Chapter Wanderlust: Thoughts on Travelling Solo & Couchsurfing

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All good things comes to an end, including my amazing trip around Europe. It was sort of a bittersweet feeling. 44 days of my life and many more spend on planning this trip itself. I felt like it was a milestone of my life personally. The first time I travelled alone, The first time I travelled out of my comfort zone, to pursue my adventures and my lusting for travel feels! Speaking about this, I have no idea where I found the courage to do so, I have not travelled alone before, not even to Johor Bahru which is just across the causeway and yet, I found the courage to just fly 10,000 KM away alone and for 44 days. Heck, that was a little brave for the scary cat me. It is something that I have never regret. Which brings me to this post, I felt like I should do a little reflection, a little sharing, to sum up this milestone of my life and share with you guys my experience that I encountered. All I knew in the lined up to this trip was my need for a break, the feeling of being free, exploring and seeing the world after my National Service. Then I also had the dream of the flying SQ Suites. With everything planned, I flew off a week after finishing up my service in search of the next chapter of my life, Chapter Wanderlust!

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Chapter Wanderlust: How Much did I spend for 44 Days in Europe?

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I guess this is one of the most awaited sharing that you have been dying to hear from me. Many of my friends, will like Wah, Very Rich hor! How did you managed to spend so much! Let me first clear your doubts, I am not rich, just a very normal guy that is very willing to spend on my travels neither is TRAVELLING TO EUROPE VERY CHEAP! Frankly speaking, expenditure in Europe is much cheaper in certain places like Japan, USA. If you would like to spend even lesser money, head to Eastern Europe, they are much more cheaper but definitely not lacking in their culture and heritage! To put a point of comparison, using Singapore as a base, since it is my home, I frequently see promotion tickets to Europe getaways at around the 900 SGD mark for a return ticket, compare that to probably 600 that you will spend on a ticket to Japan or Australia. Heck it is even cheaper than promotion tickets to New Zealand!  I will share on the amount that I spend on this post!

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Chapter Wanderlust: Star Alliance First Class Lounge Charles de Gaulle

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I was coming off my flight from Bologna, making my long journey to Frankfurt and then my SQ flight the next day to New York City for the second part of my adventures. Due to scheduling and flight timing, I would need to arrive the night in Frankfurt before to make it in time for the SQ flight to NYC. What a long day of travelling. I actually made 3 cities, 3 flights all in less than 30 hours. I had a long transit in Paris CDG, more than 7 hours actually. Once arrival in Terminal 2G, I made the long way to T1, which is the international departure and main airport in CDG. I first made my way to the tax refund counter to get everything settled since this is technically one of my last stop in Europe. I then headed my way to the SQ counter to see if I could try to get a lounge pass. I had a long layover and then I am going to spend the night at Frankfurt Airport from 10pm till my next flight to NYC at 8am. It is going to be crucial if I can rest for a little while and feed myself.

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Chapter Wanderlust: Air France AF1429 & AF1018 A320 BLG – CDG – FRA Economy Class

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While I guess for most of the tourists, taking a plane is one of the most exciting part of the travelling. I still remember my younger times where I will frequently get so excited the night before and couldn’t fall asleep, simply because I am flying to Bangkok for a family trip. In the past, my family did not have much spending power and we will just take a trip to Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Travelling wasn’t that much of an easy thing way back. This plane ride surely doesn’t fall in that category. Boarding my flight to Paris, and then Frankfurt signify that my time in Europe have comes to an end! What lies in wait is Trip de Americae which is coming right up after I finished this series of Trip Reports. Continuing on where I left in the last post, I was flying out of Bologna airport which have planes just part on the tarmac, meters away from the gates. It is surely a delight to witness the beauty A320 right in front of me with the gigantic engines and the gorgeous Air France livery on it.

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Chapter Wanderlust: Marconi Business Lounge Bologna Airport

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Sadly to say, I am on the finishing end of my Chapter Wanderlust, Bologna was my last city in Europe and I am making my way to Frankfurt to meet up with my parents to continue the journey to NEW YORK CITY where I will start my adventures in the states. My last day in Europe was actually a day of travelling. I was flying Air France out of Bologna to Frankfurt, connecting in Paris. I had a airport transfer book by the hotel to get me to Bologna Airport. The ride was comfortable and took about 20 mins. It cost me 18 Euros. Upon reaching the airport, I check in and settled all of my tax refund stuff before heading to the Marconi Business Lounge. Marconi Business Lounge is the only lounge in Bologna Airport and is available to enter with Priority Pass.

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Chapter Wanderlust: Train Travels in Europe – Which High Speed Train is better?

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With my previous post sharing on the last city that I have visited in Chapter Wanderlust! It pretty sums up my travel in Europe this time around. 18609KM that I have travelled at the minimum, 6 countries and 22 cities over a period of 44 days. I had fun and chronicles most of my adventures here at Seeing The World In Steps. It made it kind of special that a little guy from Singapore is able to see much more over the horizon while staying in a little red dot. It is time to share some of my personal thoughts and make a little summary of this trip, Chapter Wanderlust. Hopefully it will be helpful if you are planning something similar. I shall start by sharing on the trains product in Europe. Travelling by train is one of the easiest and the advantages in travelling in Europe. I had tried products from Italy, Germany, Austria which are some of the most common ones that you will probably undertake if you are travelling around the region. So this is pretty much a summary of each of them.

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Chapter Wanderlust: Bologna

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Bologna is another one of my favourite in Italy, after Rome and Florence it is one of my favourite city in the country. Bologna is the capital and the largest city of Emilia-Romagna region. Known for being a hotspot and the starting ground of gastronomic findings of Italian cuisine, you would also find typical brick terracotta-roofed architecture and porticos, theatre and nightlife. For those who are interested, Bologna is also home to the oldest university in the western world. It is a popular place for students since, it is kind of a balance between a town and a city. It is a city, but not as huge or as expensive like Rome or Milan. The quality of life here is definitely one of the highest in the country. I would say this. If you want to enjoy life, this is the place to be.

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