The End of Interrailing Europe for 2 Months

The End of INTERRAILING Europe for 2 Months

62 days have gone by in the blink of an eye and I have to be honest, as far as content goes, I was being over-ambitious on how much I thought I’d keep up while on the road. Or tracks.

I assumed that I’d be able to maintain a frequent schedule on vlogs, blogs, beautiful Instagram pics, stories detailing my progress step-by-step and a weekly newsletter. But with a limited WiFi connection and just an eagerness to do more exploring and making the content instead of producing it, and man, I struggled. Therefore, this blog is actually my first blog written since embarking on the trip of a lifetime.

I prioritised Instagram content and my newsletter (which you can sign up for monthly updates going forward here) over the duration of my journey but after a 2-week absence on social media beginning on July 15th and ending on August 1st, I will resume the content that I put on hold to interrail Europe.

So, ultimately, this introduction about my content creator struggles – questioning my professionality in the process – proves that this trip has succeeded in doing what it was supposed to do. I have learnt more about the way I travel, how I operate solo and how much I can balance a work-and-play lifestyle.

“62 days, 12 countries, 55 places, an average daily step count of 16000 and a lifetime of memories”

Sitting back in my home, sleeping in my own bed and seeing familiar people still doesn’t feel real to me after 2 months away from everything.

Looking back on what I have achieved, I can’t believe the pure endurance I conveyed to actually make it from beginning to end. 12 countries in 2 months?! 55 places?! That is A LOT. I can’t lie.

However, I purposely set myself out to accomplish the unthinkable. I knew it was going to take its toll on me moving from place to place so frequently. My suitcase even lost all the rubber on its back wheel on my final week and now I sound like a car revving its engine each time I enter a train station. But after all the wear & tear, scenic window views and tired feet, I can say that I saw everything I set out to see. In return, gaining little tasters into the places that I visited has evidently helped me decide where I’d like to go back to in the future.

For me, that answer is quite broad. I am young, and I have enough time to return everywhere if I choose to do so but it has helped me gain insight into where I may choose to go back to first. To me, that is what Interrailing Europe was all about. Get a feel of the place then return for a full, more touristy, more energised, visit.

Interrailing is the BEST way you can see Europe.

I’m not kidding. It literally is the best way to transport around Europe. With the Eurail Pass, you are saving so much money on train transport, especially if you go on as many trains as I did!

Living on an island, I am always shocked at how easy it is to go from one country to the next in Europe. I literally took my overall country number from 19 before the trip (France was my 20th) to country 30 by the end (Slovenia got the honour of being my 30th country in total). This made the feeling of crossing borders way more exciting. Moreover, seeing the landscape, language & culture change with each train journey was so fascinating to witness.

Travel is wonderful. Whether alone or with family or with friends. I was solo for the majority of this trip. I will write a more in-depth blog on the pros & cons of travelling solo soon but to sum it up, I understood so much more about myself afterwards. It is cheesy to say I “found myself” but after an intense final year of Uni and lots of work toppling on top of me, I truly required an escape. Something to take my mind off my normal life and destress. Being alone, allowed me to choose what I wanted to do, what and when to eat, when I wanted to sleep, and where I wanted to go next. I was in control of everything with the only deadline being my flight back to Scotland. Clearly, I was in charge.

Furthermore, being solo doesn’t often mean being alone. Whilst travelling and staying in hostels, you will meet unbelievable people that will alter your perspective on your trip and your life. Making friends is one of the best parts of this crazy trip. I should aim to make a friend in every country now as they are all offering me a place to stay. A life away from purchasing accommodation here I come. I say this in jest, but it truly is amazing having friends all around the world now. And if any of you are reading this, I wish you are all doing well right now ❤️.

Then you have the places that you visited. Interrailing is truly unique as no matter how popular it is amongst travellers, nobody has the same exact route. I have reunited with people because our routes crossed paths once or twice more but never seen the exact same path twice and that is special. You are on your own journey and you can redo Interrailing 10x over and not even include any cities from the trips previous. Plus, if you change seasons then you have the beauty of scenery changing, therefore, adding a new perspective on previously visited destinations. This is just the best way to travel and even if I don’t do another 2-month trip, I’d love to try it again someday.

What is your favourite place?

Since coming home, that is all I feel I have been asked and for me, it is like choosing your favourite movie, song or food. You have a clear answer until another one takes over. It can also change each day depending on what mood I am in.

Sometimes I could be reminiscing over the mountains and say Switzerland. Other times I could be in need of a city break and say Vienna. But no matter what my answer is, each and every place that I ticked off has fulfilled my travel itch and provided me with new, happy memories that I will cherish forever.

Are you happy to be home?

I love travel maybe a bit more than the average person. I own a travel account across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and the newly launched, Threads. Moreover, I spend my days writing up newsletters and these kinds of blog posts. Then when I am not creating content, you may find me aspiring trips with my friends and family or sitting on Skyscanner dreaming of my next jet off to somewhere in the world. I love this.

I even wrote a dissertation related to travel photography empowering tourism on social media receiving my BA Hons in Theatre & Film thanks to my passion in this space. I love this.

So, even though, I’d recommend this type of travel to everyone, I can say undoubtedly that it isn’t for everyone. Looking back, it has been a quick 2 months but in reality, so much can happen in 2 months. I had my good days but I also had my very hard days that I just wanted to pack it all in and return home. Being a ball of exhaustion, feeling homesick every so often and just feeling demotivated at times all played a factor in my struggles but I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t get challenged on a trip this enduring and therefore, it enhanced the feeling of pride to see what I accomplished.

However, if you do set off on a journey as incredible as my own and do not see the end, do not be annoyed that you didn’t see it through and instead be proud that you saw it begin. 🙂