HEY EXPERIENCED BACKPACKERS! HELP THIS GIRL OUT!

[Megzbackpackin06/05]

Hey all. well ima start off by sayin thanks to anyone who wants to respond to this and possibly email me at megz3oc@hotmail.com with answers or perhaps some useful pieces of their minds.
Im 21 female. from canada who along with her 21 yr old best friend just bought our plane tix to amsterdam for 590 plus 80 tax. I know i know, what a GREAT deal we got. i am super excited. we are going for the month of june and want to hit of course amsterdam. and parts of holland (i have numerous family members around the netherlands) we also want to go to france, namely paris, italy, and czech, my friend has numerous family there as well. we also might go to other places as well depending on circumstances. we havent planned much out. So far i got cancellation insurance on my plane tix just in case. and also im wondering if i should get medical insurance in case anything happend down there? anyways this is what my mother thinks but my friend and i dont think its that important. what do u all think?
ALso just some other quickies:
1) browsing the net i see all this booking and reserving for hostels when my friend was in prague and spain she said there was so many walk ins available that she thinks we dont really have to book any hostels. Do we have to book, and if so, what if we dont make it on time for our reservation? im pretty sure we arent going to be 100% right on schedule.
2) what clothes and articles should i bring. Of course we are planning to hit the nightclubs big time, so i feel i cannot leave without at least 1 pair of stilettos and my makeup and good clubbing clothes. oh damn, do i sound ridiculous?
3) how much money should i bring? and should i bring all cash or keep it on my debit card. i dont really feel like being hit with all these banking fees while im trying to save money and spend wisely.
4)WHERE DO I START PLANNING MY TRIP!!!
5) how do i buy a eurorail pass. we plan to ride at night so we can sleep. who wants to be on a train during daylight?
6) 3 years ago i was in The Netherlands. i got such bad jet lag i slept for 2 days. im such a loser. how do i let this NOT HAPPEN this time!!!

THANKS SO MUCH sorry i wrote a f*in' novel up in here but i really want your help!!

[beergal]

first of all welcome to the boards!
Your itinery sounds amazing but i will specifically advise you to take out travel insurance as anything can happen while you are away and it is better to have it then not to have it.
As for booking hostels i would recommend you booking your first few nights when you arive in Holland if you have no where to stay as it would be a nightmare trying to find somewhere at a busy time i like others on this site would probably say your best bet is the FLYING PIGS hostel if you are a partying kind of girl. I would take a mixture of euro's, travellers cheques and have my debit card for emergency's

[Megzbackpackin06/05]

wow thanks for the quick reply. damn i am getting so excited im practically jumping up and down. (im off work cuz im battling the flu, feeling better by the minute. HAHA) Well, i figure when we arrive in amsterdam my cousins or aunt/uncles can pick us up they live about an hour from adam, that way we can stay with them a couple days, visit the fam all that crap get comfortable, then take a train back to amsterdam and stay there a couple days, then move on to the other countries. alright well i guess i will go to CAA and get medical coverage just for me i guess my friend doesnt want it. hmm.. so many things to do..
well thanks for your reply keep em coming and all u others too.
THANKS!

[omisan]

A) Welcome. Enjoy your stay.

1) I'm of the mind that you should book at least your first night or two for each city in advance, just so you have a place to stay when you get there, especially in the busy summer months. That goes double for Amsterdam, like Beer said, where there aren't as many *good* hostels as in other cities, and the place packs up in the warm months.

2) Pack light if you can - check out some of the threads here about ideal backpacker clothing: stuff that you can layer, go without washing too much, etc. You'll definitely need some fancy stuff if you're clubbing in Paris, though, so you may want to reserve a compartment for that - or pick up some stylish stuff on the cheap when you get there. Most clubs there won't let you in if you're not dressed up. No jeans. No sneakers. Yadda yadda yadda.

3) Debit card, debit card, debit card! I challenge you to NOT find an ATM machine somewhere, even at a small Pannekoekken house in the Dutch countryside... that said, withdraw in big chunks and keep your cash safely hidden to avoid extraneous bank fees... you'll also get the best exchange rates this way.

4) Right here! Start exploring the regional threads here.. Western Europe, France, Italy, etc. to get some ideas. I also recommend checking out general outlines at web sites like Lonelyplanet.com, and if you feel so inclined, check out a few books on your destinations.

5) You can buy a Eurailpass at sites like Eurorailways.com. As far as booking your sleeper cars, you'll probably have to do that at the train station of the city you want to leave, preferably well before the day you have to leave. For instance, in Amsterdam, go to a kiosk at Centraal Station and book yourself a sleeper to wherever at least a couple a day before you go.

6a) Avoiding jet lag, West-to-East: Stay up as much as you can the night before your trip. On the plane, try to get to sleep immediately after they serve dinner. If you're too excited and can't sleep, try not to drink a lot or take sleeping pills - they'll jack you up. (Although I can't say I'm innocent of those.. I love me my intoxicants!). Benadryl does a nice job of making you drowsy w/o side-effects or dehydration. You should wake up in time for morning in the GMT.

6b) East-to-West: Stay awake the whole flight back. You won't want to because you'll probably be all partied out, but watch a few movies or eat a bunch of sugar or drink a lot of coffee (plus water to counter the dehydration) and pull through it. Stay awake 'til nearly your usual bedtime at home, then crash.. you'll wake up the next morning with minimal jetlag.

[U2fan]

Yeah, what Omi said

Welcome

[kingcrazylegs]

Looks like you have gotten the advice you need! If you have more questions ask specificly...people here are friendly

Welcome!!

[foofiter]

Money is a hard topic. It depends on how nice of a place you want to stay at. Hostels will be roughly 20 Euro a night. Food is at least 10 Euro if you use grocery store for all meals. Drinks can be upwards of 40 Euro depending on tolerance. I suggest getting hammered at the hostel (cheaply, from a store) then getting one or two drinks at the club. For party days I would budget 50 Euros and for non-party days I say 30. You will have to add in travel, shopping, and anything else you want to do. Of course I am shooting high on all of these numbers to make you be careful!

I suggest figuring out how much money you can SPEND as a total then divide that by the number of days in your trip. This will at least give you a number to start from.

Hope this helps!

foofiter (somewhat drunk)

[Joker]

Newb to TPUNK, but wilkommen!


:D

And I'll be over there roundabout that time... we'll have to meet up.

[Megzbackpackin06/05]

seriously i could probably save like 1200 for my trip.. hrm lets see yup 1200 and maybe ill up my visa limit so i can pay for my eurail pass and for emergencies
what do u all think?
thanks for all your help so far im getting some very useful ideas!