SURVIVAL GUIDE: Six Tips To Get The Most From Europe This Summer
It’s that time of year again. Travel brands are following you around the internet with discounts on tours and flights, while your feed is smashing you with FOMO inducing sunset snaps. This can mean only one thing…
Yes – as the temps plummet across Aus, those of us who are lucky enough will be ditching the cold and swarming the beaches of places like Santorini and Mykonos to drink cheap alcohol and live the dream for all of us who can’t.
If you’re one of the fortunate ones jetting off to Europe this summer, here are some tips to make sure you don’t come back with an STI, a dodgy tattoo or an empty bank account (here’s to hoping it doesn’t end in all three).
1. BUDGET
Even if you’ve been saving since you were five years old for this holiday, it is impossible to make it through the trip comfortably without first deciding how much money you want to spend each day. While using multiple currencies across varied exchange rates, it’s very easy to lose context of how much money you’re actually spending. In the end, your fun tokens will quickly dwindle away if you’re not paying attention and you’ll be stuck rationing out the stale snacks your mum packed for your flight several weeks ago.
Look at your overall trip in advance and give yourself an allowance in Aussie dollars for each day and exchange this to the local currency. Some days will inevitably cost more and you’ll occasionally get a bit silly in the early hours of the morning and buy drinks you don’t need. But make sure, that when you splurge, you deduct these costs from the allowance you’ve set aside for future days and spread the load. It’ll keep you on track and having fun for much longer.
2. DON’T OVERPACK.
No way can anyone see me in the same bikini. Think of it like this, everyone around you will be past the stage of drunk where one bikini will look different every time you wear it. Zimmerman has nothing on the patterns your brain makes after 6 tequilas. Don’t overthink your wardrobe – packing light will save your back and make transit much less hassle.
3. THE TRIP IS TEMPORARY, OTHER THINGS AREN’T
It’s important to let your hair down and soak in the time of your life while you’re on the other side of the world forgetting about all your problems back home.
But, just remember, whatever you do, catch and create on your holiday will stay with you – and a #europebaby or a ‘WHEN IN ROME’ tat on your left bum cheek is hilarious for maybe a month tops. Then it’s a downward spiral of regret.
Don’t lose sight that what happens overseas doesn’t stay overseas anymore. If you do something dumb, the story will inevitably make it’s way home. Basically, don’t lose your self respect.
4. CALL YOUR PARENTS
Despite time differences, calling costs and a million other things you would rather do, spare a moment to send the rents a selfie of you alive and well every now and then. But remember, a great story to you and your mates might not be what they want to hear, so filter your content to some extent. The saying, “what they don’t know won’t hurt them”, has never been more relevant.
5. TAKE PHOTOS, BUT DON’T RUIN THE MOMENT
Snapchat stories of sunsets and free shots are often essential for #TravelEnvy to your m8’s back home, but you don’t want to be the dickhead oversharing videos of body shots. Too much sharing quickly becomes annoying to others and you’ll regret the things you don’t see with your own eyes.
6. CREATE MEMORIES WITH MORE THAN YOUR EYES
A great trick to bring memories flooding back when you return from your trip is by picking a song you barely know and listening to it once or twice a day on your trip. Weeks, months, years after your trip, the memories you made will play to the tune.
If there is one thing you’ll learn on your first big trip without your family, it’s that it really is like catching a bug you can’t seem to shake. So with winter setting in and your big trip on the cards – embrace the excitement.