My Travel Story
I have visited 55 countries so far but only started writing this blog semi-properly in 2017. I was born and raised in a country that no longer exists, the German Democratic Republic, and I lived there until its re-unification with the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.
So, this travel story is bisected into pre-November 1989, when we were not allowed to travel freely anywhere except nationally and to the Czech Republic, and post-November 1989, when all of a sudden, we could go wherever we wanted! Mind you, I was a shy teenager with no money then, but come summer 1990, I scraped all I had and went Camping in Rome for a week with my best friend and climbed Mount Vesuvius. Oh, the adventure! Within 18 months, I managed to travel to Amsterdam, Rome, Lake Garda, Naples and London. I still don’t know how I managed, because I was in High School then, but I guess I must have worked my butt off with my hospital job and begged my parents for spare pennies.
what follows is pretty much under construction but I’ll add bits to it as I go along. Enjoy!
When living in Eastern Germany, Travelling was really limited
So, the German Democratic Republic Republic Travel Story is reasonably short and includes Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union. And that’s relatively privileged – although my parents weren’t big party cheeses my dad worked more than one job and made it his special business to apply for a foreign visa every other year and take us on a foreign holiday, then we would hire a small caravan, and explore our small world! Soviet Union was a class trip to Moscow in… 1989.
Travel in the Western World
That all changed in November 1989! Of course, in the first year I barely had any money, as what little savings we had was only partially converted in 1990’s currency union. I took 4000 shiny D-Marks (about 2000EURO in today’s money) and everything else was exchanged at a poor rate. Obviously, as a teenager I did not have huge savings, but some older people who had been saving a lifetime were hit quite hard.
Once I made some money from jobs after school, the travelling started!
My first trip in Western Europe was a school trip to Utrecht.
Followed by another school trip to London (which a friend and I organised)
Before starting uni, in 1991, I travelled to London and Ireland with a friend.
Uni was mostly hard work. But hey, I did not pay a cent for my education, just living expenses. My parents were unemployed for some of the time post Eastern Germany collapse, so the German state gave those poor students a bursary/loan and I had a part time job. This has formed me in many ways. I don’t think I will ever give up my primary job, not just do I love it, but I also was given the opportunity of a thorough education.
Recent travels – since I started writing the blog
2016
Starting with a 26-hour flight to Waikoloa on the Big Island of Hawaii in the winter of 2016. I spent five days lounging round in a Mega-Resort on the Waikoloa Coast, then drove around the island and cracked my finger trying to surf.
2017 was a poor travel year, as work took over life in a way I did not really have in mind, but one drastic job swap later, I had a little free time and managed a (cheap) week of backpacking in Israel
By the end of 2017 the need for another outing, however short, led to three days in Budapest
And 2018? We took our annual leave early and visited two new countries, Armenia and Georgia, over Easter.
Followed by an unexpected trip to Florence, Italy. Just 48 hours, with minimal warning, but as we say in Germany, you celebrate those glad occasions as they arise.
I am daydreaming about where to go in summer or later in autumn. I have a bit of annual leave here and there left.
The reality look somewhat different. I will probably move house, and summer really is too good here, no need to go away, plus upgrading our home will eat our funds in a way I have rarely experienced before. I have booked a very cheap flight to Bucharest later in the year and I am dreaming about re-visiting Japan. Considering I wasn’t going to go anywhere last year, I think I might squeeze in a short trip or two or at least come up with a few lovely places to see in my home state.
