nice!

]]> http://www.eurailblog.com/archives/243.shtml/comment-page-1#comment-329 Andy Standerfer Sat, 12 Jul 2003 19:11:15 +0000 http://www.eurailblog.com/wp/archives/000243.shtml#comment-329 Anthony, Hang in there kid. You sound like you are doing fine to me. I think, if you didn't have to write about it at the end of the day, this would all flow over you like a stream over sand. Take care, and remember to enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, we won't enjoy it. Andy

Anthony,

Hang in there kid. You sound like you are doing fine to me. I think, if you didn’t have to write about it at the end of the day, this would all flow over you like a stream over sand.

Take care, and remember to enjoy. If you don’t enjoy it, we won’t enjoy it.

Andy

]]> http://www.eurailblog.com/archives/243.shtml/comment-page-1#comment-328 Chris Albon Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:54:41 +0000 http://www.eurailblog.com/wp/archives/000243.shtml#comment-328 Ok, I feel you more than you'll know. I have traveled my entire life. That being said, I have traveled my entire life with my parents. It has only been within the last 2 years that I have begun to travel on my own, playing, planning, packing without any overseeing help from above. And its scary as shit. It’s scary because at some point before your trip you realize that all those neat and crazy ideas you have been planning (going without a map for instance) is ACTUALLY going to happen. It isn’t theory anymore, those 3 page forum threads on sleeping on a plane suddenly become more than a good read, it becomes real. Warning of luggage losses, overbooked hostels, street scams, robberies, theft, murder, road rage, anti Americanism, terrorism, plane crashes, train derailments, lost tickets, arrests, lost clothes, wet clothes, sleeping in the snow, sleeping wet, loneliness, sleepiness, desperation, and all other fucked up things that you've played with humorously in your mind as good forums topics are now possible occurrence in YOUR LIFE. I know it’s scary, scary as shit. With my own trip I am planning for next summer I feel the exact same way. My fiancé just sits back and trusts that I know what I am doing/talking about: Fiancé: “Taking a train to Madrid and finding a hostel without a booking? Sure Chris! I am sure you know what your doing and we will get a room” Chris: “Well, I know technically some books said it was possible… but…” BUT… But who knows if they will all be full… who know if the only one with a room is 10 miles away and its 2 am and raining. But who knows if I can even buy a train ticket to go to Spain, maybe the fare is too much, maybe I will forget to bring food onto the train, maybe I will forget a bag, or heaven forbid forget a wallet. In my only-recent term as a independent traveler (meaning traveling without my parents advice/help/financial security) I have learned one thing… Trust that WHATEVER happens, YOU are capably enough, strong enough to WIN. What is winning? Winning is getting a hostel is a town you know is booked to the brim, whether it’s by begging, bargaining, or bribing. Winning is remembering to notice how long the train ride is and acting upon that by buying enough food to last its entire 26 hour length. Winning is being able to not only survive but THRIVE in an environment in which the only thing you can rely on is your intelligence. That being said. Once you have one solo trip under your belt its better… then you can always look back and say… I survived and even thrived on a doorstep in snowing Warsaw by making a makeshift tent out of a poncho and cooking a 3 course chicken soup dinner for two out of a tuna can. After you realize just how capable you are, then you can always say… if I did that… I KNOW I can do this. And then when you return home, and your friends freak out in the car driving home in the blizzard from a concert at 3 am because they are afraid to be stranded… you’ll just sit back and think… this isn’t half as bad as Warsaw… this is easy… So is it scary? Yes… But in the end, it’s the fear that makes it so great.

Ok, I feel you more than you’ll know.

I have traveled my entire life. That being said, I have traveled my entire life with my parents. It has only been within the last 2 years that I have begun to travel on my own, playing, planning, packing without any overseeing help from above. And its scary as shit.

It’s scary because at some point before your trip you realize that all those neat and crazy ideas you have been planning (going without a map for instance) is ACTUALLY going to happen. It isn’t theory anymore, those 3 page forum threads on sleeping on a plane suddenly become more than a good read, it becomes real. Warning of luggage losses, overbooked hostels, street scams, robberies, theft, murder, road rage, anti Americanism, terrorism, plane crashes, train derailments, lost tickets, arrests, lost clothes, wet clothes, sleeping in the snow, sleeping wet, loneliness, sleepiness, desperation, and all other fucked up things that you’ve played with humorously in your mind as good forums topics are now possible occurrence in YOUR LIFE. I know it’s scary, scary as shit.

With my own trip I am planning for next summer I feel the exact same way. My fiancé just sits back and trusts that I know what I am doing/talking about:

Fiancé: “Taking a train to Madrid and finding a hostel without a booking? Sure Chris! I am sure you know what your doing and we will get a room”

Chris: “Well, I know technically some books said it was possible… but…”

BUT…

But who knows if they will all be full… who know if the only one with a room is 10 miles away and its 2 am and raining.

But who knows if I can even buy a train ticket to go to Spain, maybe the fare is too much, maybe I will forget to bring food onto the train, maybe I will forget a bag, or heaven forbid forget a wallet.

In my only-recent term as a independent traveler (meaning traveling without my parents advice/help/financial security) I have learned one thing…

Trust that WHATEVER happens, YOU are capably enough, strong enough to WIN.

What is winning?

Winning is getting a hostel is a town you know is booked to the brim, whether it’s by begging, bargaining, or bribing.

Winning is remembering to notice how long the train ride is and acting upon that by buying enough food to last its entire 26 hour length.

Winning is being able to not only survive but THRIVE in an environment in which the only thing you can rely on is your intelligence.

That being said. Once you have one solo trip under your belt its better… then you can always look back and say… I survived and even thrived on a doorstep in snowing Warsaw by making a makeshift tent out of a poncho and cooking a 3 course chicken soup dinner for two out of a tuna can. After you realize just how capable you are, then you can always say… if I did that… I KNOW I can do this.

And then when you return home, and your friends freak out in the car driving home in the blizzard from a concert at 3 am because they are afraid to be stranded… you’ll just sit back and think… this isn’t half as bad as Warsaw… this is easy…

So is it scary? Yes…

But in the end, it’s the fear that makes it so great.

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