge it.

Shoes 

In my luggage, I did bring tennis shoes – wore only once and my feet were killing me that day; brand new, very expensive, dressier “mary jane” walking shoes – got blisters on the backs of my heels after wearing them once; and a pair of Birkenstock wannabe sandals that I wore twice and my feet didn’t fare well in those either. When I flew out of Seattle I was wearing my well-worn Crocs that my chiropractor recommended for my back, and I have worn these all over Europe, even when I broke a strap. My feet fared the best when wearing my Crocs! Doesn’t mean my feet didn’t hurt. In fact, they hurt every day. But it was doable versus the serious pain that is unbearable. What I didn’t expect was how bad my knees were going to hurt. Back home I would occasionally have knee pain when going up or down stairs, but nothing like this pain. Then again, I have climbed and descended enough stairs on this trip to last a lifetime. Be prepared for lots of walking and lots of climbing. The knee pain kept me from climbing the dome of Notre-Dame and a handful to clock towers in Italy. I’m sure it would help if I were 50 pounds lighter, but I still think I’ve got worse knee problems in my future. I did start on an exercise program three months before my trip to make sure my heart could take all the walking and climbing. I should have started a year ago!

Getting Lost

The other thing that has been a challenge traveling solo is finding places. The Rick Steves’ maps I brought with me have been helpful for general directions, but they don’t include all the little side streets. Google Maps worked for me in Paris (most of the time) but it was a total joke in Italy, especially Venice. Asking for directions from locals was helpful about 50% of the time, and the other 50% they gave directions like I knew the area! Duh! I wouldn’t be asking for directions if I knew where I was going! I was really good about spending some time each evening scoping out where I would be going the next day. All the research on MapQuest that I did before I left home – I hardly used. So different when you’re actually traveling the roads for real. It would be nice to have someone to help with directions. When we were in Paris, Brandon did all the navigating which was good . . . and bad. Good because I didn’t have to think, and bad because, well, I didn’t have to think. The one day I had in Paris on my own I got lost coming out of the metro station because I simply had not been paying attention for the previous 3 days. When I am on my own I am very careful to pay attention to my surroundings and street names and the characteristics of the buildings.

Eating Out Solo

Eating alone was weird in Italy has most of the servers always said “Only one?” like they’d never seen just one person come into their establishment. I had company in Switzerland and in Paris (for a handful of meals). When I was in Paris on my own it didn’t seem to be a problem to eat alone.

At the Mercy of the Money Changers

I did pretty good with knowing Euros. The bills are easy, the coins are a little confusing, but at least they are numbered. I never used Francs (Switzerland). The money in London is a whole different story. Way more coins and really hard to know which ones are which and how much they are. It’s more by size than by numbers. For instance, you could have two 20 pence coins and they are completely different in what picture is printed on them and you can hardly see the 20. Oh, and the British call them “p” – 20 p. The bills are easy enough. Way too many coins over here in Europe. I was always asking “how much is this coin?”

My time, my schedule, my pace

There are a lot of pros for traveling alone. This really hit home after spending three days in Paris with Brandon and Reagan. Believe me, it was awesome to have their company, but I had to adhere to someone else’s schedule and choice of places to eat. I didn’t realize that I would feel as much extra stress as I did having to make decisions trying to make sure everyone was happy. Brandon did not want to go to Pere Lechaise Cemetery and he made that perfectly clear, so when we were there I went directly to Chopin’s grave and then we left. There were other graves I wanted to find but couldn’t without upsetting him and Reagan. I had no interest in going to a modern art museum, but Reagan really wanted to see some Picasso and Matisse art, so we went. I didn’t mind seeing the art and it was cool to see Reagan so interested, but it’s not something I would have done. You do have to make compromises and sacrifices when traveling with others. When traveling alone you can eat where you want to eat, when you want to eat, what you want to eat, when to get started for the day and when to end the day. I walk slower and look around me more when I’m by myself. Whenever someone would ask me if I was traveling alone and I said “yes” they would respond with “How wonderful! Good for you!” Those comments almost always came from women.

Certainly having someone to talk to is nice, but quiet time, reflection time, listening and journaling are all great to do alone. I can read more information in the museums. I can stop and take pictures that someone else might think is senseless. I can hear other people in conversation and listen to the fluidity of their special language. On trains, I can sleep and not have to have conversation.

