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nightglider124 · 7 years ago

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Japan: My Trip

Thought I’d put together a little photo diary of my two weeks in Japan because why not and I just like to share with my tumblr pals.

Read on to find out what I got up to.

Sunday 13th May

This was the day I flew out to Japan. I packed my bag and was ready to leave at 11am UK time. I’m not gonna lie to ya’ll, I was an emotional mess, leaving my family behind.

You should know, I’ve never been on a trip without my family and I’ve never been out of Europe. So, going out to Japan with just my best friend was a big thing for me. So, was pretty tearful and then my mum like burst into tears; she’s a worrier.

Anyway, my dad dropped me off at the airport to meet my bestie and we did all the boring airport stuff and soon enough, we were on the plane. The sky is ridiculously pretty at different times during an overnight flight or at least, a flight that crosses different time zones.

Pretty uneventful. I mostly ate, slept and wrote chapter 1 of CTD: Bound.

Monday 14th May

So, I arrived in Japan’s Narita airport at 11am.

Then I went up and grabbed my suitcase as well as going and grabbing my pocket wifi - Something that is tremendously helpful if you go to Japan. I don’t know what it’s like for you guys but in London, I pretty much have wifi anywhere I go whereas in Japan, it wasn’t as easy to come across; at least not for free.

The pocket wifi was a godsend. It can connect up to 10 devices and it lasts all day long when fully charged. Now, there were a couple times it tapped out but you just need to turn it off and turn it on again.

It cost about £60 for 2 weeks but if you’re going with people, it works out better. Me and my friend split it so we only paid £30 each but very worth it.

But, yeah, defo recommend this for anyone who is going to Japan. It was a big help, especially when needing to look up locations and/or directions.

Next, we went and grabbed our Japan rail passes which look like so:

This was probably the best thing I bought for Japan. Not even joking.

Even if you aren’t going very far, this thing helps so much. It’s a pass that allows you to use any trains that are owned by the JR company which is a fair amount that helps you get around Tokyo and surrounding districts. Note: You have to buy it before you fly to Japan and take the exchange form that comes in the post with you to Japan. You exchange it at the airport and they give you the passes above. Just make double sure your passport has been stamped because otherwise, they won’t let you have it.

Anyway, this was £310 for 2 weeks but again: WORTH IT. It does depend on what you’re doing but me and my friend were out and using transport every single day. We also went far. We went to Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka - All covered by the passes. And for example, £310 is basically a return ticket to Kyoto so you are already making your money back.

So, we picked these up and using them, hopped on the shinkansen (bullet train) to Shinjuku (Sound familiar, Titan fans? Yes, it’s the ‘roughest part of town’ according to Robin in the Trouble in Tokyo movie). It took about an hour and then we checked into our hotel which was: Shinjuku Prince Hotel.

It was a really nice hotel actually. The staff were friendly and spoke really good English. I recommend staying here; it’s right in the heart of busy Shinjuku and was only 5 mins from the station. We booked a deluxe twin room because two rooms worked out more expensive and it was not too shabby at all. I didn’t actually take any pictures so I snubbed some off google.

Anyway, we were running a little late and we had tickets to the Studio Ghibli museum so naturally, I was freaking out because the website expresses that they are strict on being on time for your slot. I nearly had a breakdown because... dunno if ya’ll remember but I had a right time trying to get a hold of these tickets. They sell out so quickly it is unreal. Anyway, our slot was 4pm and they only allow you to be 30 mins late.

We arrived at 4:50pm and I was close to tears as I ran into the park it’s situated in. I was so annoyed and so scared they weren’t going to let us in. But...

They did!! The guy was so sweet; I think he could see by my face how much I wanted to go inside. He was like all smiley and was like it’s okay, go on in. I was like THANK YOU JESUS. Here are some photos:

They don’t allow photography inside to preserve the magic of visiting. And honestly, it was so nice inside. It felt just like a Ghibli movie and seeing the animation process and the short film and the original drawings... it was all so amazing. Being a Ghibli fan makes this 1000% better but it’s still great for people who aren’t as into it. My friend isn’t really into Ghibli movies but she thought it was still pretty cool whereas there was me in like awe over all of it.

Anyway, we stayed there about an hour and as you can imagine, we were frazzled af. We were tired from the flight but I wanted us to force ourselves to stay up so jet lag wasn’t as much a problem.

After, we made our way back to Shinjuku where I took some pics from my hotel room:

Then we grabbed some McDonalds which was literally just across from us; something quick so we didn’t starve. I facetimed my family, showered and fell asleep.

Tuesday 15th May

So, the first full day we were there, it was a more chilled, sightseeing day. Nothing too taxing and we felt a lot more refreshed after a proper sleep.

