things to know before travelling europe

Hi everyone!

Today I wanted to talk about my travels in more of an advice way than a "look what I did" way. I also don't really know if I can be bothered to edit all the pictures I took and make more posts for everywhere I went. I might do one for Italy but I don't really know, I kinda want to blog about other things rather than just posting pictures of a holiday I went on.

So, yes.

I went into the trip feeling really nervous, and for the most part those nerves were valid. People were sketchy. People know when you're a tourist and will try to rip you off, overcharge you, and trick you.

Nothing happened to Orla and I because  we have common sense, but a lot of the people we met along the way didn't. Like the guy who got a $100 fine for drinking in a park in Poland, or the girl who believed random people who told her they were "subway police" (weren't in uniforms and didn't show her indentification) and made her pay a $50 fine for not having a ticket (with her credit card specifically. Jury's still out on whether or not all her money was stolen).

While a lot of things are avoidable if you have common sense, there are a couple of other things to note before going on a similar travel, which may have not even crossed your mind.

TO DO BEFORE

1/ Don't overplan
I was guilty of this. I wanted to plan the perfect trip, and guessed at how long we would need to see everything is the cities we went. This was a big mistake. I gave us five days in Berlin, which is a city you can see in one, to be completely honest. Later in the trip, we only had two days in Krakow (a city that wasnt even in our original plan) and I wish we had more. It's good to know the first couple places you're going, and have an idea of where you'd like to go, but your plan will likely change, so don't be too stuck to it.

2/ Take a quarter of what you think you'll need
Really, take as little as possible. When you travel, normal standards of cleanliness get thrown out the window. Gross but true. I hope you like the shirt you brought, because you'll be wearing it for a week before you find a washing machine.

3/ Be sure of who you're going with
Europe is safe enough to travel around it alone. Remember that. But If you don't want to travel alone, make sure you put a lot of thought into whether your friendship will survive after the trip. Me and Orla got in more arguments during that month than we probably have in the past 5 years. Bare in mind that we are sisters, so naturally we hate each other, but still. Arguments will happen.

4/ Figure out the phone situation
Just make sure you have data. Public wifi isn't crazy easy to come by and many will require you to log in with your Facebook, which might then get hacked. This happened to us twice.

MONEY TIPS
1/ Know the currencies
I remember it so well. Our train arrived at Budapest Keleti train station and quickly double checked out much our hostel would be, to discover that it was to be paid in the Hungarian forint, which I had no idea existed. Make sure you look up what currency the each country uses, and what the conversion is, so that you don't lose money.

2/ Do NOT exchange your money at the airport/train station
To build off the last point, take your money out at an ATM attached to a bank for better rates. And make sure you always pay in local currency. Many shops and restaurants will ask if you want to pay in your home currency (euro for me) or the local currency. But, again, these places will have terrible exchange rates.

4/ Ask for a menu in English and the local language
There are people in Europe who will try to scam money off of tourists -- this is the same with any country. In Eastern Europe, some places will have more expensive prices on the English menu. It's pretty smart, really. All you need to do is ask for the two menus and point out the difference.

5/ Avoid street vendors
An obvious one, but ignore them -- ignore them all. In Rome they were the worst. They just walk up to you, grab your arm and put bracelets on you. Or they stand in front of you and force you into conversation. I just started saying "no hablo" towards the end, because when I said "je ne parle pas," they started speaking French to me... so yeah that didn't work.