Read guidebooks, browse travel and camping gear stores, check train schedules, and post here….

In addition to reading guidebooks and posting here I also watch a lot of travel shows. I’ve probably checked out a majority of the Rick Steves, Globe Trekker, Samantha Brown, and Rudy Maxa DVDs that my library has.

read travel website/blogs like gadling and vagabondish, read people’s trip blogs on travbuddy and other trip blog sites, post here and at backpackeurope’s forum, read guidebooks… not to mention all the other normal everyday stuff I do, like facebook, working (i’m part-time averaging around 25-30hrs/wk), hanging out with friends etc. I’m no longer a student thank god. 16 straight years of school and I was more than ready to let my brain rest for a while (graduated in the spring).
I’m applying to be an english teacher abroad next year, but if I don’t get that, I’m still going to Europe to backpack at some point, so either way I need some $$ saved up. I haven’t been spending very much except on savings, gas, bills, and food (I live at home so no rent) although soon my student loan repayment starts so I’ll have to be penny pinching a bit more than the past couple months.

I had drinks last night with a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile, and when I told her about my trip she reminded me that she grew up in Switzerland, and her parents still have a house in Lausanne. She said I can stay there. I’m adding to my pretrip to-do list “contact everyone I have ever known who may know someone with property in Europe”

My boss (one of them, anyway) is from Belgium. I’m not sure where, but must be the southern part since she speaks French. I’ll have to approach the subject carefully with her though, as my trip may well conclude my current employment.

you can always just act interested in where she’s from, ask her about sights around Belgium etc. If she gets suspicious, just tell her you’re thinking about taking a trip to that area someday* and are curious.

*you don’t have to tell her that “someday” is already planned for next summer

Yeah, maybe she’ll want to hire me again when I come back. Either way, it is hard to pass up first hand knowledge from a local. I have yet to embark on my endeavor to learn as much French as possible by summer, but she could help with that, too.

All of the veterans here are in your position. Some of the newer posters might be students, especially a lot of those seeking advice. But a lot of us are working, post-college folks.

What to do until your trip? Research research research. Some people have already touched on this. Look up the countries you plan to visit, in books and/or online…you may discover new towns or regions or sites that catch your eye. Even if you’re already pretty set in your itinerary…when you’re actually on the ground backpacking, things may come up and your plans may have to change last minute. It’ll be good to have a database in your head of alternate places to visit, in case, say, trains are booked to the destination you want to go to…or some sort of international event (G8, G20, NATO summit, etc) has shut down a particular city you were planning to visit…and you got a couple other solo backpackers that you met along the way and have become your friends, and they’re following wherever you go…it’ll be good to have alternative places in mind.

Yes, research. I think I will be doing a lot of that. My knowledge of where I want to go does not extend much beyond cycling facts. I can tell you the last 10 winners of Ronde Van Vlaanderen, or Paris Roubaix. I can tell you how tall Mont Ventoux is, how many kilometers to the summit of le col du Galibier and how many switch backs there are on L’ Alp d’huez. But I don’t know where to eat or sleep or catch a train.

Talk to people. People love to talk about their trips or their homeland. When I was planning a trip to Germany I visited a local german restaurant and asked the waiter his favourite places. He practically pulled up a chair to my table and told me about all kinds of hidden gems to visit in Germany.

Learn some of the language: get some post-it notes and label things around you house in the language from the country you are planning to visit. You’d be amazed on how easy it is to absorb a foreign language. Asl;o no one expects you to be an exert in german, french, etc. but if you can put a sentence togther people will appreciate the effort and treat you better (in my experience)

Take time to learn the courtesy words of the countries you’re going to. For places to eat, just ask locals or go into a grocery store and get things to make lunch. For places to stay, go to the top of this page and click on the city or search – hostel europe – on the internet.

This is absolutely true… and it really doesn’t matter which country you’re in (except maybe France). Even if you come off sounding like a complete idiot, it’s not like they think you’re the inbred town retard from up the road…. they can tell you’re a foreigner Most people in the world I think have a natural proclivity to want to help people from out of town, but that tends to dwindle a fair bit if you just barge into their establishment and start demanding things in English. And you never know, you may win over the help of someone who otherwise couldn’t be bothered; this summer I was at a pizza place in Osnabrueck, Germany and I tried ordering in German. As soon as the waiter noticed I was a foreigner I’d swear his eyes lit up and he went from being just a typical blank-expressioned German waiter to a smiley, helpful normal dude. He slowed down so I could follow what he was saying, and by the end of my meal, he’d revealed to me several “secret” WiFi hotspots in town… i.e., “sit in in the park behind X building” etc. So you never know, it’s always worth a shot to at least TRY to say stuff in the local language.

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