minus 1 day: the traveller's greed

If you recall, an implication - among others - of getting the eurail global pass is that I have the incentive to cover more grounds. So, I reworked my itinerary and expanded the list from eight countries to 11. Finally, to those of you who have been bugging me for the destination list, here it is:

1. Austria
   
2. Belgium
3. Britain
4. Czech Republic
5. France
   
6. Germany
7. Italy
8. The Netherlands
9. Norway
10. Poland
11. Switzerland

There will be 15 stops across 11 countries. To find out the route we are taking, stay tuned!

minus 65 days: face to face with eurail

The research continues. Should I get a rail pass or buy individual train tickets?

From the last planning session, many questions stand unanswered:

- Is it cheaper to buy a rail pass?
- If I do get one, do I go for the Global or Select pass?
- Should I buy it from a Singapore tour agent or direct from Eurail.com?

I decided to stop mucking around. I printed my itinerary and headed straight to STA Travel, a local authorised agent for Eurail.

Travel Advisor Ian Sin spent half an hour going through the various options and recommended the Global Pass.

The Eurail Pass will cost close to my air ticket to Europe. So I need time to consider my options.

Look out for my next post to find out if I do buy a rail pass!

minus 67 days: get your friends involved

Planning for a month long trip can be tiring. When things get overwhelming, I outsource parts of it.

Gek Kia, my ex-colleague from Singapore Airlines, has been wanting to show me a cool digital luggage scale which I could easily carry to Europe. So I told him that we should meet up for coffee!

He was all ready for a laid-back afternoon at The Coffee Connoisseur in Changi Airport Terminal Three. Little did he know that I had something else in mind. *evil chuckle*

Once the Latte and potato wedges arrived, I knew I got him captive. So it was time to rope him in to help out with some research!

Question we needed to answer: Should I get a Eurail pass?

minus 68 days: say (swiss) cheese

I have learnt quite a bit about the Swiss culture from Martin since last August. I made Swiss cheese fondue infused with white wine, picked up a few lines of Swiss-German, and ate more Lindt and Toblerone than ever before.

Last evening, we met up for Botak Jones' ribeye steak and chicken wings, then got down to discuss some places he would classify as 'must-see's.

One of the most exciting places was in Norway. Kjeragbolten is a 5m³ boulder wedged in a mountain crevasse by the edge of the Kjerag mountain. Martin was standing on the rock without any safety equipment. If he had missed a step, it would have been a 1000m drop! It is great for base jumping. Perhaps Jerrain would be game.

minus 2 months 19 days: get a travel buddy

Jerrain has been toying with the idea of joining me on this one month (37 days to be exact) Europe trip. But like any responsible and slightly workaholic Singaporean, the big question is whether she can take leave from work.

She finally popped the big question! I hope she made sure her boss was sitting down. And her boss said yes! *party poppers*

Those of you who were worrying about me travelling alone, I can hear you heave a huge sigh of relief. You probably do not know Jerrain that well. (Ok Jerrain, I'm just joking!)

To save you from the trouble of running a background check on her, let me give you a brief background. Jerrain - I prefer to call her Pey Pey - was my classmate in Dunman High. We were the nerdy duo for a year before we plunged into the darkest days of our secondary school lives, filled with Ferragamo belts, knee high socks, OshKosh raincoats, and liquid-papered Converse shoes.

minus 2 months 26 days: meet the experienced

Wai Hoong, a friend of Jerrain's, spent six months travelling around in Europe under an extremely small budget.

After checking out the amazing photos from his trip, I could not wait to hear all about it!

Over potato chips, blue cheese dip and wine, we - Jerrain, Wai Hoong, Alex and I - met at Garage Riverside point and chatted for three hours.

After two bottles of excellent German riesling, we came to a few (very wise) conclusions:

• It is always safe to travel on night trains.
• No matter how small your backpack is, you must bring a pair of heels.
• In any awkward situations, just high-pitch laugh yourself out of it.
• Always plan a day at a park after a crazy night.
• Leggings are great alternatives if there is no space for boots.
• No one will try to rob you.

minus 3 months 26 days: read a book

The book arrived at my office today, less than 24 hours from the time I booked it on Kinokuniya's web site.

After paying exactly 51.36 Singapore dollars, I felt myself take the first concrete step. Finally it is not just 'talk'.

This is the beginning of many little and (hopefully not too many) big investments.

Now, time to get hardworking and find out where I want to go! Armed with my trusty yellow highlighter and rainbow-coloured tags, I am ready to pin down the cities I will be visiting in four months time.