Fifty-two days, fifteen countries, twenty-eight
cities/places, approximately two hundred forty miles of running, and eight jars
of Nutella later, this adventure has come to an end. I had the bad luck of getting injured about ten days in (the
pain started in Brugge, I think), and I finally accepted the fact that I was
injured two weeks later, at which point I was on track to reach my goal of
running 800 miles in 80 days or less according to the schedule I had set
myself, but life had other plans. Since
I had no “obligation” to stay and I realized I should really get back to start
looking for an apartment in Denver before I move in August, I figured I’d come
home early. Even though I didn’t
reach the goal I had set on paper (or on electronic bits of data or whatever
this “Internet” thing is made of) I think I accomplished the larger goals I had
set my heart and mind to: I saw a good portion of the world, I met some cool people,
and I think I’ve come home a better person than when I left.
Curtis and I made the most of our budget. I’m sure you’re all secretly wondering
how much this trip put me in debt.
It didn’t, actually. I
think I personally spent about $5500, and that includes WAY overpriced plane
tickets! That’s a good chunk of
money, but a 52-day trip to Europe (including flights) for that much is not
bad, not bad at all (granted, I had a little help with food and lodging expenses
when my parents showed up at the end :) ). If we had stuck only to Eastern Europe and booked all our plane
tickets far in advance, it would have been much cheaper. It just goes to show that one can
travel without breaking the bank, if you’re willing to sacrifice a little
comfort for a little more adventure.
Along the way, we met up with some wonderful old friends and
made lots of cool new friends, and I have to thank each and every one of them
for making this trip an incredible experience. So…
Thank you Laura and Fabian! Thank you Erika! Thank you
Janika! Thank you Rick and Natalie! Thank you Zak! Thank you crazy old
Ukrainian lady! Thank you super-cool hostel owner in Kotor! Thank you Deny!
Thank you Sergio, Etienne, and Robin! Thank you Leah! Thank you Ricky, Jasmin,
and
I-forgot-your-name-and-I’m-so-terribly-sorry-but-you’re-not-going-to-read-this-anyway!
Thank you Irish people in Bled! Thank you Mike from San Diego! Thank you insane
hostel staff in Budapest! Thank you Amy, Zoe, Michelle, Sean, Ralph, and Conor!
Thank you Triin! Thank you Hellevi! Thank you Hellevi’s family! Most
importantly, thank you to all my friends and family at home who provided
support and encouragement, especially my parents! Even most-er importantly, thank you God!
I’m sure I forgot someone, but please don’t be offended if
you happen to read this! Which
reminds me, thank you to everyone who’s been following this blog. Thank you for your kind words and
encouragement. I never expected
the pageview count for this thing to get well into the thousands, but it
certainly did. (I’ll let you guess what it is!)
If anyone out there is planning their own trip to Europe,
whether it’s a summer-long backpacking adventure or just a week-long getaway, I
figure I should leave you with my recommendations. Basically, my advice is this: Don’t neglect Central
and Eastern Europe! When most
people plan European vacations: they tend to only think of the big-name Western
European destinations like London, Paris, and Rome. These are all spectacular and you should see them if you
have the opportunity, but there are so many overlooked places in Central and
Eastern Europe that are much cheaper and just as (if not more) spectacular,
depending on what you’re into.
Most of my favorite destinations from this trip were in Eastern or
Central Europe (like Kotor in Montenegro, Bled in Slovenia, Mostar in Bosnia
& Herzegovina, just to name a few) and we missed out on so many places that
we would have liked to have visited but didn’t have the time (like Poland,
Romania, Latvia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey…well, basically all the
countries we didn’t visit). On second thought, don’t go to those overlooked places in
Central and Eastern Europe! Part
of the reason why they’re so great is that not quite as many tourists go
there!
And now... some maps explaining what you've probably been asking yourself since my first blog post: "Where the hell were they?"
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| Our full route - Curtis hopped off in the Czech Republic, where my parents and sister hopped on |
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| Days 1 - 14 (the numbers in the red pins indicate the number of nights stayed in each place) |
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| Days 15 - 24 |
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| Days 25 - 40 |
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| Days 41-51 |