There are risks in traveling alone and things might not seem so scary at times (like when you are lost) if someone is with you. But I’ve just been as mindful as I can be. I read and researched safety tips before ever leaving home when it comes to money and belongings, cabs and scams. I guess what I’ve really learned is that you have to prepare before traveling alone and you have to think when you are out and about. Be aware of what is going on around you. I have gotten less anxious as my trip has progressed. I’m not nearly as nervous as I was when I got to Italy. I try to portray confidence and a happy disposition.

Traveling alone is not for everyone. I never thought of myself as brave or courageous, but my friend Jody says she is impressed with my courage to do something like this. I look at it as an adventure that if I waited until the circumstances were perfect (had a companion and had the money) I might not ever take off and enjoy the journey.

Organized Routine – Only MY stuff to worry about
I found that some routine for the purpose of staying organized and not feeling chaotic was very helpful to me. Every evening when I returned to my accommodations, I would unload my entire day-pack or purse, whichever I took that day. I would throw away all garbage – protein bar wrappers, tissues, receipts (nope, didn’t keep them), and any directions or information that I needed just for that day. I would keep all literature I received at the places I visited and I would transfer those to a little travel journal a student gave me before I left. I would then go through my “research and information” file folder and review the information I needed for the next day’s adventures. I would look things up on the map and figure out transportation. I would then put everything into the day-pack or purse for the next day, with my glasses, sunglasses, tissues, keys, chapstick, camera, phone, money, small flashlight, selfie stick (which I never used) and umbrella and windbreaker (which I have used) if the weather called for it.

When I moved from city to city, after spending anywhere from 3 nights to 5 nights in one place before moving on, I would do a total repack. I would do empty out the daypack completely and after the tossing of garbage I would start the transfer to the carryon backpack. To that I would also add my neck pillow and a sweater and scarf. Then I would empty my entire, now jumbled suitcase, and start to repack it neatly and compact. I used four 2-gallon size Ziploc bags to keep my clothes organized, and an additional two of those bags for underclothing. I would repack those and squeeze all the air out to make them as small as possible. I then added back in the shoes and all the personal make-up, haircare, hygiene products and vitamins and medications all separated into their own little “make-up bags” or Ziploc bags. Everything had a place in a bag and then in the suitcase. Then I had to decide whether to put my purchases in my suitcase or in the medium tote I brought along for that purpose, which also doubled as a laundry bag in-between washings.

Blogging Daily – Easier to do when traveling alone, but didn’t / couldn’t always happen

Actually, before I even did the reorganize of the day-pack, I would plug my phone into my computer and download all the photos I had taken that day. I would do the same with my camera if I used it also. I would open a new folder in my pictures file for that day’s pictures and then subdivide folders for each attraction. This was very helpful when blogging and posting pictures to Facebook. If I had good internet access I would write a post in my travel blog. Uploading pictures to my blog is a slow process so while I was waiting for pictures to upload I would do all the organizing of the daypack. After all the pictures were uploaded, I would blog for a bit before uploading more pictures. I would also choose pictures to put on Facebook. If internet access was not good or not available, I would write my blog entry into a Word document to be transferred when I had internet access. My train rides from city to city were good for this purpose, unless I was too pooped to do anything but sleep!

All of this would take a few hours, so if I didn’t have a few hours or got back late, it just wouldn’t get done. I took a shower every night because all the walking up and down stairs, or waiting in lines on a warm day, and people smoking necessitated a shower! It felt great at the end of the day. Another part of the routine.

Used and Helpful

1.       Advil and Advil PM. Only a couple times did I use Advil for a headache. The rest of the times I used it for very sore and achy feet, legs, hips, and back. Take a full bottle if you are prone to aches and pains. The headaches were due to lack of sleep, inconsistent eating, and the cigarette smoke, which is EVERYWHERE in Europe. You cannot avoid it.

2.       The little blue, quick-dry washcloth designed for travel. No accommodation supplied washcloths and I love to use one to scrub my face at night and to scrub the dirt of the day off in the shower. I used my washcloth every day, and it truly does dry very quick.

3.       My Rick Steves daypack. You don’t necessarily have to have the Rick Steves version, but a daypack versus a full size backpack is awesome for daily adventures and tours. It’s a must.

