Friday, January 31, 2014

wanderlust

decisions, decisions.

i'm trying to decide where to go this spring break.  i'm already booked on a cheerleading trip the first week to salou, spain (yay!) but have two weeks afterwards to galavant around europe, much like i did last year (if you recall, luxembourg, belgium, and the netherlands).  here are my options:

option 1: i have always wanted to go to germany so it is on the top of my list.  also, a friend of a friend is doing study abroad outside munich so i could potentially have a guide one day or at least some helpful tips.  i could do similar things to my benelux trip last year where i just get a eurail pass and go to various german cities.  negatives about this trip include only seeing one country and not speaking the language.  positives include cost, ability to do what i want when i want to do it, and making myself get back in to learning german.

option 2a: a friend i met in amsterdam last year recommended contiki tours - they do tours for 18-35's. he said it was great as there are lots of solo travelers but even those who are coupled up or small groups are still really friendly and open and that they all have loads of fun.  he had been on a few, too, so had lots of advice and what i felt were valid opinions and suggestions. i found a tour called "berlin to budapest" that looks really awesome - 11 days, 10 nights traveling from berlin through prague, vienna, bratislava, and ending in budapest.  i would love to see hungary as my grandmother's family - the one who just passed away - came from hungary.  negatives about this trip are cost (almost $2k) and timing; it starts in berlin on april 12th and i get back to london on the 11th from spain so i would have to do laundry, get minimal rest, and book it to the airport early the next morning.  positives are the amount of cities and countries i would get to see and that i would have a guided tour in places where i didn't understand the language.

option 2b: another contiki tour option - greek islands and turkey.  while i do want to see greece and turkey, i kind of had my heart set on germany.  this trip, though, had lots of positives that i can't ignore.  negatives are not getting to see germany (yet) and some of the reviews made it sound like you didn't get to spend too much time in each place and that a lot of the time is spent on a cruise ship that also has non-contiki guests, i.e. families and elderly folk.  positives are price (much less, i think only about $700), timing/duration, and again the benefit of a guided tour in places where i don't understand the language.

of course there are a million other options, but these are kind of the ones i've settled on at the moment.  i'm not sure what my reader base is like, but can anyone who stumbles upon this post happen to offer any thoughts on my choices?

brb.

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