Still lost

[Arion]

Hey all!

Ok so between the last time I asked for help with my
first-time Europe thing and now,I've got all of no
planning done!
Just discovered that not only have I got no idea
what I'm doing but I've also got no time to plan
anything!!

I'm still in same situation of first-time solo travelling
due to being deserted by my stingy lazy non-reliable friends !!!!!
But I remain determined to spend 6 weeks from the
start of June in Europe.

So the question is,given my circumstances,would a
tour like contiki suit?The only thing I'm worried bout
with that is that we'd be on the bus all the time/i'd
hate everyone/it'd be no fun/wouldnt get to see anything??
But I really have no time to plan stuff and I'm a
first-time female traveller who ain't got a clue what
she's doin!!
What is busabout really like?Are there any tours
thatd be in between the whole busabout/contiki
thing??

Cheers,any help will be much appreciated o knowledgable travel-types!

[zylah]

I've never done the contiki thing myself, but i hear its a good way to see famous landmarks from a bus
They do seem to rush through too much in too little and often theres so much drunkeness i doubt ppl remember what they did and didn't see.
But you may want to try one for a week or so, especially if your feeling a little insecrure about a certain region. and then do the rest solo. That way you get the best of both worlds.

[echo]

Hey Arion!! I'm feeling your pain!! You know what you want to do.... but you just have no idea how you are going to do it hey!

I'm going with Busabout this year, also, a solo female traveller. By the looks of the busabout forum, there will be lots and lots of us females doing it on our own. A couple of my friends work for Contiki and others have travelled using Contiki and it seems like a great way of seeing the sights in a short amount of time. It was only at the last minute that I changed my mind and booked Busabout and now I am sooooo happy that I did because it suits what I want to do more than Contiki. Busabout and Contiki are totally different. Contiki is an organised tour, with each tour having the bus driver, the tour manager and the same group of people for the entire time, accomodation and most meals are included and they organise places for you to go if you want etc. Busabout basically provides you with the transport from one place to another and suggested places to stay. You can book it all on the busabout website, but it is completely up to you to book your sectors and accomodation. Or you can use the fantastic and helpful TPunk hostel booking system for your accomodation!! You decide where you want to go, what you want to do there, how long you want to stay and if people are annoying you then you can just hop on a bus and get away from them!!!

I've chosen Busabout for four main reasons: All of the places I want to go to this year are on the Busabout map or can be very easily accessed from places on the busabout map. I want to travel for 3-4 months which wouldn't have been possible with Contiki. I wanted the flexiblilty of being able to stay however long I like in one place and also being able to deviate off the bus route, then join back up again. And last, i'd prefer to travel by bus and be dropped off outside a hostel (whether I stay at that hostel or not) than travel by train (coz basically I'm not a big fan of trains!!).

OK, so this turned out to be a long post. But I was in the same predicament as you are in now and it took lots of research and consideration for me to make up my mind. So I hope my thoughts on it all have helped

I've got 11 days to go and I can't wait!! Good luck with your planning

[tumblezweedz]

Sounds like the busabout thing is a good way to go; I did my first solo female travel on a Eurail/Eastrail pass nearly 15 yrs ago, when it was that or a guided tour, and I'm not the guided tour type. There is also another option with the cheap airfares now - one where you buy set price vouchers before you get to Europe (assuming you're from North America) then you can hop from city to city. It's something like 99$/ flight, which can be a good deal if you want to hit some of the major capitals in a short period of time. I gather those fares apply on the "big-name" carriers, obviously you can get cheaper flights from smaller centres too, on the low-cost carriers. I didn't do a lot of research into this, since we're based in Europe and don't qualify.

I'm a big fan of train travel - especially for long trips, I enjoy being able to move around more than a bus allows, and you also get more of a chance to meet local people than you would on something like busabout, which sounds like it caters more to the tourist trade. I met some great people, saw lots of the continent, and the only thing that disappeared in 3 1/2 months of travelling was a small bottle of perfume my mom gave me to cover the smell of Soviet toilets. Not a bad safety record.

Finally, don't be upset that your unadventurous friends bailed on you - I guarantee you will have a fabulous time travelling solo, however you decide to get from place to place, and I noticed that the girls who travelled in pairs didn't seem to meet as many people - both male and female as the ones who went on their own. If you already have a dining companion, for instance, people are less likely to sit at your table, or to invite you along somewhere. I had an awesome birthday with a whole bunch of people at the hostel that I'd never met before and have never seen since.

Have fun on your travels!