4.       Electrical adapters . . . and the UK takes a different one than Italy, Switzerland, and France. And you will need to charge up the electronics on a daily basis, so it’s best to have two adapters. Make sure at least one has a USB port.

5.       Antacid. The food has been very rich in Europe, and oftentimes different than what you think it might be. When you want to buy medicine in Europe, you have to go to a Pharmacia / Farmacie / Pharmacy, and you will likely not get the product you are used to. I ended up needing some more antacid in Paris and it’s interesting what I ended up with. :o)

6.       The strap that holds my glasses around my neck. With my eyes, I could not see to read but with my glasses on, I could not see ahead of me without it being blurry. I did not want to be digging for my glasses every time I needed them, and I didn’t want them on my head all the time due to sunglasses taking up residence in that spot. I put them around my neck every day, like a piece of clothing.

7.       Bandaids

8.       Hand sanitizer. You will not believe how many handrails you will need to use going up and down stairs.

9.       Rick Steves has a great list of items and I followed that list and used most things he suggested, at least one time if not many more. There are other lists online, but I found his to be the best.

Things I brought that I did not use:

1.       My selfie stick, which surprised me that I did not use. I saw so many people using them and holding them out throughout their whole tour, getting in the way of other people taking pictures, and even had to be cropped out of several of my pictures. I just did not want to hassle with getting it out of my backpack every time I wanted to use it nor did I want it out all the time, so it never got used. A good friend of mine reminded me, “You took the pictures so we know you were there.” That stuck with me.

2.       I did not read one magazine, I did not use my tablet at all to read a book, and believe it or not, I never did watch TV. The tablet was a little heavy so I could have left it home, but I thought I would read. I always read on vacations, especially when flying. But I was so busy touring and learning and then organizing pictures and blogging that I didn’t mind not reading. I also did not seem to need the noise of a TV in the evenings. Interesting.

3.       I did not use the extra flash drive I brought. Doesn’t take up too much space, but my phone, camera and computer seemed fine holding the over 1,000 pictures I have taken.

4.       I took both a money belt and a money holder for around my neck. I never used the money belt. I decided I just didn’t want to be lifting up my shirt all the time to get to my money. I did not put the money “necklace” under my shirt either. But, I always kept my passport and my driver’s license in protective sleeves and in this neck wallet. I also one debit card and one credit card in protective sleeves in the neck wallet. That’s where I kept paper bills and coins and metro passes. When I was carrying a daypack or my purse, all of this stuff still stayed in the neck wallet. It was used every day. The money belt – never used.

5.       I did not use my headlamp, but I took it with me whenever I thought I was going to be walking home after dark. But even in the alleyways of Italy, there was plenty of light. I did use the little tiny mini-flashlight once, but that was to read something more clearly. Could they make the underground map of London any smaller?! I did bring a small magnifying glass but was too lazy to dig it out when I needed it. I had no problem asking people for help if I couldn’t read something.

I

Gettin' Outta Town - London Day 3 (and last day of my European holiday)

Up and early again, on a lovely London morning, for another group tour. Same pick up and same tour starting pointing. Now I was a pro helping other people!

I was excited to be getting out of the city. This day I was going to be on the coach for more time than I would actually be visiting an attraction. That was due some to the traffic getting out of the city, and the rest was due to getting out of the city. We went to Windsor Castle, on the outskirts of London, Stonehenge, even further out, and Oxford, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Stonehenge. It was nice to be out in the country. All in all, this tour lasted approximately 11 hours!

Windsor Castle – what an experience! We visited Windsor Castle on Thursday, April 21, 2016 which will always be known in the annals of British history as Queen Elizabeth II’s 90^th birthday. Maybe not the best day to visit Windsor Castle! When we arrived we weren’t even sure what we’d be able to do or how long we’d be able to stay. The Queen’s people would tell us when we arrived, as she had a schedule to keep. Part of her itinerary was to drive out the castle gate (St. George gate) and then get out of her car and walk a bit so her “people” could see her and wish her a happy birthday.

