I am officially a graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison! What’s next?
Here is the complete plan for my upcoming travels: Spain On May 18th, 2018, I fly into Pamplona, Spain with my mother. We will be hiking the Camino de Santiago, a traditionally catholic pilgrimage through northern Spain. Since we are only carrying 10% of our body weight each on this trip, I will be mailing an extra box of supplies ahead of me for Eastern Europe. Along the hike, will be staying in albergues, which are hostels prepared for pilgrims. Fingers crossed we always have a place to sleep! On June 21st, we will have reached Santiago de Compostela, the final destination on the month-long trek. Netherlands From Santiago de Compostela, I will be flying to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam to tour the city with a Bulgarian friend for five days. I have an AirBnB booked with plans to use the city bus and visit local museums. I hear the markets in Amsterdam are also beautiful! Now it gets a little more complicated.
Bulgaria On June 27th I will be flying into Sofia, the capitol of Bulgaria. Another Bulgarian friend from my time in Alaska will be giving me a tour of the entire country. I am hoping to learn an lot about the history of the area, visit the beaches, and hike in the beautiful Bulgarian mountains. I have also been hitting the books to study the Bulgarian language - I plan to stay in this country for 2 - 4 weeks. Serbia In mid- to late- July, I will be jumping on a bus to travel north from Sofia, Bulgaria to Belgrade, Serbia. I am hoping to see Serbian friends in the area for approximately 5 days. I also may try to volunteer with Syrian refugees here for a month, but that is pretty up in the air. Bosnia/Herzegovina From Belgrade, I will spend 5 days in Sarajevo and Mostar on my way to Croatia. I hear there is some incredible World War I history here. Croatia At the start of August I plan to spend about 2 weeks in Croatia, beginning in Split and traveling north. I intend to skip Dubrovnik, as I hear it is very touristy and it would be out of my way to travel that far south. I may rent a car in Croatia, but most likely will just take buses from city to city. I hope to do as much hiking as possible in the National parks, and with any luck I will run into a friend from the school of business that will be visiting Croatia from Italy at that time. Eventually, I will travel all the way through Croatia to Pula and Zagreb. Hungary This is where the plan becomes extremely uncertain. I will try to travel with friends I meet abroad to all of the following countries. Budapest, Hungary is definitely a priority, and I will spend up to a week in this area. Austria (or Slovakia?) I may stop in Vienna, or go straight north through Slovakia to get to Poland in mid-August Poland Assuming I go north through Slovakia, I will spend five days or so in Krakow and the surrounding area to hike and explore. I am particularly interested in the Jewish history of this area. I do not plan to go to Warsaw because it is too far north. Czech Republic In early- to mid- September I will visit Prague, and tour the area. Germany At the end of September, I plan to make it to Germany. I have German friends from a previous trip to Peru, and a dear friend from Alaska. I am also hoping to have studied the German language along the way as I left Bulgaria, and after two months of self study will be able to communicate at a basic level in the country. I would definitely visit Berlin, but I hear the best international flights are out of Frankfurt, so I may do more travel in Germany than I think. Thailand? The best time to travel in Thailand is the fall, so I may take a direct flights t to Bangkok from Germany around September 30th. I also may visit my cousin in France or try to get an internship or job somewhere on the continent. Wish me luck, and keep up to date on how well I end up following this plan through my blog!
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