First, we went and checked out the Tokyo Imperial Palace which was really pretty but we couldn’t go inside. It was mega hot the entire time we were in Japan; I thought I’d die. I hate the heat.

And because I was out in the heat all day and didn’t think to put suncream on... yeah, you can see where this is going...

More on that later, because then we carried on to the Yasukuni shrine which is just down the street from the East Gardens of the palace.

The shrine was cool and everything was so pretty; very tranquil and peaceful.

In the afternoon, we headed over to the Sunshine City mall in Ikebukuro where I forced my friend into the Pokemon Centre Store which was LIT.

I was fucking excited, ya’ll. I got some really cute stuff too. Got myself some Mimikyu chopsticks, an Eevee tail key holder, a Pikachu glasses case, a Pikachu makeup bag and a little Mimikyu figure bc Mimikyu is a fave and I have no cool stuff with it on.

I also got my brother most of his souvenirs in here because we have loved Pokemon since the dawn of time. I mean, we’ve fallen out of it in recent years because all the new gen pokemon etc... we’re more for the original pokemon and original series and games. Seriously, when kids come up to me like, do you even know Pokemon I’m like bitch step back you don’t even KNOW. It’s like I got a Pokemon CD for my brother and it had a japanese version of one of the songs from the first movie and we were like screaming. That film man, don’t even look at me.

Ahem... the Pokemon store was so wicked but mega expensive like shit son. Glad I took so much money with me because I NEEDED IT.

After the Pokemon store, we went down a level to the Studio Ghibli store where I didn’t get as much stuff as I thought I was gonna.

But, I got a Spirited Away fan with No Face on it, a Totoro and No face figure as well as a Totoro bib and hat for my niece.

Then we went and had fooood where I noticed... I was extremely sunburnt... Like in the below pic, you can’t see it that much because it hadn’t really come out full pelt yet.

Pls ignore my hamster face but see my chest? Burny burny burnt burnt. I got back to the hotel later that night and I had the shakes where it was hot and all the heat was there rather than all over. It was horrible.

I’m lucky I decided to wear full on makeup that day otherwise my face would have gotten buuurnt. Well done, Estee Lauder foundation, well done.

But yeah, it wasn’t the best end to the day because then I was all uncomfortable and my skin was sensitive and I was mad at myself for not putting on cream so then I got all upset and cried but I think I was still tired from the journey too and I was overwhelmed but yeah; kinda sucked.

Other than the sunburn, I also didn’t pack shorts for under my dress so my thighs rubbed and were in agony as well as my vans gave me like 4 blisters on each foot so I couldn’t walk or at least was in extreme pain when I tried so getting back to the hotel was a damn hoot.

Besides all that, it was a pretty good day!

Wednesday 16th

This was the day we trekked all the way down to Hiroshima which is like a 5 hour journey by train. We had to take two trains but it was actually not too bad. It certainly didn’t feel like it took that long to get down to Hiroshima.

One thing I will say about longer train journeys; remember to reserve a seat. Some like the one from Narita Airport are reserve only so you have to reserve a seat for it. But, others don’t need it and have “non reserved” cars but mark my words, if you’re travelling on these trains at a busy time, it really pays off to reserve a seat. We didn’t for Hiroshima and whilst we found seats for the 3 hour part of the journey; on the second train, we had to stand for like 45 minutes because there were no seats and then even when we did get to sit down, it was separated so yeah; book your train seats, people.

Once we arrived in Hiroshima, we hopped on a ferry which took us to Miyajima island. It’s about a 10 minute journey and once again, it’s covered by the JR pass. I loved that thing to death not even kidding.

Here’s some pictures I took on the ride over:

This island is home to the big red Torii gate that people may know of. I picked up some cute souvenirs and ate katsu. And there were even deer roaming around the place! A couple got married too whilst we were visiting and it was so nice. Again, it was mega hot so I was dying from that aspect but otherwise, I could live on this little island.

Unfortunately, we spent so much time at the island; we didn’t get round to doing the two other things we had planned which were seeing Hiroshima Castle and the Atomic dome memorial. I was kinda bummed by not seeing those but the last train was at 5pm and we weren’t staying the night so we had to get said train. It was okay though; it’s something to add to the list of things to see when I eventually revisit.

We got back at about 10pm and then it was lights out because we were exhausted.

Thursday 17th May

This was another sightseeing day that was fairly local considering we were pretty tired from Hiroshima still.

We traveled over to Asakusa which has the lovely Senso-ji temple and shrine. It was really cute, the walk up to the temple is lined with all these little shops and souvenir like places which have charms and fans etc. Really nice.

