the transmigrator: introduction

If you know me you’ve probably heard that I’m about to embark on a 5-week epic odyssey through Europe before beginning another epic odyssey through graduate school. With this post I intend to start a log of my travels and preparations, as much for myself as for any potential audience out there. Last time I went on a trip like this I kept notes and photos of what I had done and they ended up in a disorganized pile in my room in my parents’ house, so maybe this time things will be a little more accessible for future consumption.

The Itinerary

Firstly, Europe was a foregone conclusion. It’s easy to plan and still (somewhat) affordable. Last time we went on a trip like this, we stayed confined mostly to a corridor of the Center (northern Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland). This time, we don’t have a car so we decided to do the Eurail thing, supplementing our train passes with ferries and budget airlines — cutting a wide swath across the continent starting in Dublin and ending in Athens, going as far east as Istanbul before the trip is over. Ambitious? Yes, but also more than possible — we’ve mapped out the itinerary to the day and all four of us know that we’re in for a breathless, fast-paced style of travel. Our motto is, as it was last time: do as much as possible in the time you’ve allotted yourself.

Next post will cover transportation: getting there, in between, and back.

-Derrick

Details: The Itinerary

The itinerary we chose goes something like this:

• Dublin
• Geneva
• Milan
• Verona
• Venice
• Pula (Croatia)
• Ljubljana (Slovenia)
• Munich
• Salzburg
• Budapest
• Varna (Bulgaria)
• Istanbul
• Canakkale (Turkey)
• Troy (Turkey)
• Izmir(?) (Turkey)
• Khios (Greece)
• Greek isles
• Athens and surrounding areas