September – October
This trip to Europe was different from all my previous trips. Whether it was with my husband or by myself there always was a fixed route to follow. This time I had a return ticket Denver ‒ Munich and 7 weeks between my arrival and departure dates. It was up to me what to do during that time as long as I was back to Munich by my flight home.
I started the trip by spending 3 days in Bavaria and exploring Munich, Füssen, and Augsburg. The hotels were booked in advance and I knew what I was going to do each day.
From Munich, I flew to Varna, Bulgaria where I stayed for one month in my apartment in a small town of Byala. That was the first and easy part of my journey. The second part was to travel overland from Byala to Munich which was more fun.
After hours of pouring over maps and reading online resources, I came up with a route that would take me through 5 countries: Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany. My goal was to visit interesting places, to write about them and to post these reports daily in my blog. This was something that I had not done before. I calculated that two weeks would be sufficient to cover the distance between Byala and Munich by trains and buses and to do sightseeing along the way. Two weeks also provided safeguarding against unexpected delays if I got stuck in some place. In case I was moving too fast I could always stay an extra day or two somewhere before going to the airport.
I did not know how much online bus schedules could be trusted if they were most recent or not. Sometimes I could not find the needed information on the Internet. That’s why I made hotel reservations along my route only when I was sure I’d arrive at this place on this date. Where I did not have pre-booked accommodation I had to find a place to stay by walking from one hotel to another and asking for a room.
My backpack contained a few changes of versatile clothes that could be worn in layers and were suitable for hot and cold weather. This made the backpack lightweight enough for me. I planned to do laundry on the road whenever possible.
The night before leaving Byala I had a panic attack. Too many things could go wrong for a solo female traveler. Of course, nothing was forcing me to do this trip and I could change my mind and buy a plane ticket directly to Munich. But I wanted for years to travel “freestyle” with no set itinerary when I could choose where to go on the fly. The desire to travel was stronger than my fears and next morning I set off for the trip.
The first leg was in Bulgaria, the country that I visited 5 times before that and with which I was pretty familiar, although I was going through new places. I was nervous in the beginning, especially when it came to finding accommodation.
Four days later in Serbia, I felt more confident despite the fact that it was my first time there and I did not know what to expect from this country. Serbia turned out to be amazingly cheap and its people were very friendly.
From Serbia, I went to Hungary that technically I already visited. In 2005 my husband and I did a day trip from Vienna to Sopron, a Hungarian city on the Austrian border. I have little recollection of that trip except for eating goulash at a small restaurant and none of Sopron itself. Four days spent in Hungary left far more memorable impressions this time.
Next after Hungary was Austria. By that time I grew used to life on the road when I spent almost every other night in a different place. From Austria, I returned to Munich, the starting point of my trip, and flew home.
The weather was excellent throughout the entire journey. It was warm and dry everywhere, save for one rainy day In Bulgaria. Had the weather been lousy this trip would not have been much fun since I spent most of daytime outdoors.
Everything else went well too. Looking back, I am glad that I overcame my last minute fears. During the trip, I took 11 trains and 12 buses, stayed at 12 hotels plus one month in my apartment in Byala. I went to wonderful places and never was bored or disappointed. If I got tired during the day, I recovered overnight. On some occasions, I had to remind myself where I was when waking up in the morning.
My husband with whom I spoke daily did not believe that at 61 I had the stamina to travel like this. He was mildly shocked and impressed that I planned everything myself, acted independently, never complained about the hardships and managed to go to some places that he did not see.
