What I Learned From Spending 2 Months Traveling Alone in Europe

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What I Learned After Spending 2 Months Alone in a Foreign Country

There’s something so romantic about going off to a foreign country or place by yourself. Or at least I always thought so???

Cue movies/books like Under the Tuscan Sun, Eat Pray Love, Wild, and the like.

I am such a sucker for that shit. As a hopeless romantic, nostalgic-obsessed introvert/INFP, I eat. It. Up.

I took my first solo travel trip to Europe three years ago, when I was 23. I went to Greece, Ireland, and Belgium over the course of 1.5 months and ate my weight in crepes. I met a ton of other travelers by staying in hostels, which was perfect at the time, but these days I’m not as keen to share a room with 10 other travelers and pray that none of them snore.

I also purposely wanted solitude and reflection time during this trip (and hostels aren’t necessarily the BEST place for that LOL). My goal wasn’t to make a ton of friends and see ALL THE THINGS like it was before – I really just wanted to meet other digital nomads (in real life/online), work on myself, reinforce healthy habits like meditation and journaling, establish myself as an online English teacher, and get my shit together with this blog.

And so, I traded in people for pets and was house sitting in various locations around England from mid-June to mid-August. I spent 2 weeks in Welling (near London), 1 month in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, 1 week in Chichester, and 2 days in London.

My time alone was and wasn’t exactly what I thought. Here are my main takeaways:

9 Things I Miss About Living in One Place (Musings From a Digital Nomad)

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Ok, so just a precursor – this is probably going to be the most ‘first world problems’ post EVER. But I felt like writing it anyway.

I know that I eventually want to settle down and have somewhat of a ‘home base’.

But right now, I’m still traveling my little heart out. But while I love being a ‘digital nomad’, there are definitely some things I’m missing from my stationary life. Here’s what I miss the most:

A Day in the Life of a Digital Nomad

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An Honest Day in the Life of a Digital Nomad — [Staithes is such a pretty English beach town]

So I never ever thought I’d make it to this point? Like being a ‘digital nomad’ has always been a kind of crazy dream of mine, but here we are (#living and #thriving, bby) and only having about one mental breakdown per day!!!!

Lol just kidding, although not gonna lie, anytime you go against the grain I think mental breakdowns are inevitable. Actually, I also had them when I was working a normal 9-5…so maybe that’s just #life?

Robin Hood's Bay in England — [Robin Hood’s Bay – a cool day trip from my current town]

But ANYWAYS. Curious about what being a traveling house sitter/online english teacher/rainbow unicorn is all about? Here’s what I do to keep busy every day (and FYI, it’s not sitting at the beach drinking margaritas all day and pretending to work! And while I am actually near the beach right now, it’s in England so it’s far from the tropical destination you’re probably picturing…)

Every day is different obviously (that’s kinda why I chose this life? I get bored real quick) but here’s a kind of typical hodgepodge type day:

My Thoughts & Reflections After 3 Months of Travel

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Reflections after 3 months of travel in Europe — [Kriebstein Castle is a great place to reflect]

Fair warning, this is going to be kind of a rambly post…Lots of thoughts bouncing around in my brain. I feel a little scrambled eggs-esque about having been in Europe for the last 3 months and now heading home. There’s just A LOT to process and I’m also going through major chocolate withdrawals (I WAY overdid it on German chocolate and I’m trying to cut out sugar for a bit – wish me luck) so excuse my brain at the moment.

Here’s where I’m at, and how I’ve changed, after 3 months of travel!

I ACTUALLY (KIND OF) MISS HAVING A HOME BASE

Hamburg buildings — [Not gonna lie, I really enjoyed staying in Hamburg for almost 2 months and getting to know the city]

Our three months of travel was a little busier than I would have liked – we spent 2 days in London, then a week in Glasgow, a few days in Amsterdam, a week in Switzerland, a week in Prague, 2 weeks in Norway, and then the rest of our time in Germany (but we moved around pretty frequently while there).

21 Things That Surprised Me About Germany

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21 Things That Surprised Me About Germany

When I first set out on my 3 month digital nomad/travel excursion we had just planned on staying in Germany for about 3 weeks, but that turned into 2 months! Whoops. And during that time I really fell in love with Germany – it’s such a lovely country!

Lübeck in northern Germany from St Peter's Church — [Lübeck is a beautiful town in northern Germany, and an easy day trip from Hamburg; this view is from St. Peter’s Church]

I’d been before – to Berlin for a couple of days and then Starnberg and Munich for Oktoberfest. But this visit was the first time I’d really spent an extended amount of time in one country, and in one city no less!

We were in Hamburg the bulk of the time and Berlin for 10 days, but I was also able to squeeze in some day trips and visit the Saxony region for a weekend, too. Here’s what surprised me most about the country itself:

8 Reasons I’ll Miss Living in the Bay Area

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Why I'll Miss Living in the Bay Area — [Views of the Bay from an airplane]

So contrary to what you may believe from my last post about why I WON’T miss living in the Bay Area, there are actually plenty of things I love about the Bay, too. I lived there for about 23 years in total, so of course there are things I really appreciate about the Bay!

Here’s what I’ll miss the most:

8 Reasons I Won’t Miss Living in the Bay Area

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Why I Won't Miss Living in the Bay Area — [Even though there’s a lot I don’t like about the Bay, parts of it sure are pretty!]

Ahh the Bay Area – land of start ups, the word “hella”, giant tech companies, the best burritos (yeah I said it), the Golden Gate, and so much more that I could never fit it all into one sentence without violating all kinds of grammar rules. It’s a wonderful melting pot of a place.

I grew up in San Jose and was living in Fremont the past 2 years. I will always love the Bay (and there are plenty of reasons I’ll miss it, too), but I’m also very ready to leave. It was a good run, but here’s why I’m not looking to return:

Doing What I Want Instead of What I Should

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Oh howdy ho, fellow blogreaders!

LOL who am I? Please ignore that sentence and read on. I promise the cheese stops there.

SO. There have been some pretty big, like WHOA life changes as of late, and I really wanted to address that before publishing the other posts I have waiting in my blogging queue! So here’s what’s up:

I quit my job, and am traveling through Europe for the next few months. How’s that for a big, giant cliche?

Travel Journals Make the Best Souvenirs

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Do y’all keep a travel journal? Or any kind of journal?

I’m definitely a journal person. Like, DEFINITELY a journal person. I’ve been keeping them since I was 6 years old…

My first entry was just one sentence about going to the “beatch”. I was so excited I even put an exclamation mark at the end of it, complete with a very enthusiastic heart.

That was pretty much the peak of my journaling journey.

How I Got My Job at an Environmental Nonprofit

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I work as an Education Programs Coordinator for an environmental nonprofit that promotes the education and conservation of birds. I never ever expected to be working in the job that I am, never expected to become passionate about birds (before this I was more of a mammals person – but I think that’s how many people in the wildlife field start out lol), and never expected what it’d actually be like to work at an environmental nonprofit.

I really really enjoy it (for the most part). But – before I get into what it’s like in the next article, here’s some background info to ~set the scene~