My big year of change, adventure, and travel has begun, and I just completed my first month of nomad travel. The month has been filled with crazy bus adventures, meeting up with friends in different cities, making rookie travel mistakes and learning from them quickly, adapting to different cultures, and learning new languages. Oh, and of course taking lots of photographs and having the time of my life! Nomad travel is defined as people who travel around from place to place without having one settled place where they live. The total of my nomad travel in the first month is 18 cities, 11 countries, which five were new, 2,077 bus miles and 10,135 air miles. This nomad travel trip brings my total of countries that I have visited to 23.
Table of Contents
Packing
Flight to Europe
For those that think flying to Europe is expensive, let me reassure you that you can definitely find cheap tickets to Europe anytime. I do all of my flight searching through Skyscanner. This site is by far the most comprehensive and up to date with sales and prices for flights to anywhere. For this particular trip; I started looking in December for a one-way ticket to Europe. I searched from Detroit to Europe and clicked on the whole month of January. I was able to find a plane ticket to Edinburgh, Scotland for $250 leaving January 15th. The only catch was that I had to do a bit of traveling and waiting before I flew over the ocean. I first flew to Providence, Rhode Island (4-hour layover), then a stop in Dublin (5.5-hour layover), before arriving in Edinburgh on the 16th. As I flew toward my future, I saw a beautiful sunset reflecting on the water. What an excellent symbol of the sun setting on my old life as I flew to my new one.
Edinburgh, Scotland
I spent the rest of my two days in Edinburgh enjoying past places I’ve been to and spending some time in the National Gallery looking at Monet paintings. Oh and getting used to living out of a backpack and using shared hostel facilities. Which has not been as difficult as I thought it would be. I also had to get my international phone plan all sorted out. I had just switched to T-Mobile before I left thinking I would be all set with their global plan so, I wouldn’t have to get SIM cards. Nope! I get to Scotland and have no data plan. Nothing like being on the phone late at night in my bunk at the hostel talking with the help desk in America trying to get it fixed.
Dublin, Ireland
Grayline Ireland Tour in Northern Ireland
Part of being a digital nomad traveler is to pitch tour companies, tourism boards, brands, and hotels. I did pitch to Grayline Ireland tours but, it was short notice. So, I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t hear back from them. I decided to go on the tour anyway and am so glad I did. We visited four areas, Dunluce Castle, Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, and the Dark Hedges. The weather was chilly and windy, which made it difficult to take photos. Several times I felt almost like I was going to be blown over. But, these sites are typically jammed pack with tourists during the summer so, it was nice to get photos with only me in them. I did meet a nice girl, Shaye, from Australia who kept me company during the tour. Plus, it was nice to have someone else there to take each other’s photos. The other pleasant thing is that after a few days I did hear back from the tour company and now I can’t wait to go back and see these places again, but this time in better weather.
London, England
My next stop in my first month of nomad travel is in London. I visited London three years ago and did most of the tourist sites then. This time I was only here for a couple of days before moving on to France. Since I knew I was taking the bus to Nice, I wanted to stay close to Victoria Coach Station. I ended up using the last of my Hilton Honor points to stay at the DoubleTree Hilton next to the station. It was nice to relax in a huge bed and not have to share a bathroom for a couple of days. This was my little treat to me, goodbye to my old life.
A really good friend recommended me to go and see Wicked the musical which happened to be right down the street from the hotel. Wow! Words cannot describe how fabulous this musical is. I had tears running down my face at the end of the first act and almost all the way through the second. Absolutely amazing! This should be on everyone’s list to see when visiting London. The next day I explored an area I hadn’t been to before, Borough Market. This is one of the largest and oldest markets in London. I was feeling adventurous so, I was trying all kinds of things (French Duck, Seaweed & Cider Sausage, and my first ever Pad Thai). It was nice to try the Pad Thai in anticipation of my upcoming trip to Thailand and realizing that I actually liked it. On my last day in London, I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum. This museum is impressive with all the large, massive sculptures. It is hard to comprehend how big these are and how small you feel while exploring this museum. And last but not least, a must while visiting London is eating Fish and Chips. No visit is complete without doing this!
Nice, France
I did meet one lady, Muriel Herrick, who was 91 years old in the hostel and talked with her for a while. She used to be an actress and told me stories of how she remembered Picasso working down on the beach in Nice. She said they called him the ‘Dom,’ Dirty Old Man. What a character she is! On this nomad travel trip, I was learning all sorts of things as to how the hostels weren’t just for young people. Yes, there are lots of them, but I also saw entire families staying in the hostels along with older people.
I decided to stay longer in Nice since the weather was so warm and I was having a great time exploring the city. I spent my mornings going to a pâtisserie to get a croissant for breakfast then walk along the boardwalk to listen to the waves crashing onto the beach. After that, I would go wandering along all the streets and take photographs. Then a quick stop in a cafe to get a Crepe for lunch. Everyone back home was concerned about my safety on this nomad travel adventure. But, I have to say that I haven’t had any issues of feeling unsafe. The most obvious feeling of security was in Nice where they had armed military walking the streets right next to the tourists and locals. I also think this might have been because they were ramping up for Carnival.
There were a couple of mornings I did try to get up early to photograph the sunrise. With me being not a great morning person, this is going to be a hard thing to do on my travels. But, I am pleased with the ones I did capture in Nice.
Saint-Paul de Vence, France
Èze, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Bratislava, Slovakia
Vienna, Austria
Stockholm, Sweden
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok has introduced to me many new things such as street food vendors selling meat on a stick. This has become one of my favorite lunchtime meals. I have a couple of favorite vendors that I keep going back to especially the one who will sell me seven pork sticks and sticky rice for 25THB (80cents). Then I pick up a Strawberry smoothie for another 20THB. Yum! The other thing I have learned is how much the Thai people love their 7-Elevens, scooters, and Songthaews (taxis). But, my absolute favorite thing here in Thailand is the massages. I got a couple of foot massages in Bangkok and have moved up to the full Thai massages in Chiang Mai. These are amazingly wonderful!
Chiang Mai, Thailand
To really get to know a place genuinely is to live there. As I ease into my new life, I’m enjoying every day here. I’m learning to speak Thai, meeting some really wonderful people, seeing some amazing temples, and I just started working with a local photographer. My first month of nomad travel has been more than I ever thought it could be and I am so looking forward to what comes next. I hope you are enjoying my nomad travel adventures and I will be posting more about these cities and my Thailand adventures. The wonderful thing is that the more you embrace this nomadic lifestyle, the more people you meet that have taken the plunge and done a similar thing like this American Expat Living in Malta. If you need some travel inspiration, I love reading these travel quotes. It gives me more inspiration and the feeling that I’m heading in the right direction with my life. Let me know what you think; I would love to hear from you!
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Further Reading
If you are coming to Europe or Asia for a visit, check out these posts for further travel inspiration:
- The Ultimate 2-Week Itinerary to England & Scotland
- The Ultimate List of Things to Do in Dublin
- Vienna Travel Guide
- Things to Do in Monte Carlo
- Bratislava: The Most Underrated City in Europe
- The Ethical Way to Visit Elephants in Thailand
- The Beautiful Gardens of Bhubing Palace
- The Making of Elephant Poo Paper in Chiang Mai
- Chasing Waterfalls in Thailand – Huay Keaw Waterfall
- Bo-Sang Handicraft Village: The Artsy Side of Chiang Mai
- Tachileik – Visa Run to Myanmar
- Things To Do At The Mae Sai Border