Windsor Castle

This particular flag when flying means the Queen is in residence

When we actually got to the castle, we had about one hour to go through very stringent security and then see whatever we could see in the castle. Our guide – who was fabulous; spoke everything in English and followed right up in Spanish for two couples, and never missed a beat – recommended we see the State Apartments where the Queen and Prince Phillip live when they are in residence, and the St. George Church. In that one hour I did just that. Absolutely no pictures were to be taken in the apartments (oops again), but while I was in that part of the castle, the guard was doing something out on the lawn so I managed to get a picture of whatever that was that was going on. No pictures in the church either (I am so bad).

There was a small Shakespeare exhibition I ran through before moving on to the State Apartments.

Entering the State Apartments - where the Queen and her husband live when here at Windsor Castle

From a window in the apartments

Stained glass window in St. George Chapel of Windsor Castle
(I was not supposed to be taking pictures so they are not the best)

Ceiling

Beautiful chapel

I felt like I literally ran through both things and didn’t really get much out of it.

Our guide told us that we should leave through the St. George exit by 11:30 or we may get stuck in the castle area until the whole parade and Queen thing was over. He said we absolutely had to be on the coach and leaving at 12:30 p.m.  I may be a rule-breaker when it comes to pictures, but I am adamant about getting to places on time when I’m told to be there, and I always feared I would miss the coach if I didn’t arrive on time. He said, “when you come out the gate, stay to the right and follow the road around and look for the landmarks I point out to help you get back to the bus.” Well, when I came out the gate and tried to go right, the police said I could not go right. Even if I did, there was no way I was going to get through the massive crowd of people, security, cameras and news people. So, following very loose directions from that policeman, I started to find another way to get to where I needed to be. The next 45-minutes were horrendous. Most of the security and police officers were not from Windsor so they had no idea how to help me get to the train station where the coaches were parked. Every alley I tried I got stopped by a crowd of people. All I could hear in my head was “We will be leaving right at 12:30 in order to make our tour time at Stonehenge.” That fear of being left behind set in. People everywhere. Well-wishers with British flags (I even had one), children on shoulders, cameras everywhere, people looking out their hotel windows, shopkeepers coming out of their shops, etc. If I weren’t so frantic to find a way out (I did feel trapped) I would have been caught up in the excitement of it all.

Where all those people are? That's where I was supposed to turn right.

At one point I came across a section of barrier that was directly across from a group of elderly people in wheelchairs with flowers for the Queen, which meant she was probably going to do some of her walking to these people. There was room at the barricade for me to get really close for some pictures and I thought, “Hmmm, what if I stay here, get a picture, and then try and find my way out?” I asked a local (mum and her baby) if the Queen would be coming this way and she said “for sure.” I got excited. I asked, “do you know about what time?” and she replied, “it’s scheduled for 12:30.” That was it for me. I headed back into the crowd. I actually walked quite a ways into the town before I could beg to cross the street. Once I got to the other side some very nice volunteers made the people make room for all of us that were trying to get someplace besides standing and waiting for the Queen. I got back to the shopping/café area about ½ km from the coaches with a few minutes to spare, so I grabbed a “toastie” (toasted ham and cheese sandwich; I’ve made better) and made sure I made it to the coach by 12:30. Only myself and another family group were on the coach at 12:30. We ended up not leaving until 1:15 p.m. because so many of our people were stuck in the madhouse. BUT, some of those people got some great pictures of the Queen and they promised to send them to me. The whole thing was wild and frantic and exciting.

Guards getting ready for the Queen's parade

The London Times on the Queen's birthday

The Queen receiving flowers from her people.
My tour buddies said they'd send me actual pictures they took.

Our next stop was Stonehenge. It was about an hour’s drive away, so I dozed a little. When I woke up we were truly in the country, the very green English countryside. Before long our guide said, “Just over the next hill you will see the rocks.” I was wiping the sleep from my eyes and didn’t even have my glasses on when I saw a whole bunch of light colored rocks on the green grass. I started taking pictures in my excitement. I thought, “Hmmm, I thought they were bigger and darker,” thinking about the pictures I’d seen. I then realized that I had just taken pictures of sheep! I started cracking up and couldn’t stop laughing. I told the older couple that I was kind of hanging out with and they got a kick out of it and for the rest of the day, every time we saw sheep they’d say “Sally, more rocks!” It was so embarrassingly funny.

