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Intro
Between 2021 and 2023, I spent 19 months travelling around Europe. There were still Covid restrictions in place during 2021 and 2022, but this also meant tourism was down 50% from 2019. Travel was cheaper and the locations were less busy than usual. I was 58 so I wanted to do this before I hit 60 when buying travel insurance becomes more limited and expensive.
Preparation
I arranged to rent my property out whilst I was travelling and live out of AirBnB's or Booking.com rooms. The rent covered about 80% of the accommodation cost. But I would also be saving money on not having to pay household bills. This included no Council Tax and no utility bills. With heating bills soaring in the UK, these were substantial savings.
I booked accommodation 2-3 months ahead of time. I put everything in my online calendar to ensure I didn't miss a flight, ferry and had a bed to sleep in every night. I ensured I had plenty of days on my passport and bank cards. I had two phones, one for daily use and another for mobile banking and bookings. If I lost my daily phone, I could still continue, though I never lost anything or had anything stolen. My computer was a Beelink GKMini that I would attach to a television. The Beelink weighs less than a phone and was easier to carry and pass through airport security than a laptop.
To travel required taking the Covid vaccine. Entry into countries in early 2022 without it was impossible. After each 90 day entitlement in Europe, I returned to the UK. This is because my travel insurance stipulated that the journey must begin within the UK.
I used my own car when I could. When flying away, I used a long term parking app to find cheaper parking close to the airports. I also ordered a French air quality certificate for my vehicle and bought another certificate at a garage in Germany. These are necessary to drive through French and German cities.
When booking accommodation, I always tried to ensure I booked a place that was close to grocery shopping facilities and public transport.
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Travel Locations
1 Month In Aberdeen, Scotland
Because of Brexit, I was limited to 90 days in the EU at a time. Winter is 5 months long, so I decided to begin my travels up in Scotland. I stayed in Aberdeen which is on the East coast. This was because the East coast receives less rain than the West coast. It was chilly but I had a great time exploring the coast and castles on daily trips. I headed inland to Balmoral and had a two day trip around Loch Ness and the Cairngorms.
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Dunnottar Castle - Aberdeenshire - Scotland
3 weeks in Newcastle, north east England
I arrived after a severe storm. But the weather calmed down and I really enjoyed Newcastle including a couple of nights out in "toon". I had fantastic days out on Holy Island, Durham and up onto Hadrian's Wall.
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Roman Hadrian's Wall - Northern England
1 week in Salisbury, southern England
I spent Christmas in the ancient city of Salisbury. It was wet but Salisbury never disappoints.
1 month in Nazare, Portugal
I had intended to drive down through France and Spain but President Macron banned any Brits from entering France. So I caught a flight down to Lisbon. I then caught a bus to Nazare, famous for its giant surfing waves. Nazare was quiet, which I loved, and provided 2 good days of 50ft surfing waves hitting the headland. I also hired a car to discover the hinterland to see dinosaur footprints, a giant monastery, Peniche, Buddha Park, the walled city of Obidos and a salt farm village. Nazare provided plenty of local hikes and lots to see.
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Wave Watching - Nazare - Portugal
1 month in Lisbon
I returned to Lisbon by bus and stayed in Sacavem, a suburb of Lisbon some 7km north of the centre. By train it only took me 15 minutes to get into the historic centre. Plenty to explore in Lisbon. Not just the historic Alfama district but also modern Orientes on the River Tagus and Belem by the river mouth.
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1 month in Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal
I caught the train down to the Algarve and stayed in a marina apartment. It was the cheapest accommodation of all my stays. It was mainly sunny though there were a few days of downpours. I had plenty of coastal hikes and bars to wet my thirst. I teamed up with an American from California to go exploring. Our best day out was to see the crazy cliff fishermen of Sagres.
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1 month in County Kerry, Ireland
When my 90 days were up, I flew back to the UK, picked up my car and drove west to catch a ferry in Wales to Ireland. I had three single night stays along the way. I had booked an idyllic cottage out in the Irish countryside. From there I toured all of County Kerry. Magical. I enjoyed had a pub crawl in Dingle and visited the site on Valentine Island where the marks of the first fish crawled onto land.
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1 month in County Sligo, Ireland
I took the ferry across the Shannon River north to a remote property out in the countryside of Sligo. My nearest neighbour was a property half a mile down the road. My nearest neighbours were cows, horses, swallows and hares. It was a perfect country retreat. On the way I had stopped overnight in Lahinch, the stag night capital of the west coast of Ireland. Sligo has beautiful mountains and countryside. I visited a coal mine, hiked up to Queen Maeve's Cairn and spent a night in Manorhamilton, talking to the locals in a pub.
