Thursday, May 17, 2007

OKTOBERFEST!!!

Book your Oktoberfest hostel now!! Oktoberfest goes from Sept. 22 to Oct. 10 in Munich, Germany. We just booked our hostel for 2 nights and it was challenging because vacant rooms were getting low. We will be staying at the A&O Hostel and already their rooms are almost all taken. If you are going to be in Europe anytime during these 3 weeks, you should check out Oktoberfest; it is supposed to be a blast. Germans say that it is only a tourist grab and don't like it too much; however, it is still supposed to be a lot of fun.
The A&O Hostel is the first hostel we have booked and it was exciting. Our first definite stop is planned! Apparently, over the 3 weeks, 6 million liters of beer is drank last year; well, I sure have a lot of drinking to do in those 2 days in order to help them reach 7 million this year!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

How do you say...?

"Wo ist die achste Bar?" How would anyone be able to find the nearest bar without knowing this German phrase? Well, you can carry around a huge phrasebook or download free translators for your iPod offered by CoolGorilla. They offer French, German, Spanish, and Greek. Actually, bringing a phrasebook is a good idea. However, the simplicity of these iPod translators is very attractive. They work by putting 700 to 800 categorized phrases in the notes folder of your iPod. When a phrase is clicked on, audio is played in the chosen language. It may seem complicated but it is fairly simple to do with their detailed instructions.

As for phrasebooks, I recommend the Lonely Planet Europe Phrasebook. It covers all the Western and Central Europe languages. There are many phrasebooks for individual languages but for backpacking purposes you would only want to carry a single book.

Update (05/25/07): It appears that CoolGorilla is no longer offering free translators. There are translators that can be purchased at Talking Panda. These are fairly expensive so if you are interested in the free translators just leave a comment expressing your interest and I will send you my copies.

What Should You Pack?

What you bring on your backpacking adventure is critical. You will be living out of a backpack for many weeks and you don't want to bring too much or too little. This fact possibly makes packing the hardest part of planning for Europe. In addition, you need to pack differently for summer than winter, for travel through Norway or Greece, and for the type of travel (hiking, camping, staying in hostels). These factors along with others make packing unique to everyone. However, there are still general guidelines and checklists that you can follow.

I have compiled together the lists from these 4 sites and added some items to my personal packing checklist. This list may seem long but some of the items are optional. A good philosophy to follow is "Pack everything you think you will need, and get rid of half." As a final note Magellan's has a great selection of travel necessities and gadgets. Now that I know what I am going to bring to Europe, I can pick out a suitable backpack.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Juggling Flights

I have briefly been looking at flights to Europe from Toronto throughout the past 6 months or so but September is quickly approaching and I need to dig deeper into this subject. I hope that by the end of this post you will have a good idea about flight costs and where to look for the cheapest flights. I am certainly no travel agent but I will try my best to present a thorough overall view.

The original plan was to purchase a one-way ticket, because of the long length of the trip, and then while in Europe find a flight back home. However, this is not a good idea despite its attractiveness. You can save a lot of money by purchasing a round trip pass. You're better off spending money on an extra week in Europe and waiting for the return flight than spending a lot of money on a one-way ticket. In other words, an extra week in Europe will be cheaper than the difference between one-way and return trip tickets.

I have compiled all relevant flight data in a spreadsheet (follow the link below). It includes different departure dates from Toronto to a chosen city in Europe, the airline, one-way and round trip prices, and the source. Note that all prices include taxes and fees.

Click Here To See Spreadsheet

Wow! Air Transat appears to offer the cheapest flights; I would never have guessed that. Even the travel agents I spoke to agree that Air Transat is generally the cheapest. Air Transat flies to London, Amsterdam, and Paris. Of the 3, London is the cheapest. The prices are based on a 10 week trip starting the first week of September.

In conclusion, we are going to fly round trip with Air Transat.