My first "rocks" picture

Once I finally did see Stonehenge, it was just exactly like I thought it would look. We got to the visitor’s center and took a shuttle up to the site. I guess people used to be able to actually walk around and through the stones, but the ground was being so beat up and graffiti started appearing on the rocks, it had to be made somewhat secure with a perimeter we couldn’t go past. That’s fair. I thought we had great access even from our distance. We were provided with a self-guided, audio tour that gave some of the history of the stones and surrounding area. It was pretty cool. Lots of pictures being taken. I met a gal who was traveling alone (in a group) and her holiday had just begun as mine was just ending, and we took pictures for each other so we wouldn’t have delete more stupid selfies.

These "coverings" were in several places. They are covering holes that were discovered and believed to be
holes for some sort of poles put there at the same time as the standing stones.

Sheep roaming all over the green fields.

We spent the full amount of allotted time at Stonehenge before heading off for a very abbreviated visit to Oxford. I was okay with that until we got there and learned a little bit more about the University (38 actual colleges make up the University) and saw how old everything was in the town of Oxford. But our tour guide did the best he could. He phoned ahead and asked for a couple of the shops to please stay open until we got there to buy souvenirs, get some food, and use the facilities. We then did a quick walk through some of the most notable parts of Oxford – Christ’s Church, College of Divinity, a couple more of the “college” buildings, and the famous Bodleian Library. Our guide told us there is at least one copy of every single academic book published in this library, in three or four stories underground, with a robot and conveyor belt to help retrieve books, which could sometimes take up to an hour or more to accomplish. Not all students have access to this retrieval system. It’s mostly for the “Fellows” and post-grad students. We didn’t get to go into the library or any of the other buildings, but it was cool to be able to see them and get some history.

Monument to the four fallen Christian martyrs

The actual spot where the four martyrs were executed.

Some of the colleges of Oxford University (not my picture)
We ran through our short tour that I honestly can't remember half of the buildings we saw.

Balliol College, founded in 1263

The streets of Oxford

Divinity College

Clarendon Building

Oxford's "Bridge of Sighs" connecting two buildings of Hertford College, over New College Lane

The old Quad & Bodleian Library

Radcliffe Camera - houses the Radcliffe Science Library

The stone road we were walking on

The twin towers of All Souls College

It was a two-hour coach ride back to London, and it was about 8:30 p.m. when I stepped into my favorite little Italian restaurant on Praed Street, around the corner from my flat. It was quite busy and noisy, but I really wanted a good salad and that shrimp and risotto again. I met a really nice couple – Andy Reynolds (born in the UK) and Mary Finnerty (from Ireland) sitting next to me and we started up a nice conversation. Mary and I both decided London was just too big and too chaotic, and that we all enjoyed getting out of the city. Come to find out they live in Galway, Ireland, which is on the coast, and before I left the restaurant I had Mary’s email address and was Facebook friends with Andy (a fellow musician and producer of music), and invited to come stay with them when I go to Ireland. I’m going to take them up on it! What a wonderful way to end my holiday.

I got home much too late and still had to pack for my morning flight and see if I could get access to my boarding pass. As usual, the Internet connection was so bad in the flat I couldn’t access it, which meant getting up even earlier to allow myself time to walk to Paddington Station, get a ticket on the Heathrow Express, and stand in the ticket/boarding pass line and go through the stringent security at Heathrow. In all of my tiredness, I had forgotten in my very organized bag of gifts for family that I had a beautiful jar of English strawberry jam for Amy, bought at a really lovely little shop in Versailles, and a small snow globe I bought in Chamonix, France for Eva. I got to take the snow globe through but the jam in it’s beautiful box got tossed out because it was larger than 3 ounces. I totally didn’t think about it when I put it in my “purchases” bag and it made me sick to throw it out, not because of the money, but because I really wanted to give that jam to Amy. Sorry sweetie.

As I am typing this particular post I am actually on the plane home. I got up at 5:00 a.m. and still have not been able to sleep on the plane. We should be landing in a couple of hours. I will be happy to be home, sleep in my own bed, hug my Eva, and do some laundry. I know the travel bug will bite me again all too soon, but for now, I am satisfied. I came, I saw, I conquered. I did it! Traveled solo to Europe for my very first time, and lived to tell the tales!