Inside, they do this thing where you pay 100 yen and you shake a metal box that contains lots of sticks with numbers on. When you bring out a stick, you find the number it matches and you bring out the fortune. You get a good fortune, regular fortune or bad fortune. I got myself a regular ol’ fortune XD.

But, they also have this rack so that if you get a bad fortune, you tie it to the rack to rid yourself of the bad fortune whereas a good or regular one; you would carry it with you.

Other than that, we hung out and then went back to our hotel for a while before heading out again to check out the nightlife of the area. Everything was mega lit up and was so nice. We went and grabbed dinner and also went and got crepes. They were a m a z i n g. Like they were so good ugh.

After that, went back, showered and slept. Pretty uneventful day; just being touristy.

Friday 18th May

Again, more sightseeing on this day. We went and saw the Tokyo Metropolitan Building and looked out over Tokyo.

Then, we went to the Meiji Shrine.

Aaand lastly, we went to Shibuya for the evening.

Yes, those are people dressed as characters from Mario Kart driving in the streets of Tokyo. This place was crazy. XD

After seeing the crossing scramble that is so infamous, we trekked back to the hotel and fell asleep.

Saturday 19th May

This day we literally went on trains all day to collect stamps. In Japan, they do these things called Eki stamps which are stamps you can find at stations, museums, shrines, tourist spots etc.

I haven’t got any pictures of mine but i got like 50 of them whilst I was in Japan. Going on one train line at all the stops got me like 30.

We had nothing else planned on this day so my friend suggested the collecting stamps XD.

Sunday 20th May

This was one of my two absolute favourite days whilst I was there. It was the day I went and saw Mt Fuji and went into Aokigahara forest.

It was approx 2 hours from Tokyo but we’d booked a tour instead of trying to do it ourselves. It worked out a lot easier. When we reached the highest point you can go to on Mt Fuji, by vehicle anyway, we had 30 mins to sightsee. We took pictures and went into the souvenir shop etc.

My god, it was so frickin’ cold up there. Obviously. We were high off the ground like shit, it was freezing. But, pretty pictures.

We then went caving in an ice cave that is iced over all year round and is not usually open to the public.

After that, we were taken back to Shinjuku where we grabbed food and went back to sleeeep.

Monday 21st May

We went to Kyoto on this day. We managed to see all we wanted to as well but then again, Kyoto was only a 2 and a bit hour train ride away.

When we got there, we saw the Fushimi Inari Taisha.

They were pretty but boy, was there a lot of people. I had to wait for so long to get pictures with none of very few people in it.

Then, we headed over to Kinkaku-ji which is this golden temple.

Again, very pretty.

Lastly, we checked out the Arashiyama Bamboo grove which was pretty also.

After that, we headed home to our hotel. We had an exciting day the next day.

Tuesday 22nd May

TOKYO DISNEYLAND, BITCHES.

I was excited and I can see why people hype Disneyland up. No matter which one you visit, there is this big sense of nostalgia and magic. It was unforgettable and wasn’t half as busy as some theme parks get here. But, I suppose we did go on a Tuesday.

Would hate to see it on a weekend.

The mike melonbread was delicious <3

Disneyland catered to the childish side of me and I loved every single bit of it. <3

Wednesday 23rd May

On this day, we visited Osaka which is about the same sorta time out from Tokyo as Kyoto is. Again, not too much going on. We checked out Osaka Castle.

And then, we checked out Dotonbori which was also very cool.

After that, we headed back to Tokyo. There wasn’t too much we were desperate to see in Osaka and it was raining which wasn’t the nicest.

Thursday 24th May

Last full day meant Harajuku and Shibuya for shopping day. I haven’t got any pictures but omg we went and did those purikura photo things? They are hilarious. It was funny doing them but even looking at them; they funny XD

I bought a bunch of stuff for myself as well as my family as souvenirs. It was funnn.

Friday 25th May

The day I flew home to London :(. I was sad to leave Japan but I was really happy to be coming home. No matter how much you may call your country a shit place, there’s no place like home.

Omg, I went over my bag weight limit with all the stuff I bought. I’m allowed 23kg and my suitcase was 27kg -.-

I paid £65 for that extra weight because I was not about to be that person who opens their suitcase in the middle of check in trying to decrease the weight XD

Pretty straight forward afterwards. I flew home and when I got to my house, my family let me have reign on dinner so we got KFC.

So, that is what I got up to in Japan. I loved every minute I was there. It is so very different than London and it has much more beauty than any city I’ve been to has.

I can’t wait to go back someday and I encourage anyone and everyone to go there. It is something else! <3

Thanks for reading if you made it to the end! I appreciate it ^.^

#night in japan #night wants to travel #nightglider124

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fitnesshealthyoga-blog · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://fitnesshealthyoga.com/disney-wonder-alaska-cruise-recap/

Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise recap

Sharing our thoughts on our Disney cruise experience to Alaska! We took the Disney Wonder from Vancouver to Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. I’ll share our full packing list in an upcoming post if you’re planning an Alaskan cruise!

