Itโs been great. Coming to the end of the trip now. Only 9 days left until my ferry back to the UK. And I have to say, Iโm quite looking forward to a breakโฆ
A few thoughts on the tripโฆ
France > Spain > Portugal > Spain > France > Italy > France. About 5,000 miles covered! Some amazing places visited. Great scenery, great cities, great people. That saidโฆ
I definitely chose the wrong time of year to do this. My original plan was to spend the summer months in Europe, but the delay in the driving licence process pushed this way back. Itโs not summer anymore.
Most places I visit are extremely quiet. You could either look at this as both an upside and downside. The places have been beautiful, but there are is a definite lack of people to talk to. Outside of the bigger cities, the language barrier is obvious. Iโve visit some of these places before in high season, and youโre never short of a tourist or twenty. Itโs massively arrogant of me to assume people should speak English, so a definite self improvement topic dig deeper into a new language or two.
Iโm not one for the cold, and the weather has taken a pretty harsh turn in the past few weeks. Thankfully I have plenty of work to get on with at the moment, so Iโm not too worried about the endless rainy days. The nights get a bit cold, so the heating is on quite a bit.
The effect of Brexit has been felt almost every day. Not from any of the Europeans, but things got more expensive day by day when you compare the exchange rate. Itโs taken a bit of a turn since the US Election, so thereโs at least one thing to thank the Donald for. Fuel is the biggest expense, and there is no standard for pricing. Some of it is just price gouging, itโs ridiculous. Before I left, I set myself a goal of visiting a few countries. On a repeat trip, Iโd cut the amount of time down massively and go at a much slower pace.
Itโs something Iโd do again, but it would be great to do it with someone. Itโs not like regular nomadic trips where youโre in the city, or around people to interact with. Youโre limited to the places you can drive, and park up. Some places have been convenient with a short walk or hopping on public transport into the city, but some places are quite far out of the way. It makes it kind of isolated at times.
Now, Iโm ready for a trip back home to spend Christmas with friends and family. Iโm back in the UK on the 2nd of December. Then Iโve got a friends birthday trip to Vegas for New Years Eve followed by a road trip around California for a few weeks, as if I havenโt done enough driving this year! After that, back to SEA for some much needed sun.