Europe 2013: “The Countdown”
In the last blog post, I stated what we will be doing (and when), during our Europe/Asia trip next month. As we are still uncertain on what exactly we’re doing, we will keep this blog post updated as we confirm plans and flights. We will continue updating this as much as we can until the take-off date. Plans may still change after we leave. Watch this space!
UPDATE (2 June 2013): The itinerary is now complete. No further updates will be made to this post, but plans may change closer to the take-off date.
The itinerary and older updates to the itinerary are after the break.
ITINERARY:
Here are the plans we’re working on for our trip in June.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE:
We will be starting our 67-day long trip, on June 20, flying from Melbourne, Australia to Singapore, Singapore. We have allocated a total of eleven days in Asia. As we are strapped for time and funds, we have therefore allocated one night to explore Singapore.
- Day 1 (20 June): Explore, explore, explore!
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA:
Next, we will be flying to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We have allocated five days to explore Cambodia.
- Days 2 to 5 (21 June to 24 June): No plans as yet.
- Day 6 (25 June): We will begin making our own way to Bangkok on land. The plan is to take the bus to the border of Cambodia/Thailand, then take the train into Bangkok.
BANGKOK, THAILAND:
We will then make our own way to Bangkok, Thailand, where we will spend the remainder of the eleven days (5 days) allocated in Asia.
- Days 7 and 8 (26 and 27 June): We may spend a couple of days in Bangkok, Thailand to explore the city and culture.
- Days 9 to 11 (28 to 30 June): We may travel to Pattaya, Thailand to party hard and get smashed.
MILAN, ITALY:
After Thailand, we will begin our voyage to Europe and fly to Milan, Italy at the beginning of July. We have allocated a total of 47 days in Europe. The majority of these 47 days will be spent in Italy.
Read the May 31 update regarding what we will be doing in Italy.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM:
At the end of July, we will be flying to Brussels, Belgium to experience what the fuss is all about at the Tomorrowland Music Festival in Boom.
- Days 36 to 40 (25 to 29 July): As our Tomorrowland travel package offers no flexibility in dates whatsoever, we will only be spending the five days in Belgium that the package allows us to have fun at Tomorrowland.
MILAN, ITALY:
After experiencing Tomorrowland, we will be travelling back to Milan to spend the last couple of weeks in Europe before we fly back to Asia.
Read the May 31 update regarding what we will be doing in Italy.
BANGKOK, THAILAND:
Once our 47 days are up, we will be travelling back to Asia for one last visit before we head back home, touching down back in Bangkok, Thailand. We have allocated the remaining 7 days to this part of the trip in Asia.
- Days 59 to 61 (18 to 20 August): We may stay a couple of days in Bangkok to go on a little shopping spree and relieve any jet lag that we may have taken on.
- Days 62 to 66 (21 to 25 August): We may be travelling to Phuket/Patong/Phi Phi Island to explore southern Thailand.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE:
We will then fly back to Singapore, Singapore to spend the last couple of days in Asia before we head back to Australia.
- Day 67 (26 August): Explore, explore, explore!
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA:
Once our 67-day long trip has come to an end, we will be flying back to Melbourne, Australia on the 26th of August.
- Day 68 (27 August): Back to real life! *sad face*
OLDER UPDATES TO THE ITINERARY:
Please note that information here may clash with newer updates.
UPDATE (31 May 2013): We’re only three weeks away from our trip of a lifetime, and the itinerary seems a little bare. We know. We are awaiting for some good advice from one of our friends who has visited Asia numerous times. Once we hear of everything of what we should do in Thailand, etc., we will update our itinerary.
Europe, of the other hand, will look like we’ll be going ‘with the flow’. My travel buddy has also been to Italy a number of times (he was actually born there), so he basically knows the country inside and out. No further updates will be made to the itinerary on that part.
UPDATE (25 May 2013): Just in addition to the last update, the plans that are outlined in the itinerary after the break are not final and may of course, change.
UPDATE (24 May 2013): We have updated the itinerary to make it easier to read what we have planned for each and every day of the trip. Currently, there’s not much there but this post will be updated as we get closer to take-off date.
UPDATE (23 May 2013): Alright! It’s been a week since we last touched base and we’ve finally made some sort of progress.
After receiving a heap of recommendations and suggestions from our friends (we thank you all), my travel buddy and myself have decided we will cross Hong Kong (China) and Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi (Vietnam) off the itinerary. Instead, we will spend the final week of our trip in Thailand.
Okay, so that concludes our brief itinerary and all flights have been confirmed and booked! The countries that we will definitely be visiting are Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Italy and Belgium. What we are going to do now that all flights have been confirmed is that we will come up with as many ideas as humanely possible on what to do in each country and update the itinerary accordingly.