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1 month in Donegal, Ireland
My next stay was on the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland. I toured the wild and rugged land of Donegal. Then I paid a couple of visits into County Antrim. I visited Londonderry or Derry, the Dark Hedges and the Giant's Causeway. Most of the time I had fine weather.
Just to add, as a Brit travelling into Ireland requires no documentation. No passport, no visa. The border is completely open though custom officials might take an interest in any items you have packed in your car.
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1 week in Moynalty, Ireland
This is a small village in Ireland that has won the prettiest village in Ireland for more than one year. From here I visited Newgrange, the site of ancient burial tombs.
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3 weeks in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland
In 2019 I had spent an afternoon in Kinsale and loved it. On this extended stay, I got to know the town and surrounding area very well. It's an ideal location for hikes and going out in the evening to enjoy the traditional Irish pubs. I also had day trips into Cork city and along the coast to Clonakilty. The main issue in Kinsale was car parking. It gets very busy in the Summer. Once I got my parking space on the road, I kept it as best I could.
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2 weeks in Wales
On my return to the UK, I stayed in a small AirBnB in the countryside of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was during a heatwave but I did manage to visit a waterfall in the Brecon Beacons and a local ruined castle.
My second week was spent in Newtown, Powsy in central Wales. But unfortunately I suffered a ligament injury in my leg so I spent the week indoors to give it time to heal. The big flat screen TV in the AirBnB came in very handy.
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Driving from the UK to Denmark
From Wales, and recovered from my injury, I drove my car to Denmark via the Eurotunnel to France, through Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. I had overnight stays in Margate(UK), Dunkirk (France), Meppel (Netherlands), a village outside Hamburg and Fredericia (Denmark). Meppel was a particularly lovely town.
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3 weeks in Copenhagen, Denmark
I stayed in a northern suburb of Copenhagen with a nearby lake. The heatwave continued and I had sunny days throughout my stay. It was so hot, on some days I came across the topless and nude bathing on the river front. There is so much to see and do in and around Copenhagen. So much history, culture, architecture, entertainment, oddities, methods of transport, bars and restaurants. One day I took the train up to the amazing Frediksborg Palace. Denmark is more expensive for food and drink, particularly along the famous Nyhavn Canal. But prices are similar to London or Paris. And in the backstreets there were plenty of cheaper establishments to eat and drink.
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1 week in East Germany
From Denmark I drove back south to stay in a small house in the countryside of the former East Germany. I was quiet though some of the rural roads there were something I had never experienced and must have been designed for tanks. I visited the cities of Schwerin and Lubeck. Both cities are hidden gems to foreign travellers.
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1 week in Berlin
It was an easy drive to Oranienburg, a small town to the north of Berlin. From here I could catch a train straight into the city centre for day trips. I was pleasantly surprised by Berlin. The heart of the city is a large park. The weather was great so I sat down for a couple of cold beers outside the Reichstag. My experience of Berlin largely came from watching the TV documentary The World At War. What I found was very different. It was a fun city. Museum island was fascinating and I visited the Pergamon Museum. East Berlin was full of themed bars and burlesque entertainment.
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10 days in Nuremberg, Bavaria
I found Nuremberg was a beautiful medieval city since it had been rebuilt. It had many traditional German beer establishments. And I visited the Zepellinfeld where the Nazi rallies took place. Fascinating.
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10 days in Augsburg
Augsburg was a very attractive former Roman city. I really enjoyed my visit to the MAN factory museum where I saw the engine they built to power the U-Boats. I used the city trams and buses on several occasions. From here I also had a day trip into Munich. It was a very wet day but I still enjoyed my visit and saw the surfers on the river in the English Gardens. I visited the day before the Oktoberfest was to open and saw the final preparations.
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2 days in Lindau
I drove south to the Alpine harbour town of Lindau. On the way I stopped at Landsberg Am Lech to see the large man made weir that the river cascades over. Lindau was a lovely little town with its attractive harbour from which ferries cross the lake to the Swiss Alps. That was the closest I got to the Alps but their peaks were shinning brightly in the morning sun.
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10 days in Strasbourg, France
I drove north through the Black Forest to Strasbourg on the river Rhine. It was a very busy city. Parking was difficult to find on the streets. I did make much use of the trams and the buses. I visited the EU headquarters on the edge of the city and the European Court Of Human Rights. Central Strasbourg was very French and medieval in its architecture. French flags flew everywhere, a reminder that ownership of this city was often disputed between the Germans and the French. But Strasbourg is on the pricey side for food and drink.
