Backpacking Europe

For as long as I have know John he has talked about going on a backpacking trip across Europe. Both of his parents had done it so to him it was a pretty normal thing to do. I've not done much traveling in my life. Mostly trips to Gatlinburg, TN and the beach. I have been to Disney World and New York City, but thats about it. To me backpacking Europe was way out of my comfort zone but very exciting. 


 We talked for years about this trip and after our wedding decided it was time to go. In February 2012 we bought two round trip tickets to Europe and things got real! I also had to get a passport because I'd never left the country. The plane tickets were the biggest expense of the trip, so we wanted to make the most of our time there.

 We spent 5 months planning our route, and did a lot of shopping at REI and on Amazon to get prepared. We were probably a little too prepared, but planning was part of the fun.  We got our backpacks for our birthdays that April, and slowly collected the rest of the stuff we would need.

Soon into our planning we realized that camping was a very common way to travel in Europe. Even hostels can be expensive, especially when you are planning a longer trip. The more we read about it camping seemed like a great way to see more for less money. We got a small tent and picked out campgrounds in the cities we planned to go to.

Testing out our tent in front of our apartment

Finally the day came and it was time to leave. The night before we had some friends and family at the cabin for a cookout.

Last night at home

Off to the Airport

We flew into London(my second time ever on an airplane), and the trip began! We spent almost six weeks traveling all over Europe and it was awesome! We have tons of pictures and kept a travel blog along the way. It's been two years now, and I finally got around to making a video of our pictures. It's long but it was hard to cram six weeks of adventure into a short video. Enjoy!