Hi friends! Happy Monday. Hope your week is off to a great start! I’m finally sitting down and taking the time to write out our thoughts on the cruise. I have so much to say! I hope you’re ok with a super long post, but the TLDR version is that we absolutely loved our Disney cruise… and already booked another one. 😉

When we initially booked our cruise, I have to admit that Alaska wasn’t my #1 choice. I’ve never been on a cruise before, and I figured that my first one should be somewhere tropical or European. We booked our trip with my friend Betsy and her family, and she mentioned that so many people say Alaska is breathtaking and we should give it a try. Plus, it would give us the chance to be a little cold since Tucson would likely be scorching hot. So, we went for it!

We traveled to Vancouver and arrived a couple of days early just in case we got stuck on the way. (I highly recommend doing this, so you don’t miss the boat!) We had a blast in Vancouver, and then Monday afternoon, we boarded the ship to spend seven incredible days sightseeing, relaxing, enjoying family activities and eating so many delicious foods. We traveled with Betsy and her family, and had the best time with them! While the boat was sailing away from the dock, they had a party on the top deck with frozen cocktails, live performers and ice cream for the kiddos.

In pure Disney fashion, everything was over the top: the dining, the performances, the activities, excursions, etc. I know Disney does it right and many people have told us once they did a Disney cruise, they never wanted to cruise with any other cruise lines. After experiencing it ourselves, I can completely see how that happens.

I tried to segment this post into blocks, so it wasn’t just one rambling Disney cruise rave, so here are some of the things that stood out:

Alaskan scenery:

The scenery was absolutely stunning. On either side of the boat, we could see vast forests, glaciers, bald eagles flying (!), whales, and icebergs. Titanic taught me that icebergs are bad, but we sailed through an entire garden of them, so there ya go. We had the opportunity to see landscape and wildlife that we’d otherwise never experience. Now that I’ve been able to experience the true beauty of Alaska, I’d love to visit again some day.

One of my favorite stops was the Mendenhall Glacier. It lightly drizzled as we hiked down to a beach, and the girls played with sticks and splashed in puddles while we watched herons fly overhead.

(P refused to be in this photo because she was very busy gathering rocks)

The Disney Cruise dining experience:

For Disney cruises, here’s how the dining works: you have reservations (either first seating at 5:45 or second seating, closer to 8) at the main restaurants each night. We sailed on the Wonder, so the main restaurants are Tiana’s, Triton’s, and Animator’s Palace. They have you on a rotation, so you can experience each of the restaurants, and you have the same server the entire time. We really got to know our main server, Pipa (the girls LOVED her) and she always knew what we wanted to drink and got the kiddos’ food served extremely fast. (I could always count on her for dinner recommendations, too, so many times I asked her what I should order and she chose the best stuff for me!)

At each restaurant, they had a different theme each night (a Mardi Gras night, Frozen-inspired menu, lobster night, etc.) and you could choose from various appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, and desserts. I was blown away by the variety they offered! On our specific cruise, they served over 10,000 meals per day, and the quality was outstanding.

(Smoked salmon in some form in every single meal. YOLO)

You also don’t have to eat at the sit-down restaurants if you don’t want to! You can dine at one of the quick spots (Daisy’s De-lites serves salads, sandwiches, build-your-own bowls, fresh chopped fruit, and soups), Boiler Bites (hot dogs, mac n’ cheese, chicken tenders, fries, etc.), and Pinocchio’s (different types of pizza!), eat at the buffet (Cabana’s is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they have EVERYTHING) or you can get room service. All of this is included. They also had a “fancy” coffee shop on board for specialty drinks, called Cove Coffee, and a quick coffee shop where you could also get super healthy smoothies. A couple of times, I ordered a smoothie with almond milk, vegan chocolate protein, kale, spinach, cinnamon, and ice. The specialty drinks and coffees are extra (so is alcohol), but I didn’t find it to be super overpriced. My smoothies were $5 when they’d usually be around $9 at Whole Foods.

(Yes they totally put a Donald Duck on my decaf almond milk latte)

(Living the Mickey bar life)

For most of the days we were there, we did breakfast at Cabana’s – it was so nice to wake up and eat without having to order anything or wait for food to be cooked – lunch at Daisy’s (the girls would usually get sandwiches, or pizza from Pinocchio’s, and a giant fruit platter) and dinner at the sit-down restaurant.

