24. What a Difference a Day Makes!

This morning I woke up in Paris, ate a croissant, and walked the rainy streets. Tonight I'm typing this from my own bed in Toronto.

Aviation is a crazy thing!

My month in Europe is pretty much the best experience of my life. I can't say that I haven't had other awesome stuff happen (luckily), but I can say that overall, it's done some stuff for my brain that I think my brain needed. Though, I have to give the five months in Bermuda some consideration. Bermuda and Europe, in terms of making my brain a better place to live, are equal.

I did the whole cry chat yesterday, so I won't get into the mushy bits here, but man, what a month.

Anyhow, I figured I should share some of the stuff that I learned, so below are some tips from a whole month of travel in Europe. Even on a shorter trip, to anywhere really, this is the stuff that I found I could not do it nearly as well without.

1. Travel with only one carry-on (also called cabin luggage, it seems), and check the "guaranteed" size for your airline(s). I skipped multiple lines of a hundred people or more because of this. Here's how:

    a. Stay at a place that has a hair dryer, should you need one

    b. Stay at a place with a washing machine (many don't have dryers in Europe)

    c. Don't bring rain boots, they're bulky, just plan for one of your pairs of shoes to be wet

    d. I've managed on 3 travel shampoos and half a travel conditioner for a whole month, and I wash     

        my hair every day, so no need for large bottles

    e. Think before you pack clothes, don't bring any "maybe I'll go to a ball" clothes, just be you

    f. Ship home anything you buy. It will be much less stressful than lugging around more luggage, 

       and it actually causes you to think before you go on a " Ooh, I'm travelling I can get what I want!" 

       spree, because you have to pack to in a box/envelope and pay for the shipping. This options 

       costs a bit more, but I've found is ultimately much, much less work and time.

2. Always carry a foldable shoulder bag. Most useful thing ever! It keeps your hands free, and allows you more control of your wallet and other valuables.

3. You can pay €10/£10 extra on RyanAir or EasyJet for more leg room (emergency door), which not only gives you more leg room, but also priority boarding, meaning you don't have to stand in line with hundreds of people. I say do it anyway, it's cheap and it's more comfortable regardless of the boarding process.

4. Buy a passport holder that can be worn under your clothes. Yes it seems insane, but if you do AirBNB there is no safe, and unless you trust your hosts implicitly (which I did in Barcelona), you can't be too safe. It's weird at first, but sets your mind at ease when you have enough else to keep your eye on.

5. Use the airport shuttles. This applies to all countries I went to (though Paris' train system is just as efficient). Europe is outfitted to make your life easier in this way. We are missing out in Toronto, as far as I know. They range from £12/€12 return (to the city and back to the airport). Just be sure to keep the ticket throughout your trip, otherwise you can't get on the return trip.

6. With EasyJet, make sure that you only have one bag in total with you on the plane. They will not allow you on with your purse and carry-on, trust me. Essentially just leave a bit of room to shove your purse in your carry-on. You can carry individual items like phones, passports, iPads and wallets in your hands.

7. Bring more than one regional plug adaptor. You'll likely have more than one thing to charge, and it's way more convenient to charge them at the same time instead of a line up.

8. Buy an all-in-one adaptor that fits into itself (they exist), it saves a bunch of space.

9. Bring an extra long charger cord for things like iPads or iPhones. Outlets can sometimes be in weird places, and you might as well charge the thing while you use it.

10. Bring a roll of packing tape. None of the post offices have tape available, some not even to purchase, and you will be way ahead of the game when shipping packages back. It can also help make a makeshift envelope for organizing receipts from multiple cities (yeah I know... just let me have this one!)

11. Bring a key ring holder of you're staying places with no key cards (ie. AirBNB), it keeps your keys in one place in your bag, with much less risk of losing them (http://www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk/home-storage/handbag-key-clip). They sell the one you see at this link at Neat (best store ever) on Queen, just West of Bathurst.

12. Bring a second camera battery, charge it, and keep it in your wallet/bag. It will come in very handy.

13. Bring a new camera memory card for each new city/country you're visiting. Switching when you land in a new place lessens the risk of the card going bad and you losing all of your pictures, and if you lose your camera, only one country is ruined, not all of them. They have handy multiple-card-holders at Henry's.

14. If you know your schedule, even slightly, buy your museum and main tourist location tickets online. Most lines at attractions aren't to get in, but to get the ticket to get in.

15. Make sure your purse/murse has a zipper at the top. Even the Metro/Tube/Subway/Bus station announcements remind you of pickpockets in Europe, so a zipper creates a slightly better guard.

16. Have a damn good time!!!

Well, I guess that's it. I'm back to real life after a month-long dream. All I can say is that I'm ready for the next one! Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Greece, get ready for next year... I hope. Hey, a girl can dream. You never know, maybe it could happen twice in a lifetime!