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2 weeks in Metz, France
Metz is a pretty city with its historic buildings constructed from bright yellow sandstone. It was famous for being the city where the French army was besieged during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The River Moselle runs through the city, a tributary of which is used for kayaking competitions. On the hills surrounding the city I found fortifications from the 1870 Franco-Prussian war and World War 1. From Metz, I visited the World War 1 battlefield of Verdun. The remains of the fortresses there are shocking signs of warfare.
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1 week outside Arras, France
I stayed in a townhouse in a quiet village outside of town. From here, I visited the World War 1 battlefield sites of Notre Dame de Lorette, Vimy Ridge and the Battle Of The Somme. All fascinating and dreadful at the same time. I also visited the River Somme which turned out to be a beautiful river; nothing like the images of WW1 camera footage.
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1 week in Dorset, England
My 90 days were up in the Schengen Zone so I travelled back through the Eurotunnel back to Blighty (England). I stayed in Poole, Dorset, a town I am very familiar with. During my week in Dorset I had day trips out to Sandbanks beach, the Iron Age fort of Maiden Castle and a trek down to the coast at Winspit Quarry. All good days out.
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1 month in Pula, Istria, Croatia
Though I had recently spent 90 days in the Schengen Zone, Croatia remained outside the zone until January 1st 2023. So I took advantage of this.
I drove up to Stansted airport where I had booked long term parking in a private driveway. After a night's stay at the Jolly Brewer pub in Bishop Stortford, I flew off to the city of Pula on the coast of Istria in Croatia.
It was now November but I caught the last of sunshine on the Adriatic. I stayed in an apartment built in 1965 during the Communist era. Pula is a compact city, easy to get around by foot. It's most famous buildings are the Roman amphitheatre and remaining arches from that distant past. There were also fortifications from when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. And there were plenty of interesting coastal hikes accessible by bus.
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10 days in Zagreb, Croatia
As it got colder, I caught a flight to Zagreb. The 2022 World Cup had begun so I spent several days exploring the pubs and bars of Zagreb to watch the matches. Despite the increasing cold, I had a basement apartment in the city that was warm and cosy. My best night out was a visit to a jazz club.
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3 weeks in Paphos, Cyprus
The year before, I had spent Winter in Portugal. This Winter I was to spend it on the island nation of Cyprus. It also was outside the Schengen Zone. I had an entire townhouse and pool to myself because there were so few other tourists around. Paphos is split into two. The harbour side area and the town centre up on the hill. I visited the archaeological site and had a few nights out in the bar area of town. I got back into playing darts in the pub. I also hired a car for a few hikes down along the coast including climbing Aphrodite's Rock. Over time, I got to like Paphos.
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3 weeks in Limassol, Cyprus
Limassol was a very different experience to Paphos. It felt like a busy city. It had tall skyscrapers; built with Russian money I believe. I went to the end of the harbour pier to see the New Year fireworks. A walk along the promenade was very enjoyable, particularly when the wave height was 6ft and they crashed onto the rocks below the walkways. I took the bus to the ancient site of Amathous and even paid a visit back into the British territory of Akrotiri. And I found a great sports pub for playing darts in the Nags Head.
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10 days in Larnaca, Cyprus
Larnaca was a less hectic town than Limassol. I had a very nice apartment with a patio balcony. I was restricted by the weather that provided several downpours and flooded streets. Some days I ended up at a computer gaming centre for my wet afternoon entertainment. On a good day I visited the salt lake to see flocks of noisy Flamingos performing their strutting dance. I also caught the bus for a day trip to the capital Nicosia, which I found fascinating since it was split in two between the Turks and the Greeks and patrolled by UN troops.
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2 weeks in Ayia Napa, Cyprus
I made a late decision to visit Ayia Napa. All I had heard was that it was a beer, beach and party town like Ibiza. When I arrived there I found the bar street was all closed except for one pub. But Ayia Napa has a lot more to offer than drunken partying. There were ancient sites, a pleasant harbour, a very upmarket marina complex, themed cafes and restaurants and a two statue parks, one of which was underwater. And I could easily catch a bus along the coast to visit the sea caves and Cape Greco. I had two enjoyable hikes in the national park. Ayia Napa had a lot to offer for visitors of any age group.