Each of the sit-down restaurants had something magical about them. At Tiana’s, Tiana herself was actually there walking around (and the girl spoke exactly like her! She was wonderful) and live music, complete with a Louis crocodile playing the saxophone. Triton’s felt like the fanciest among the three (but you could still go in leggings and a Disney tee), and Animator’s Palace had Sorcerer Mickey one of the nights. They also gave us special placemats that we could draw people on, and they took the placemats from the entire restaurant and ANIMATED our drawings and had them dancing to a song on one of the many screens in the restaurant. It was so incredibly cool!

Entertainment on board:

They have full Broadway-style shows on board, including musicals, comedians, and musicians. We saw three live Disney shows on the ship, including the Golden Mickeys (my personal fave), Frozen, and Disney Dreams.

They also have two movie theaters playing different movies (including new releases!) all day. The Pilot and Liv saw Captain Marvel, the Pilot saw a late show of Avengers: Endgame one evening, and we all saw the new Aladdin movie as a family. They also have a movie screen on the top deck, where you can lounge on chairs with blankets and eat soft serve ice cream while you watch a show. The ice cream machine was a HUGE hit with the girls. You can literally walk up and make yourself a cone at any point during the day.

We may or may not have played every single Bingo round on the ship. We didn’t get the 7k prize but did win a Disney cruise picnic blanket in one of the raffles. 😉

We went to the gym pretty much every day! It was such a treat to work out together since that can rarely happen at home. We waited until after breakfast, so it wasn’t crowded, dropped the kiddos off at Kids Club, and got in a workout.

Kids’ Club:

Kids Club was a game-changing experience. The girls absolutely loved it, and many nights after dinner, Liv was begging to go back! I felt like it was a perfect balance. The Pilot and I had a couple of hours together each day, and we still spent a ton of time together as a family. The girls usually went to Kids Club after breakfast while we worked out, and again in the late afternoon for an hour or so before dinner (usually while we played Bingo haha).

They have three Kids Clubs on the Wonder: the nursery (for babies and toddlers who aren’t potty trained), and for older kids + potty trained over 3: the Oceaneer Lab, and the Oceaneer Club (which has a play structure inside). They also have a special area for teenagers (I think it’s called Edge). The kids can go from the Lab to the Club via a hallway, and they wear GPS Disney bands the entire trip. When they scanned our card to pick them up (you use one card for everything: to get into your room, to pay, to pick kids up), they can see on their screen exactly where your kids are. “Olivia and Penelope are in the Animator’s room on my left playing with hula hoops.” It was brilliant.

Characters often visited the Kids Club to play games and do activities with the kids. The girls saw Anna, Elsa, Stitch, the GI Joe guy from Toy Story, Captain Hook, and Belle, all in Kids Club. They baked cookies, did a Friendship Rocks show with Minnie and Mickey, had a luau party, and played so many fun games. We didn’t take advantage of this, but they’ll also feed your kids if they’re there during a meal!

Room:

We went with the Deluxe Oceanview room, but for our next cruise, we’re getting a verandah since the difference is only a couple hundred dollars. This way, we can sit on the patio and drink wine after the girls are asleep.

We thought the couch was a regular pull-out bed for the girls to share, but turns out, it’s a bunk bed! Our Stateroom Host, Anissa, would transform it from couch to bunk beds every single day.

Extra Disney touches:

There were definitely special Disney touches during the trip. Each night, we’d come back to the room, and during turndown service, Anissa would create towel animals and leave chocolates. One night, she completely changed the girls’ bedding to princess bedding, and they were STOKED.

The app was also fantastic. You can only connect to it when you’re on the ship’s Wifi, and it enables you to see exactly what’s going on all day, receive messages and updates (like your child can asked to be picked up from Kid’s Club and they’ll send you a message), and texting with others on the ship, complete with Disney emojis. It was extremely helpful, especially as first-timers. I always knew what shows and entertainment were available and could scope out dinner menus in advance. They also had full deck layouts and the weather in each of our stops available in the app.

One night, I lost a diamond earring. I was getting dressed and dropped it, and heard it clank around the room. I spent about 20 minutes searching but couldn’t find it. I let guest services know, just so they would make sure no one went in and vacuumed. When we went back to the room after dinner, I saw Anissa in the hallway and she said, “Your earring is on the glass tray by the closet.” She totally went in and found it for me!

One of the guest service team members chose us as their “special family” during the trip. (I’m not quite sure how this works but I think they each randomly select a family to surprise with goodies). Each afternoon, we’d come into the room from the day’s adventures or excursions and treats would be waiting for us. There were muffins, cheese boards, and cupcakes. It was amazing.

I was blown away by how many character greetings and events they had on the ship. The girls got to see maybe 4x the characters we see at the parks, with way shorter lines.

They also had dance parties (like the Pixar Pals party) in the atrium that were a blast.

