Before I could make it to Japan, we landed in Russia. Playing ‘Katyusha’ the moment the wheels hit the tarmac seemed right. I had a full day layover in Moscow (such is the counter for such a cheap flight.) For over 14 hours, I wandered about the airport. Firstly, the wifi was sketchy, and not in the bad connection sort of way. To log on I was asked to upload a picture of my passport and agree to the “storage and processing of personal data.” Yeah that’s going to be a hard no. Maybe I could have left, but I didn’t look much into it. I may have needed to…

Yep, that’s what I’d call it; frustration. The amount of crap I’ve dealt with over the last few weeks has been painfully stressful. Let me paint a picture: My phone has constant battery problems and will die after an hour or two if not plugged in (except overnight for some reason) and will sometimes take half an hour to turn back on. My laptop just acquired its own disease and now can’t hold a charge at all, so it needs to be plugged in at all times Isaacs https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Isaacs-Hostel/Dublin/107 wasn’t fantastic by any means. My room was right next to the train tracks, literally so close I could have jumped…

Often you try to make nice with the people in your room, give them a greeting and maybe say which beds are taken. But as previously mentioned many times on this blog, most people give a head nod and simply pass you by. This place however took me completely by surprise. Check in https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Abrahams-Hostel/Dublin/109 bag down, blah, blah, blah, up to my room. Four beds taken, three vacant, one reserved for me. You can usually tell girls stuff apart from guys by what they’ve laid out; boots, pink towels, purses or handbags, etc. It’s nice rooming with ladies, so when I saw her stuff on the floor I was pretty…

The bus took me through emerald fields and down the coast where the city waited for me. A light drizzle of rain claimed the sky, as it would through most of my time in Northern Ireland. The hostel wasn’t too far away; down the main street, a left, a right, then a left again. My backpack felt as if it had grown heavier, not due to packing any more, but rather a lack of carrying it over the last month. Checking into Lagan Backpackers hostel https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Lagan-Backpackers/Belfast/35530 was quick and easy, the usual passport and credit card check, then into my room. I was surprisingly looking forward to meeting new people again, but…

For five long weeks I stayed hunkered down in Britain. For the whole of December, the holidays and into the New Year, I was put up by my loving, distant family, whose relationship is too complicated and personal to post on an internet blog. Nonetheless, I am eternally grateful and thankful to both of them. A lot of my winter was spent, thankfully, indoors. I only managed to get through two chapters over the month but hey, it was somewhere to relax and rest up over the holidays; everyone needs a break. Their air mattress was surprisingly comfortable and the meals we had were warm and rich. Gone were the…

In Europe they have something called the Schengen area. It’s a group of countries with a time limit for people without special visas to travel within. The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria are all part of this area and have a communal 90 day limit. I’m at 85. I learned of this back in Brno and concocted a basic plan. After leaving Lindau, I went back to Munich to run out the clock. I found a cheap place to stay while I waited for my flight. The train came into the city and soared past the hostel https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/a-and-o-Munchen-Laim/Munich/82782  so I had to walk the hour. I wasn’t in…

The PA system exploded with German gibberish as I made my way to the platform. Another lady waited there, pacing from end to end. When she reached me she asked, in German, “Lindau?” I nodded. Another guy came up to us and the two continued a conversation in German. The train was taking a while, a long while. The PA spoke some more words and the two natives turned frustrated. Their tone changed and worry struck me. They looked to each other, then to me. “Lindau,” I said in my very North American accent. They waved me along with them. Construction on the track ensured our train didn’t reach the…

It really is nice when the train station is so close to the hostel. That being said, it’s also nice when the hostel itself is nice. Jaeger’s Hostel https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Jaeger-s-Munich/Munich/4274 wasn’t terrible by any means, but had some flaws. Firstly, no kitchen again so it was back to ready to eat foods. Luckily grocery stores are easy to find and are usually pretty close by. The problem is what they sell. Whenever I get somewhere like this, with not even a microwave, I always find the best stuff to make. When I get somewhere with a full kitchen, the stores seem pretty lack luster. Maybe I’m too picky. My room was…

There was an audible gasp when the train emerged from the blackness of the tunnel. A sea of rolling hills claimed the scenery while a peaceful lake glittered in the foreground. Mighty mountains boasted high snow capped peaks, almost seeming to compete with one another for grandeur. I was hard to breath. The lady beside me gave a little laugh and then returned to her book while I was glued to the window. I tried to snap a picture, but the train whizzed away too quickly; the shot was blurry and didn’t capture the initial scene, but I got it. https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Yoho-International-Youth-Hostel-Salzburg/Salzburg/735 Yoho is the best hostel I’ve stayed in so far;…

Vienna, Austria, what can I say? Did you live up to the hype? Well, just like everywhere before, pros and cons. Hostel a&o  https://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/a-and-o-Wien-Stadthalle/Vienna/29511 was… disappointing. Nothing particularly huge, just the bathroom was the size of a closet, which made showering surprisingly difficult. The fact that there was no kitchen was even more of an inconvenience. There was nothing to cook with; zero, none. No stove, no microwave and only a tini tiny fridge that looked well worn. There was a kettle, but only after filling my cup’o’insta’noodle did I realize there was nothing to eat them with; no fork, no spoon, no spatula. So- they was drunken. Thankfully the supermarket…