Fall Break Trip

I recently returned from my most eventful vacation to date: a 10-day solo trip across Central Europe. I ended up going to six cities in six different countries, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. 

First, this was my first time traveling alone, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I think I was more excited than nervous before the trip, but it turned out to be even greater than I had imagined. Being alone in those massive cities and tourist locations brought about a sense of freedom and peace that was surreal at times. In some of the places that I went to, such as Budapest or Prague, the views of the city were stunning, and I was totally content experiencing them alone and in silence.

Throughout the trip, I planned a lot of what I did on the go or the night before, so every day’s itinerary felt super flexible and at the whim of what I felt like doing that day. I really loved that, and I ended up just walking around these cities so much as a result of that. This resulted in a mix of having a vague must-see list and just wandering around these amazing places for the first time. To put it into perspective, I averaged over 20k steps and 10 miles of walking every day, with my peak hitting over 30k and 15 miles. Honestly, it wasn’t difficult just exploring and walking around that much at these spots. 

Another big part of my experience traveling alone was the culinary experience. Just like my approach in Paris, I wanted to go to restaurants that served traditional dishes that were relatively specific to the country or region. I just used TripAdvisor and their online reviews to determine what seemed like a good fit for me, and it didn’t disappoint.  

Besides restaurant food, I also checked out a ton of supermarkets and got certain snacks, desserts, or just ready-to-eat foods from these places, which was a novel and surprisingly fun experience for me since a lot of the things that they sell in these supermarkets, you might not be able to find a supermarket in the States. For example, when I was in Germany, which is home to Haribo, there were so many different types of Haribo gummies that I had never seen before. Another interesting find is that if you’ve been to Europe before, you probably noticed some of these crazier chip flavors. For example, it’s not unusual to find Lays chips that are ketchup flavored, and just the other day, I bought some Pringles that were “Prawn Cocktail” flavored. I didn’t even know what this meant, but it tasted like some sour cream and vinegar Pringles. Finally, there were so many chocolates and desserts I had never seen before that I could try out on this trip. 

The pastries and cookies I found while traveling were also unique and extremely good. I think pastries in Europe are a really important part of the meal, and I’ve found that supermarkets even offer some amazing fresh pastry selections. Lastly, the drinks I had in these different countries were extremely nice as well. Similar to the cuisine, I made sure to try the local or regional beers. For example, in Germany, I tried some Gosser and ended up liking it a lot, just like the Pilsner Urquells that I had in Prague. Some of these beers originate from these areas, so I thought it was super cool to have the opportunity to try them in their home country. 

Lastly, I also wanted to mention an unexpected and underrated part of traveling solo alone: meeting and speaking to other tourists or even locals that I likely otherwise wouldn’t have if I was traveling in a group. I had some super interesting conversations with people, whether it was folks on the bus rides that I took between countries or even the Hungarian guy (who I could only really communicate in French with) that I met at the thermal baths in Budapest. These brief conversations were a beautiful part of my experience, and they occurred so naturally and spontaneously. It goes back to the freedom part of this experience traveling alone, and the sheer unexpected things that can happen when you’re moving alone and have the ability to just do whatever you want with your time. 

All in all, not only did I have an amazing time traveling across these different countries, which had been a long-time bucket list item, but I also learned a lot about what I enjoy doing on vacation and what I should try to recreate in future vacations. Although there were some bumps along the way (most notably missing one of my night buses), it was a 10/10 experience.