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2 weeks in Santa Cruz, La Palma, Canary Islands
On my return from Cyprus, I spent another 3 days in Bishop Stortford close to Stansted airport. I had wanted to see an active volcano. The two choices were on Sicily or the island of La Palma. It was March and the weather in Sicily was still cold and wet. So, I booked two stays on La Palma. To reach La Palma required a flight to Gran Canaria and then a run through the airport to catch the prop plane service to La Palma.
I knew little of Santa Cruz, the capital of La Palma. It is nestled against steep hills and I had to use either the street elevator or climb the steps to reach my AirBnB. There were some tourists around but it wasn't busy. The city had a black beach and several pedestrian only streets that ran through the city. The highlight was seeing the Procession of the Dancers that performed through the streets at night. This included costumed characters on stilts, men dressed as knights on hobby horses and a guy carrying a contraption that let of a shower of fireworks. Great stuff.
I also hired a car for three days to explore the coast and hinterland. La Palma is a stunning island, almost a paradise. But it's a volcanic island. The drive up to the top of the volcanic peak required negotiating 40 hairpin bends. My favourite spot was the coast at La Fajana in the far north.
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10 days in Los Llanos, La Palma
It was a short bus trip across to Los Llanos on the western side of the island. I fell in love with Los Llanos. I could live there. It's a small relaxed town with modern facilities. From the roof of the apartment block I could see the volcanic vent that erupted in 2021 and the resulting lava field down to the ocean. I took bus trips to get close to the vent and trek across the lava fields of a previous eruption.
A trip down to the beach at Tazacorte was an unexpected surprise. The waves were rolling in onto the black beach.
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10 days on Gran Canaria
I flew back to Gran Canaria to stay in an AirBnB in a small town just off the main north-south highway on Gran Canaria. From here I could easily catch a regular bus in either direction. And the airport was only 10 minutes away. I had two trips into Las Palmas, one into the historic district of San Telmo, and the other up to Santa Catalina. There, I found a beach packed with tourists and visited the excellent oceanarium there. To the south, I visited a comedy wild west cowboy town. I also had a very enjoyable coastal hike where I came across lots of the local iguana lizards.
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2 weeks in Sheffield, England
There were the first signs of Spring when I returned to England. I stayed on the outskirts of Sheffield, between the city and the Peak District national park. The suburb felt more like a country village with three nearby pubs. I took the tram into the city centre to visit the excellent industrial museum with a working 12,000 HP steam engine. And then I went for a lunchtime beer down by the canal. There were plenty of genuine traditional pubs in Sheffield.
I had three treks over the peaks of the Peak District. It was great getting out in the fresh air and watching the grouse jumping out of the gorse. I would have lunch on a stone outcrop overlooking the reservoirs. I also enjoyed a ramble down the valley of the River Rivelin. Sheffield has plenty of woodland and river valleys to explore.
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2 weeks in The Lake District, England
Cumbria, in the north west of England can receive a lot of rain. I got lucky and only had a few days of rain and many days of sunshine. I stayed in a comfortable AirBnB on the edge of the countryside outside Workington. I visited Cockermouth, where the poet Wordsworth lived, and had three trips to Lake Buttermere. I managed to hike up a couple of the smaller fells (small mountains) to have lunch on their peaks. And I had a relaxing walk along the shores of Lake Ennerdale. It's said this was where Bill Clinton proposed marriage to Hilary Clinton. A surprising bonus was a hike along the coast to Fleswick Bay with its astonishing ripples in the sandstone that were many millions of years old.
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1 week in Prestatyn, North Wales
Staying here was a trip down memory lane for me. I hade vague memories of a holiday here as a kid in the late 1960's. When the tide goes out here, it exposes a huge beach. But I almost got stuck in the mud on Talacre Beach. Further to west, I had a day trip to the medieval walled city of Conwy, and another day trip to Llandudno with a drive around the Great Orme promontory.
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10 days on Angelsey, Wales
The island of Angelsey offered some excellent hikes along the Menai Strait, the bird watchers paradise of Penmon Point, the varied coastline of Holy Island, and a 5 mile trek through forests to the remote Ynys Llanddwyn headland. A bonus was visiting a Neolithic stone burial chamber. I had the place to myself and was able to walk down the narrow passage into the chamber of the ancient structure. A real life Indiana Jones experience.
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10 days in Shropshire, England
This was probably the best AirBnB I had booked. It was very comfortable, had excellent car parking and an outside patio. I stayed here to explore the town and area around Oswestry. I had previously attempted a house move to Oswestry in 2020. I had two day hikes, one to an abandoned quarry at Llanymynech and another to the peak of Admiral Rodney's pillar. The second gave me a fantastic view across the Welsh and English countryside.
