Written by Amy O’Halloran
If you have been considering going on a European trip and ticking off all those big bucket list items – all I can say is just do it!
You may be worried about how expensive it is and how much time you have to take off work, which is completely understandable.
I just recently came back from travelling Europe over the break and I am here to give you my top tips in ensuring you take the leap and go on the trip of a lifetime.
1. Be prepared
Before settling on a trip make sure you know all your options. Before I picked the European Whirl with Contiki, I was looking at other websites and all the other European trips that were on offer. There is SO MUCH choice, very overwhelming.
Write down the top 5 places you want to see and go through the list and see if any of them would fulfil your dreams. Also know how long you want to go for. How much time off do you have saved at work? How much time can you take off to be away?
2. Budget!
Budgeting is difficult, especially if you are a university student who is juggling paying for rent, groceries and other day to day bills.
If you really want to go to Europe though, it needs to become one priority for your budget – not just a ‘put some money away if I have it to spare’.
Once you pick the trip, you need to start budgeting for it. I was determined to save up for my trip in 10 months, so I was putting away $150 a week to save up.
You might be reading this and going ‘but Amy I don’t have $150 to put away each week’.
The trip I went on cost $4000, and flights were $3000, and all this doesn’t include the extra activities or food I had to pay for.
It is important you break down how much it is going to cost because you do not want to go on the trip and fall short on money while on the other side of the world.
You also do not want to have to sacrifice missing going up a mountain in Switzerland because you’ve run out of money.
3. Get excited and research
Once you buy a ticket, get excited! You are about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.
However, do not just sit and wait for the months to fly by.
Go and research the countries you will be visiting and come up with one or two things in each place you want to visit or do. Most tours include activities but they also have free time.
Contiki for example, have a lot of ‘free time ad ons’ which do cost extra; however, you can decide to do another activity you really want to do rather than just participating in the tour ad on.
There is so much more to talk about, but I don’t want to spoil all the fun.
So, what are you waiting for? Go plan that trip. Escape from the Australian winter and make some unforgettable memories!
Charlie blog is a SSAF funded initiative.
