First thing I heard over and over again was ‘you couldn’t do that alone, that’s dangerous!’ I was frustrated with people around me in my life telling me that I couldn’t do it. So it made me want to do it even more. Bought my plane ticket, Euro-rail pass and booked a few hostels to get me started. Everything came into place, starting on my high-school graduating day, June 21, 2004. After receiving my diploma ...

Today I was looking at some pictures of my European trip of 1998 with my sister and my parents and I remembered how amazing Monaco is. Monaco is a little city-state located in South Western Europe on the northern central coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This little country is known for its high class way of life, its beautiful panorama, the casino, the best Formula 1 races and the expensive yachts owned by t ...

Hiking while backpacking can be one of the best ways to see the landscape or villages of a country. I found this out, by exploring Cinque Terre in Italy a few years ago. I have never experienced such fantastic hike from village to village until I finished hiking Cinque Terre. While I was in Europe many backpackers recommended me to do hiking, so I decided to choose Cinque Terre to get me started. Oh and wow ...

One of my Favorite cities in Europe is Barcelona. Only because everything you want in a European city, Barcelona has it! It’s filled with life, excitement, uniqueness, and not to forget the amazing nightlife! It is Spain’s second largest city and for those who have never been or are thinking of backpacking it, well here are a few quick tips. For all those first timers, Avenue of Las Ramblas is the first sto ...

 Many people often ask me, what is Europe like? Or how is life in Europe? I’d like to say that it’s an easy question to answer, but unfortunately it isn’t. My personal opinion is that life is more appreciated in the old continent. Sure when you live in America, you are considered spoiled, we have everything they have; the difference is that we don’t pay attention to the details. For example, when we wake up ...

After 13 hours of flying, I have finally arrived in Cannes, France. As first impression after five years, its a whole lot of wow. Things have change! I know, not very usual for Europe, but its not the buildings that have changed its the amount of stores and resturants that have been added to the water fronts main street. There are now many designers stores, which is what I expected since Cannes is the cente ...

Traveling accross Europe is somewhat common. It normally turns out to be a great experience and lots of fun times! This being said, there was one thing that really annoyed me during my 7-month stay in Europe, and that was going to the bathroom in touristy places. When in Rome, do as the Roman do- that means- did they have to dish out some cash to pee? The average cost of using the toilet in Italy, or accros ...

In a few weeks time I am off to another country! Yay! No I am not backpacking or taking a vacation, but I am traveling. I will be in Cannes, France for work!!! It’s going to be about a week long trip of work and little play, but it’s going to be exciting to be back in Cannes again. About five years ago around this time, it was my very first time in Cannes. As I think about that now, wow time passes very qui ...

Off Track Planet is giving away a First Class Global Eurail Pass and a choice of a new FLIP HD video camera or iPod Nano. Sponsored by Eurail.com and Travellerspoint.com. To enter, participants must submit a 1-2 minute video detailing their reasons for being most-qualified to win the prize OTP is offering. The application deadline is March 22, 2010 and a winner will be announced by OTP on April 1, 2010. Par ...

When I backpacked Europe of a year, I had to find smart, easy ways to keep my most important belongings close to me. Not only my valuables I had to take special care of, but also myself. Since it is a fact that all women need to travel 100 percent more carefully than men, due to basic problems that can occur very easily. A few quick tips I have learned over that last few years from backpacking is watch the ...