#pondering this bc I might go to Spain again in January

[aprillikesthings]

One of the more surreal things about being in Europe as an American is like —

Okay so travel between countries in Europe is startlingly cheap to an American

Flights and trains within Europe are like. €100. Sometimes less! Between entire countries!

At home, for the same amount of money/time, I’m in a city a lot like my own, just bigger. If I pay twice as much money/time I can be in another country…where the weather is nearly the same and they still speak mostly English. If I fly in the other direction I can be…still in my own country. One state over. (Okay California is big but still)

Like, once a year I fly from Portland, Oregon to Atlanta, Georgia. Round trip, cheapest flights are $450 to $650.

Hell, flying to San Fransisco (one state over!) round trip was nearly $200.

My round trip flights (into Paris, out from Lisbon) for my Camino were nearly $800 and it would’ve been like barely $700 if I hadn’t bought insurance. That is over a week’s income for me.

So in Europe, among people of approximately my own economic class/age, a ton of people are like “oh I love going to [different country with different language and often wildly different climate] for a few weekends every year” because it’s so fast and cheap to go places. Like it’s literally the equivalent in time/money as me going to Seattle for the weekend, from Portland.

And meanwhile when I was in Europe I was just like HOLY SHIT I’M IN EUROPE :O like a fucking country bumpkin seeing the city for the first time lol because I’M IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT COUNTRY??? WOW!! :D