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5 days in The Forest Of Dean, England
A short stay in a country cottage in a tranquil village close to the River Wye and the medieval town of Monmouth. I must come back to this area to explore some more.
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And that was the end of my 19 months of travelling. I'm so pleased I did it. But there were some challenges to overcome along the way.
1. Cancellations. I had some previous damage to my passport. The delay in receiving a new passport meant I had to abandon a trip through the Eurotunnel and rebook it. I also had to abandon one of my ferry trips to France and back because of Macron's ban on British tourists. I received a refund for the first trip but nothing for the second. Both of my ferries to Ireland were cancelled and I was rescheduled on later ferries. They claimed it was mechanical failure, but I suspect this was simply because they didn't have enough passengers to make the trip profitable.
2. Injuries. I incurred several injuries throughout my travels. Twice I slipped and fell. Once on the streets of Kinsale and the other on the white rocks on the coastline of Cyprus. No serious injuries but they could have been. I was sober in both cases I have to add.
All my exploring and driving took a toll on my knee and ankle ligaments. In Berlin I suffered a sore injury to my Achilles Heel and in Wales I had a bad knee ligament strain. Both occurred during hot weather. I had no serious injuries in cooler weather even though I was hiking up steep hills.
3. Theft of items. No, never happened. I usually found a place in the AirBnB to hide valuables. And I wore secure clothing when exploring cities. Sometimes I was able to place valuables in the spare bedroom and lock it with a key.
4. Sat Nav mistakes. I used a TomTom satellite navigation system in my car. Google Maps was insufficient because in many locations there was no mobile phone signal. 99% of the time, TomTom was accurate and indispensable. However, the 1% of the time it was wrong it got me into a world of trouble. In Portugal, I ended up driving on the pavement. The highways around Metz completely confused me and the TomTom sat nav. I drove around a French village four times trying to find a way out. Despite updates, TomTom often didn't know anything about closed roads. And TomTom was happy to take me down some of the narrowest and least driveable country roads.
5. Moving between AirBnB accommodation. The day of moving between AirBnB's was always a busy day. I would pack the day before and then have a final clean up. Then I moved to the next destination and had to unpack again and pay a visit to a supermarket to buy food. I had a packing list but only of essential items. It didn't matter if I forgot to pack a toothbrush. In total, I stayed in 38 AirBnB's and about 10 traditional B&B'S and hotels.
6. Travel Insurance. As I mentioned before I always returned to the UK to buy travel insurance for my next journey. I also bought breakdown insurance for my car. My car insurance provided 90 days of cover in Europe. I didn't need to make any insurance claims.
7. Food. I mostly cooked my meals in the AirBnB with a few meals in restaurants and several Chinese takeaways. The available food in supermarkets varied between countries. A Portuguese supermarket is vary different to a supermarket in Denmark. In Cyprus they sold live snails in one supermarket. I bought what I knew how to cook. In Germany I discovered the Pfand system for bottle recycling. Prices varied but nowhere was cheap. France and Denmark were the most expensive for food shopping. Germany and the northern parts of the UK were probably the cheapest.
8. Loneliness. I was travelling solo but I didn't have time to feel lonely. I was too busy exploring and making travel videos. I got to know some of the AirBnB hosts quite well, including socialising with a few of them. And I meet a few fellow travellers along the way. But my best friend was simply the landscape I was exploring.
9. Money. I used a combination of a Fair FX travel card, a UK credit card and some cash to pay for things. I didn't have any issues paying for anything. I calculated that the total additional cost of the trip was about £6,000 on top of what I would have spent staying at home for 19 months and having some traditional 1 to 2 week vacations. But I think this will eventually fall to zero over time, since I am now content to remain at home and cut back my travel expenditure.
10. Covid PCR testing. To fly to Portugal I required a negative PCR Test. I had booked a test at a drive thru PCR testing centre outside Southampton for the day before I was booked to fly. But at very late notice the testing company contacted me to say they had to shift my test date to the same day of my flight. I had the test done in the morning and then drove up to Gatwick airport without knowing the result of the test. Fortunately, the company had an office at Gatwick departures. But I didn't receive the result until 1 hour before my flight was departing. I got lucky and it was a negative result.
Conclusion
Was it worth it? Absolutely!! It was a unique, once in a lifetime, experience. In hindsight, those 19 months went very quickly. The best part of it was seeing new places, new experiences, every week for a continuous 76 weeks. I recommend everyone do something similar.
It also gave me inspiration for a few projects I am working on. One of which was to redesign the Travel Fanz PC game that is available for free on Steam.
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