As some of you may be aware, about a month ago I set off on an adventure of a lifetime, one I'd been nervous, terrified and most significantly, excited about. Sadly, things didn't quite go to plan and a week later I found myself on a flight back home. As I mentioned on my twitter, I just wanted to explain a bit about what happened and what I plan/hope to do going forward.

I had planned an interrailing trip with my cousin, starting in Amsterdam, stopping at Vienna, Budapest, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Rijeka, Verona, Lake Garda, Munich and Interlaken before finishing the trip in Paris... a lot to see and do in 3 weeks!

Unfortunately, my cousin hadn't been feeling well on the trip and whilst in Budapest, it was decided the best option was to come home. We played around with other possibilities but under the circumstances, things were proving too difficult to arrange and as our parents were in Budapest that weekend, it seemed sensible to fly back with them.

Fortunately, my best friend was amazing in ensuring I got to go away again, especially as I'd not seen Italy, which was top of my bucket list out of anywhere in the world, and we managed to book a last minute trip to Sorrento. It was the perfect place to go for the Italian streets, authentic food and great culture I had been after and although I missed out on Lake Garda, I am grateful for the area I did see and plan to go back for the rest! I never considered the history of the area as an interest to me but as I heard and saw bits about it, my mind soon changed and I found myself intrigued, wanting to learn more. Not to mention, the food was even more delicious than I'd hoped!

Proud

I'm so proud of the things I did do whilst out there, especially the day I wandered around Budapest and enjoyed seeing all of the sites I wanted to see, without relying on a map or anybody else. There were so many small challenges that I faced that may seem insignificant to some but to me, showed me that I can just get on with things and push myself out of my comfort zone, without too much outward worrying/complaining. Furthermore, I'm so happy I visited Budapest as it's not somewhere I'd have prioritised had I not managed to go, but has now become one of my favourite places and is somewhere I'd recommend to all! I'm disappointed I didn't get to see the other places but am determined to tick them off my list as soon as I can.

Missing Out

I had wanted to prove to myself that I could carry and live out of a backpack for three weeks, it was a fun challenge I'd set myself to make carrying that weight more worthwhile and to show what I could do (as weird as it is, I actually enjoyed it as well!). There are so many other opportunities I would have loved to make the most of, aside from the whole city exploring and train journeys, that some may not consider important but that I am sad to have missed out on- I suppose it just makes me more determined to make them happen another way.

I definitely get envious when I see people showing the memories/photos from their interrailing trip and start to feel a little sorry for myself but mostly I'm happy they had such a great time and have completed such a great adventure. It's definitely something I would recommend doing as it was amazing fun and some of my favourite moments were actually on the trains or other public transport... it's like nothing else you've done before. The things I expected to struggle with or not like, I actually ended up enjoying and finding more manageable than I ever imagined and I'm sure that's the same for others!

Obviously, we were both gutted and wish things had gone differently but I guess somethings aren't meant to be. It would have been amazing to see all the places we had planned to and to do some incredibly exciting things but there's little point dwelling, and every point in striding forwards, planning new trips to make up for it. I may have only done a week of the trip but it has definitely inspired me to want to travel more and to see more places!

I did film the part of the trip I did do, which is on my YouTube channel now so if you want to check that out, you can click here or watch it down below. I also have another part coming out tomorrow at 6pm, so if you don't want to miss that, make sure you subscribe while you're there!
Have you ever been interrailing, if not, would you like to? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. If you enjoyed this post and want to see more from me, you can follow me using the links in the top right-hand corner to see when I next upload. Thank you for reading this post.

Love, Steph x