Gratuities:

This was something I didn’t know a lot about, so I’m posting it here in case anyone is taking a Disney cruise! While you’re on the ship, you don’t pay many gratuities. (I would just pay an extra couple bucks here and there for specialty drinks.) At the end of your trip, they charge your account around $13.50 per person per day. They split this amount between the different people who take care of you and scale it accordingly. (Like our head server got more of this amount that the assistant server who only got our drinks.) They also leave little envelopes if you want to tip extra. This way, you can be sure to tip an additional amount to the people who went above and beyond (and found earrings for you, etc.).

I’ll do another post with the excursions we chose + my packing list in case anyone is planning a similar cruise!

So, tell me friends: have you been on a cruise? What’s the #1 spot on your travel list?

xoxo

Gina

*This post isn’t sponsored in any way and we paid for all travel and accommodations. We used Costco Travel and highly recommend it! <3

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jonasmaurer · 5 years ago

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Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise recap

I tried to segment this post into blocks, so it wasn’t just one rambling Disney cruise rave, so here are some of the things that stood out:

Alaskan scenery:

One of my favorite stops was the Mendenhall Glacier. It lightly drizzled as we hiked down to a beach, and the girls played with sticks and splashed in puddles while we watched herons fly overhead.

(P refused to be in this photo because she was very busy gathering rocks)

The Disney Cruise dining experience:

(Smoked salmon in some form in every single meal. YOLO)

(Yes they totally put a Donald Duck on my decaf almond milk latte)

(Living the Mickey bar life)

Entertainment on board:

We may or may not have played every single Bingo round on the ship. We didn’t get the 7k prize but did win a Disney cruise picnic blanket in one of the raffles.

Kids’ Club:

Room:

We thought the couch was a regular pull-out bed for the girls to share, but turns out, it’s a bunk bed! Our Stateroom Host, Anissa, would transform it from couch to bunk beds every single day.

Extra Disney touches:

I was blown away by how many character greetings and events they had on the ship. The girls got to see maybe 4x the characters we see at the parks, with way shorter lines.

They also had dance parties (like the Pixar Pals party) in the atrium that were a blast.

Gratuities:

I’ll do another post with the excursions we chose + my packing list in case anyone is planning a similar cruise!

So, tell me friends: have you been on a cruise? What’s the #1 spot on your travel list?

xoxo

Gina

*This post isn’t sponsored in any way and we paid for all travel and accommodations. We used Costco Travel and highly recommend it! <3

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ctsmclovinya · 7 years ago

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You would think a full month (near enough) of travelling Europe by train would be as simple as it sounds. Hop on a train, end up in a city, find somewhere to stay, and Bob’s your Uncle; I never did meet Bob. Pints all round and before you know it you’re a local.

You believe you’ll be thinking,

What even is a tourist, OMG.

Well, no.

First up, DO NOT GET TOO CONFIDENT

Our first mistake when booking the Interrailing was to leave looking into it and booking our trains as late as possible. We bought our pass literally two weeks before we were due to leave as we wanted to accumulate enough money as possible so we could essentially do the whole thing correctly and take our time over it, to ensure that we did everything the way WE wanted to. Booking our journeys about 6 days before we left however was never going to be a good idea; is that a surprise though?

You see, through the website portal once you order your pass there is an area where you can literally plan all your train journeys and free of charge (I KNOW RIGHT). While some may be too far in advance, you can reserve seats on these (which is usually all that is needed to be eligible to make a journey) through their actual portal to save yourself stressing whether you can get on that train that will get you to Rome in time to check into your hostel etc.

Exhibit A: A Free service helps you plan out what type of trains you will need and when, down to the exact minute, SO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.

However, you need to book your journey far enough in advance for this to be possible. If your journey is two weeks after you try to do this, there is no chance you are doing it this way…

BUT FEAR NOT, DO NOT PANIC. Although at this point you are left with the challenging and frustrating task of visiting German, Swiss, Italian etc. rail websites and trying to reserve your train through translating them, it is possible. May I add, a lot of them genuinely do not have that oh-so-helpful ‘translate’ button, so you have to Google Translate EVERY SINGLE WORD on that page, and lemme tell ya, THAT. IS. NOT. FUN. But, it’s possible.

HELP YOURSELF OUT

There are resources and ways to help you plan your journey out. If it is easier for you to know where you are on what days and what you have time to do, then print a calendar out.

Almost better than an Advent Calendar… Minus the chocolate of course: This technique will do you wonders when booking your travelling and accommodation.

Organisation never hurt anybody! Keeping a folder to put all your train reservations and hostel bookings in together is super helpful and definitely recommended.

Keeping everything together makes each journey stress-free. Pink folders are also cool, don’t judge.

