2 weeks. 6 cities. 1 Euro Trip | The Basics
I have always wanted to blog about my travels. Always. I wanted to do it when I traveled to Turkey, and to Cyprus and to Bali. I even wrote half of my blog on my trip to Armenia, and I am still hoping I will post about my Sri Lanka trip. But this time, I decided to start writing as soon as I got back (also literally asked everyone around me to push me towards writing a post). So here goes.
Eid holidays this time included 3 whole working days, coupled with a weekend, so we just added a week to it and made it a grand trip across 5 countries in Europe. But the plan did not happen overnight – it took months and months of planning. Read on to find out everything about my pre-planning, holiday advice and tips for the trip.
Applying for a visa
Being an Indian passport holder means I have to apply for a Schengen visa in order to visit most European countries. While you can get all the details on http://www.vfsglobal.com/, my two cents here would be:
• Apply at least 1.5 – 2 months in advance, and book your VFS appointment even earlier
• Book tickets and hotels that you can cancel
• Have all your documents in order – bank statements, labor and salary certificates, and most importantly travel insurance
Before you travel
Here are a few packing tips that you would love if you are a maniac like me:
• If like me, you love to wear a different outfit everyday, then make sure you’ve got a big suitcase for yourself. I had one medium sized suitcase for all my clothes and a small cabin sized bag for my shoes, accessories and toiletries. Also, most flights allow two pieces of luggage per person that are a maximum of 20 kg each, so keep your stuff in check.
• Pack a variety of clothes and shoes so you can mix and match – from jeans, shorts, dresses, tees and crop tops to sneakers, flats and heels.
• I am totally used to the shattaf which is super common in the Middle East and South Asia, but the Western world is different – so carry a lot of wipes, travel shattaf if you like, and more things like that.
• Bags! Make sure your bags have zips. I carried about 5 bags with me, but ended up using my backpack from Namshi on most of the days, simply because it was really convenient, went with almost all my outfits, and fit in everything (even my DSLR)
Now that we are done with the basics, it is time to move on to the main part of the trip – Click here to read about City 1 FRANKFURT