UPDATE (16 May 2013): With constant negotiation with my travel buddy over the past few days since the last update, we’ve decided to give plans for Phuket/Koh Samui a higher priority than Hong Kong. The main reason simply being that it’ll cost us way too much to visit Hong Kong, compared to Phuket or Koh Samui.
The reason why we wanted to go to Hong Kong in the first place was to buy cheap electronics (and the like) over there, and to spend almost $400 on flights when we’re only going to stay there for three or four nights was pointless in our minds. Accommodation wasn’t cheap either. I mean, $400 just for flights is a lot for us considering our budget, and it’s $400 that could be spent on other things while in Thailand or Europe.
As I’ve said plenty of times before, I’ll keep Hong Kong an option until we further review our budget. And if somehow, we have enough funds to play around with (or if cheap flights come about), then we’ll head to Hong Kong. But at the moment, it seems unlikely once again.
Secondly, we’ve crossed out a visit to Athens, Greece because we haven’t heard anything from our friends who were planning in heading there in early-August. This might change, however, because there’s three months until August and anything can happen until then. But as a precautionary, we have no plans heading to Greece.
Okay, our itinerary is almost done and dusted, and it might seem that we aren’t heading to many countries. Yeah, I thought that as well. But hey, it's quality over quantity, right? It’s what you do in those countries that counts! Anyway, after we decide on whether to go to Phuket/Koh Samui, Hong Kong or Vietnam, this post will be updated with further detail on what we are going to do in each country. Stay tuned!
UPDATE (12 May 2013): After yet another review of our budget, we’ve found that we are left with a lot less money than what we thought. I mean, to have a good time overseas, it’s not about how many countries you visit, it’s what you do in them that counts. So, we will approaching the trip with the quality over quantity strategy. I mean, I have a whole lifetime to visit and enjoy the rest of Europe.
Therefore, I’ve crossed off Hungary, Ibiza (and sadly, Germany) off the list, and we will spend the majority of the time allocated in Europe in Italy. As much as I really wanted to go to Germany to see the F1’s, we found out we couldn’t possibly have a good time there with the budget we are living on. Whereas with Hungary and Ibiza, there just wasn’t enough interest in both destinations, as they would have most certainly cost more than a trip to Germany. I’ve left Athens, Greece on the list as we’re still unsure whether our friends will be flying there in late-July.
With all that bad news, we’ve tried to even it up a little and say that a trip to Hong Kong just got a lot more likely for us. If Hong Kong doesn’t go to plan, then we’ve still got Ho Chi Minh City as an option. But as I’ve said plenty of times already, we will look at our budget very closely to allow spending money as well.
Ko Samui is now a possibility and has been added to the itinerary, in line with Phuket, Thailand.
UPDATE (9 May 2013): A visit to Hong Kong is becoming increasingly unlikely for us, but we are staying optimistic and awaiting cheap flights and accommodation to come about. We do have a ’Plan B’ however, and those are a visit to Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi, Vietnam or Phuket, Thailand. UPDATE 2: As we have plenty of time to plan our second visit to Asia in August, we have shifted our focus to what’s going to happen in Europe in July.
UPDATE (8 May 2013): Flights to Phnom Penh, Cambodia have been bought and confirmed! We will be travelling there after visiting Singapore, Singapore in late-June. Also, Vietnam is now being considered for mid-August.
OMITTED COUNTRIES:
FRANKFURT, GERMANY:
We were going to fly to Frankfurt, Germany and spend a weekend there to witness the German Formula One Grand Prix, but was omitted because of budget. (see 12 May update)
IBIZA, SPAIN:
We were going to fly to Ibiza, Spain and spend a few days there to party hard, in preparation of the Tomorrowland Music Festival in Belgium at the end of July, but was omitted because of budget. (see 12 May update)
BUDABEST, HUNGARY:
We were going to fly to Budapest, Hungary to witness the sounds of the annual Balaton Sound Music Festival in Zamardi, but was omitted because of budget. (see 12 May update)
ATHENS, GREECE:
We were going to travel to Athens, Greece straight afterwards (Belgium) and spend a few days with friends who were supposed to travel to Greece in July, but was omitted because of no response from these 'friends’. (see 16 May update)
HONG KONG, CHINA:
We were going to travel to Hong Kong, China and go on a little shopping spree there, but was omitted because of recommendations from friends to stay in Thailand (but also budget - see 23 May update)
HO CHI MINH CITY/HANOI, VIETNAM:
We were going to travel to Ho Chi Minh City/Hanoi, Vietnam for a couple of days if the Hong Kong trip fell through, but have decided to stay in Thailand instead. (see 23 May update)