Hostels are your best friend

Prices, comfort (mainly, I mean it beats a cold hard floor), the possibility to meet people you would never have met otherwise. In a hostel you share rooms with strangers but it’s really not as bad as it sounds. The inhabitants are usually in the same boat as you. They want to see a city, they want to sleep inside for minimal price and, on the most part, usually to make friends. I mentioned in a previous post my past fears of hostels but I could not have been more wrong. Hostels are well and truly a travellers best friend, and I don’t say that lightly.

The only example I have (legally) since taking pictures of rooms isn’t usually my thing, this is CityStay Mitte in Berlin. A good night’s sleep in a fabulous city for on average €23.8 p/night in the middle of August is something you just can’t argue with.

Usually hostels will have games areas, bars, and even kitchens that not only save you money but help you decide the quality of your own food. Furthermore, some even offer free breakfast and the opportunity to have dinner with a group who necessarily maybe don’t want to cook themselves and save those pennies (or cents). Some even have nightclubs attached to them (Try Generator in Paris) and others are in the middle of nowhere (Innsbruck comes to mind), some are even like an actual hotel (Wombats at the Naschmarkt) however, you’re treated the same way that you would be in a hotel. Sharing a bathroom and communal area is really not that bad and if you really cannot go without your own space, many offer private rooms but these are much more pricey.

Hostelworld.com, Kayak, and even Booking.com are the usual booking suspects, but I thoroughly recommend Hostelworld. The ease of booking, the range of hostels that they have available and even the prices, (hostels are so much cheaper than hotels it’s crazy) you would be a fool to ignore how helpful they are.

Airbnb is another option too. The places available are actual homes, definitely like nothing you have ever stayed in abroad before. I’ve heard nothing but great things from people I know who have used it, so it is another option.

Disclaimer: I really make no money whatsoever from hostelworld.com for saying this, so really take my word for it, they made this trip a hell of a lot easier.

Research the cities a little (But surprise yourself a little too)

Correction, surprise yourself A LOT. But, researching a little so that you can utilise your time in each city is certainly a smart way to go about things. You see, travelling for a month will mean that at some point you’ll probably want a little resting time, y’know, the occasional morning where you won’t be getting up at 6am; not that we did that every morning but emphasis always helps my point. While you’re doing this to explore, it’s like a holiday so embrace that factor too.

Planning (even slightly) pays off: Knowing that in Milan we wanted to visit the San Siro, evaluating how much time we had there meant that not only did we get to tour the world famous stadium, but catching a game there was possible too, something we would not have been able to do if we didn’t consider it already.

So, planning pays off. It leaves you with no worries and the freedom to know that you can do what you like when you’re not doing what you planned. Honestly, surprising yourself is even better though, but you still have to get the amount of time you have free correct as well. While you may not be planning to visit 14 different cities in 30 days, having a little idea of what you want to do where you’re going, knowing why you are going there more than that it “looks pretty”, helps. FACTOR IN TRAIN TRAVEL TIME AS WELL. One thing we got wrong was the complete utilisation of our time in Vienna. We did our research while we were IN the city, and that was ultimately our downfall. We had about an hour at the funfair/theme park Prater which we were gutted about because it was somewhere we could have dedicated a whole day to. It happens.

We planned our trip to Pisa and took a Flixbus which, for the record, is another method of travel I would recommend. Another way that you can travel Europe and for a decent rate, with chargers and Wifi on their buses, there are many ways to make your trip less stressful. The issue with our Pisa trip however was that it left us with such little time in Florence that we never really got a feel of the city. Planning IS KEY.

Don’t formulate expectations

Prague, I underestimated you ever so much. From somehow ending up in a gay club (AND HAVING ONE OF MY FAV NIGHTS EVER, MAY I ADD) to meeting literally some of the best people, I'll never forget your ability to amaze me; that, and how cheap things are here. You're way more than absinthe and cheap booze. You make me more thankful than I already am. #Prague #CzechRepublic #Travel #Interrailing #CharlesBridge #StudentNomad

A post shared by C (@thelostenglishman) on Aug 13, 2017 at 2:09am PDT

Prague/Bern blew us away

Long story short, my opinions of Prague were formulated by the gov.uk page on the city (yes, yes, I know!) but in a way this helped it blow me away. The beauty that the city breathed, the prices, the people and the sense of freedom we felt when we were there made it an easy top 3 destination for us.

Rome failed to live up to expectations

Rome on the other hand was not comfortable for either of us. Aside from my stupidity in nearly being run over by a bus (story for another day) the Colosseum and Pantheon were breathtaking landmarks, simply unbelievable to see in person, but even they failed to balance the city for us. The hype we built beforehand was clearly too much as we never felt safe there. Again, expectations.

