Trip preperations: Travel Knowlege

Since finishing school in December, I've spent much of the past month preparing for my trip. The first order of business was figuring out when, where, and how much time and money to spend. My work anniversary lands near my rent renewal date: May 2014. Leaving any earlier would require me to break lease, and leaving after my anniversary allows me to pick up (and cash in) a couple of extra weeks of vacation time. I'd also like to leave in the spring to have the most of the summer months when traveling.

I have spent considerable time researching travel arrangements. These include passport and visa requirements, Department of State travel advisories, vaccination requirements, and a wide range of other issues. One huge thorn in my side is the Schengen agreement, which restricts travel to Europe to 90 days in any 180 day period. This was a huge blow to my plans, as I was planning on spending most of my time in Europe, 6-9 months perhaps. There is the choice to deliberately overstay, and people do, but often face fines and other penalties. I noticed that the maximum fine of $1,500 was less then it would cost to legally return to Europe in airfare alone. Still I'm too much of a goodie two shoes for that. The only solution is to actually follow the rules, and make your way out of Europe, then come back in. I'm still somewhat irritate that these rules will have such an impact on my travel plans. I guess part of the agreement was forcing out paying tourists. I will spend much more time in countries with less strict rules, and other countries I may not have a chance to visit at all due to these time limitations.

Fortunately England and Ireland are not part of the Schengen agreement, so I plan to spend time there. Morocco Turkey, and other eastern European countries are not in the agreement, and I'll have to go there for some time before returning back into Europe.

The other important consideration is weather. Iceland and Switzerland are on the “must do” list, but both must be done in the summer months. Iceland is on the Arctic circle, and Switzerland's elevation gain makes it much colder then the surrounding countries. On the other hand, summer in Spain or Morocco (think western Sahara) is not manageable in the summer months. As such, these are my winter countries, along with Italy, and Greece, and perhaps Turkey (not a Schengen member). These ares are cool and rainy in the winter, but tourist crowds and prices come down a bit. Egypt was dropped from the list after a recent bombing.

Actual trip preparations have taken many forms. The most daunting has been actual trip preparation. Finding good quality, high resolution maps was a bit of a challenge, and many had to be ordered online. Large scale maps usually only show only highways and major cities, so I had to order multiple maps that show every side road and in a high level detail. The Ireland/England book is over 100 pages alone, but has mountain ranges, campgrounds, and other important features well defined. I figured having good maps was paramount in spending so much time on the road.

Still, most of these maps are designed for motorists, and contain extra information, or lack information for my needs. I've spent considerable time cross referencing other maps, such as bike trails, elevation maps, and other sources marking up the maps. I've been going through guidebooks and matching destinations, adding notes, and generally going through my options in a high level of detail. Clearly not everything is planned out, but I've charted some of the key things I want to see or avoid. Iceland and England are done, Ireland is in the works. Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, are queued up. Scotland and Wales need more attention also.

There has also been a lot of research into ferries, trains, and other forms of transit across borders, as well as practical things like trying to learn a bit of different languages. As you can see, I'm way overwhelmed with this work, and I feel like I won't get done with what I want in time.