Europe Trip Post 2: Plane travel, a night in Japan, and crunching the numbers.

And we’re off! Up until now, this trip has felt very much like some future concept, rather than something real and tangible. Perhaps because we have both had such busy years, or perhaps because we’ve been planning for it so long.

It is amazing however just how quickly everything starts to feel real when you step on the plane… especially when the grueling realities of long-term plane travel start to set in. I’m writing this post on our second flight (Tokyo – Frankfurt), and we’re 7 hours in, with 7 hours to go – so apologies if this post gets a little unhinged.

Plane Travel

We chose to fly into Frankfurt with Japan Airlines – looked the best combination of price and quality for the time period we were travelling (Be warned: December is miserable for affordable plane travel – everyone travelling home for Christmas etc. etc.). This route meant two flights that are 10 hours and 14 hours respectively, with a stopover (overnight layover) in Tokyo. There’s not much to say about flying, so here’s some random tips I’ve got for making it a slightly less miserable experience:

• Noise cancelling headphones

Game changing. A must for obvious reasons. Didn’t even notice the baby in row 45 crying this trip until I took them off.

• Stretch regularly

Even though you look like a dork, getting regular stretching in really does help reduce aches and pains.

• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Makes a pretty serious difference to jetlag. Yes, it will result in more bathrooms breaks, but hey, that is more stretching opportunities.

• Headphone jack to Bluetooth adapter

I don’t have one of these yet, and I am regretting it so much. Having the ability to use my noise cancelling headphones with the in-flight entertainment would be game changing – I can’t hear the dialogue at all using the airline-provided headphones.

One night in Japan

When planning the trip (well, more of a set of guidelines and ideas than a plan, to be fair – we’ve kept things very flexible to allow for many last minute decisions), we had never intended to stay in Japan beyond the airport – this was the result of a happy accident of flight times being moved after ticket purchase. So our visit wasn’t something we had planned for or researched beyond booking a hotel. The end result was that our one night in Japan was a short, utterly confusing, and ultimately incredibly fun experience in being completely out of our comfort zones and depth, preparing us nicely for what is to come. A few things really stood out:

• Vending machines everywhere

I had always heard about this being a thing, but still wild to see it yourself.

• Eating out is an experience

I’m sure this isn’t a thing everywhere, but the random bar and grill we decided to visit near our hotel in Narita was quite something. Every time someone:
– entered the bar
– started drinking a round of drinks
– left the bar
one of the serving staff would yell a sentence, followed by all staff in the bar saying something back – some kind of call and response. Very random, and pretty intimidating when you walk through the door and people start yelling stuff! Food was absolutely incredible though – Loved the gyoza, and noodles and skewers were also brilliant.

• I’m too tall for Japan

We visited a random busy convenience store (which have way cooler food than in Australia by the way, Macha Kit-Kat anyone?) and Charlotte made the observation that I stuck out like a sore thumb – the only blond guy in the store, and the only person over 6 foot. The height of the bathroom roof in our hotel reflected this!

• Currency conversion is good right now

If anyone is looking for an excuse to visit Japan, here it is: currency conversion is exceptional at the moment. A dine-in bowl of Ramen? Around 5 dollars AUD. A Whisky Soda? Around 4 bucks. Airport train to our accommodation? 2 bucks.

I’m very confident we accidentally broke quite a few social customs during our time in Japan, but hopefully we were forgiven or at least quickly forgotten as another set of random tourists.

The numbers

I’m doing my best to be transparent with the details of this trip –  so I can hopefully inspire and/or open eyes to the realities of travel for others. Want to preface this by acknowledging that we are so privileged to be able to do this – and it has taken several years of hard saving to get to this point. So here’s the rough financials of the trip:

Basically, we reckon we can turn AUD $56,000 (this figure includes future paid leave, and excludes already paid expenses and the cost of a flight home, which are listed above) into around 6-7 months of European adventures (with the chance of a South-East Asian detour on the way home, but that is another story). Where did I get that “150 Euros a day” figure from, you ask? A quick Google search six months ago on what the average cost per traveller per day is for backpacking in Germany (75 * 2). Highly unscientific I know, but in reality, all of this travel financial stuff is. *Prays to the conversion rate gods*

Chances are, it will cost a fair bit more than that daily rate at various points of the trip, but that is where our secret weapon comes in – Workaway! Workaway is a website where you can connect with locals looking for travelers to stay to help with tasks around their property. In return, the travelers usually receive free lodging and meals. We’re hoping to balance out any time we spend in Switzerland, or spending on unique experiences, with regular stays in Workaways. We’re not just doing it for financial benefits though – I’m actually really excited to get to stay with locals and experience their lifestyle for periods of time.

Well, we just flew around the North Pole, which seems a random but fitting note to end on! Will try to get the next post up in another few days, when our bodies have worked out what time zone we’re meant to be operating on, and we’ve seen some of Frankfurt. If anyone has some tips of what to see and do, let us know in the comments.