Budget (Know your limits unless money grows on trees you grow in your garden)

You’re gonna have to sacrifice some things, inevitably. Know how much money you have free (after you book your trains and hostels and even work out food costs). I ended up budgeting on £20 for the last 2 days, did I mention that that was not including food.

Some places will be more expensive than others (Switzerland). To say that it was worth it would really be the biggest understatement (regarding Switzerland anyway) EVER. It was incredible there and it was easy to make exceptions for how expensive it was there, because it was that pretty, however, we made incorrect estimations and money spent exceeded our budgeting. REMEMBER, RESEARCH.

Eating out is expensive – I’m not going to lie to you, we ate out everyday until our 9th city, that’s 17 days into the trip… RESTAURANT FOOD IS GOOD, OK. We were lazy, inconsiderate of the money we took and ultimately paid the price at the end. Buying food in and using the kitchens available to you is a valuable tool my friend, so utilise it while it’s there.

Conversion rates – learn before you go, and maybe take a bit of everything whether it be Euros, Kuna, Franc etc. many of them are different, make it easier on yourself. The rates were fluctuating while we were travelling so buying a little before you go does not do you any harm.

*If you budget correctly, activities such as Disneyland at the end of your trip can be made with no worries. Truthfully, as previously mentioned, my £20 p/day budgeting for the last 5 days of the trip meant I could not afford my ticket. So I gave my buddy a full weeks wage of mine when we got back so I could go… Not everyone has this freedom!*

YOU DON’T NEED TO TAKE YOUR WHOLE WARDROBE – Essentials

(An idea of what to take for a month):

1-2 pairs of shoes

1-2 pairs of long trousers

Girls – Makeup ofc, don’t go overboard – you’re gonna be walking with your bag a lot – be kind to your back.

2-3 pairs of shorts

1 jumper/hoodie

1 small raincoat

5-6 t-shirts

A charging pack and your charger – this will be important since some hostels have a limitation on plug sockets (yes, I know)

Just over a week’s worth of underwear – THERE ARE WASHING MACHINES. UTILISE.

CORRECT PLUGS – Despite being in the same continent, some nations need different plug adaptors, double check this before you go.

SUNCREAM. IT GETS HOT. BE CAREFUL. You can buy this in shops if you forget.

SHOWER GEL/SHAMPOO. You can buy this in shops too.

Books (a few of these) – Travelling alone? It’s good company. Travelling with someone? Sometimes on the train journeys you just want a break from each others voices, work that brain even whilst travelling.

Headphones – a saviour for when you’ve read way too much

Notepad and pen – if you come across something you have to remember or you like writing…

Playing Cards – Something you and your travel companion can interact over.

Travel Insurance – Just in case something happens, be careful homies.

A helpful travel bag – This is key as you will be walking A LOT to hostels and on your final day in cities when you have to hand back your room key because check out is early.

The North Face Base Camp Duffel Bag does not come cheap (we payed at least £90 for ours each) but the freedom to carry it or use it as a backpack made our lives SO much easier with all that walking, SO. MUCH. WALKING. There are many bags like this so choose what one suits you best, whether it be North Face or not, whatever caters to your travel needs.

Fanny Pack (yes, I know) or Waist Wallet – This is so much more important than you think. Keeping your passport and money in a save place on you at all times is important. You might think that it is not fashionable; bear in mind that it goes under your clothes, that it is an inconvenient object, but it proved me wrong and put me at ease even on nights when my paranoia sky rocketed.

The Hydroseal Waterproof Waist Wallet is cheap, has enough space for your cards, passport, and money and is the safest option when it comes to carrying your valuables on you.

I likely forgot something here, but it happens, these are ESSENTIALS.

GET IN THERE BEFORE YOU NEED VISA’S FOR EACH COUNTRY (Post-Brexit life nears… DUN DUN DUN)

You knew the Brexit talk was coming, c’mon, you should’ve prepared for this badboy.

As the UK slowly edges towards no longer being a member of the EU, we start to reminisce about all the things we are going to miss like the freedom to travel to other European countries without having to apply for Visa’s. Once we exit, it is likely that you will need to apply for EVERY country, making interrailing a nightmare, and possibly more expensive too.

The new passports are meant to be blue (WHY BLUE, WHY) and this makes us feel blue, because, just why? Oh politics. Anyway, utilise being part of the EU while you can, cause once it’s gone, it’s gone.

There are likely so many other things on here I have not mentioned, but as I always say, any questions, queries or a general interest in things that happened on our journey, hit me up and I’ll be only too happy to enlighten you. Happy Travels! 🙂

It''s been a while, let's kick off that talk about Inetrrailing yeah? You would think a full month (near enough) of travelling Europe by train would be as simple as it sounds.

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