I was recapping Florence, and it reminded me of this trip.
My first Euro backpacking trip at 23 was insane. I hit 12 cities in about 16 days. I had some time off work before starting a new job—and I had to make it count. Mind you, I took this insane trip, returned on Sunday to the USA, THEN FLEW again on Monday morning to a different state for orientation. So proud of myself for that. YOLO.
🚌 → NYC 1 night (stay with my friend Gab in Queens, still my favorite neighborhood)
✈️ Madrid – 2 nights
🚊→ Barcelona – 2 nights
✈️→ Porto – 2 nights
✈️→ Lisbon – 1 night
✈️→ Pisa – 0 nights
🚊→ Florence – 2 nights
🚊→ Rome – 1 night
🚊→ Naples – 3 nights
🚊→ Pompeii & Sorrento – 0 nights
✈️→ Milan – 2 nights ✈️ → DC
Highlights/Lowlights/Random things I remember along the way:
- Madrid: I don’t remember anything except wanting to move there.
- Barcelona: Someone stole my earrings in my hostel while I was sleeping 😭. I loved Park Güell and all the architecture by Antoni Gaudí.
- Porto: I had a glass of wine by the river. I felt so important.
- Lisbon: Partied hard with hostel mates and got absolutely obliterated.
- Florence: Too many study abroad kids running around acting up.
- Pisa: Fun, kind of silly.
- Rome: I’m the Colosseum’s biggest hater…reeked of death and despair.
- Naples: It was here I declared pizza is my forever favorite food. Would go back definitely.
- Sorrento: just a day trip and I was kicking myself I couldn’t go further south.
- Pompeii: It was weird and cool to be walking through roman houses.
- Milan: Reunited with 2 Beijing classmates who are from Milan and work in luxury retail (Prada, Louis Vuitton). They learned Mandarin to make even more money—it was so fun seeing them.
It was nonstop trains, planes, buses, and hostel beds. Very chaotic. Every exhausting moment made it unforgettable. That trip taught me how to travel fast—and also that I don’t like traveling fast.
This style of travel is very much the young American backpacker vibe—and let’s not shame anyone for it. If this is what your budget allows, or what feels right for you, then do it. I don’t, and I don’t want to travel like this anymore.