Planning STEP travel: Part 1

Sometimes, all you need is a starting point on how to plan your travel. It can be a bit daunting at first- so many things to see in such little time. So how should you make the most of your time in Europe?

It helps to think of planning in this way:

1) What do I want to do in Europe?

2) When would be right time to visit these countries and places or have these experiences?

3) What should I do about transportation, stay and food when travelling to different countries?

What do I want to do in Europe?

Firstly, think about all your hobbies and interests, likes and dislikes. For example, I'm passionate about art, history and literature, so I made a list of all the galleries and museums I wanted to visit. If you're passionate about music and are following some bands, check out their tour schedule- maybe you can attend their concert. If you're crazy about football, list out all the countries with famous football stadiums- and time your visits so you can watch matches there!

After listing out things you'd like to do, talk to peers (who have already been on exchange) or seniors to get hold of an itinerary, which gives you an idea of the places they visited which you may not have thought of (partly because you didn't know those places existed). For example, I didn't know about Werfen Ice Caves (the world's largest ice caves), and I loved it- had I not gotten to know about it and consequently missed it, I'd have been very sad. My seniors (a big shoutout to Rishab Khaitan for being such an amazing and helpful senior) gave me great suggestions like taking Sandeman's free walking tours (I loved the tours) to discover a city in ways you hadn't expected to. You could also get tonnes of helpful advice ranging from which courses to take up in your exchange college to which country to go sky diving/scuba diving in to innovative ways to cut down costs while in Europe.

After this, check out websites like Atlas Obscura (if you're like me and you crave unusual experiences) to give you additional ideas for cool places to explore (for example, Atlas Obscura led me to an alchemist's lair in Prague and to Labyrinths in Vienna). Look up travelogues and other materials online for ideas as well.

I can't emphasize the importance of this step. You don't want to be in a position when you've come back from STEP and you've missed out on an experience that you would have dearly loved (for example, I love the band Queen, and I went to their recording studio in Montreux, shortly before the release of Bohemian Rhapsody. A lot of people who went on Exchange- and who love this band too- ended up not going there because they didn't know it existed). That's why I say- research, research, research. It isn't difficult or arduous. In fact, it's fascinating to discover the incredible experiences Europe has to offer.

When would be right time to visit these countries and places or have these experiences?

Now that you have a list of experiences ready, you have to figure out the timing. This would depend on your class schedule (assuming you choose to attend classes at all), and a host of other factors depending on the place you want to go to. One major consideration is weather- visit countries where it gets too cold in winter first, because the weather in autumn is pleasant and it becomes so unbearably cold in winter that travel would be difficult. Leave countries like Spain or Italy for later when the weather is warm even in end November and December.

Some experiences are available only at a specific time, (like Oktoberfest- everyone made plans to go to Germany in end September just to attend this beer festival. There are also Sparties or parties in thermal baths in Budapest, which happen at particular times). Some experiences aren't available during a certain time (for example, Mt. Titlis in Switzerland is closed in the first two weeks of November for maintenance work, so you don't want to plan a trip to Switzerland around that time. Then again, it's better to go to Switzerland well before November because it gets too cold later). And some experiences aren't available at all after some time (for example, Werfen Ice Caves are closed to the public by end October, so if you want to see the caves, make sure you go to Austria latest by early October). Certain experiences, like skydiving, require good weather, so make sure you've kept a few buffer days. There are also considerations like free entry to museums on Sundays (a few art galleries in Italy), or on National Days (like in Prague). Make sure you've timed your visit appropriately! After I had listed out all my countries/places/experiences, I mapped them to specific weeks for my three-month stay, based on the aforementioned considerations.

Also, make sure to buy tickets for certain experiences well in advance- like Disneyland (it's much cheaper in advance, and don't forget to use your ISIC card discount). If you are visiting a country during its holiday period, make sure you buy tickets to attractions well in advance (for example, I couldn't see Sagrada Familia from the inside because I went on Halloween Day, and I hadn't booked tickets in advance).

What should I do about transportation, stay and food when travelling to different countries?

Between the Eurail pass and Ryanair, you won't have any trouble getting from one country to another. Once you're in a city, getting a day pass (a day pass lets you take unlimited rides for a period of 24 hours) is helpful if you expect to be travelling a lot in one day, or else get a booklet of 10 tickets (each ticket lets you make one trip, and these tickets don't have a time based validity so you can use them whenever) or so, if you expect to have fewer experiences but want to invest a whole day or so (for example, when I went to Paris, I didn't buy a day pass. I bought a book of 10 tickets because I wanted to spend a whole day at the Louvre- needed 2 tickets for that- and spend another whole day at Versailles, for which I needed another two tickets). For stay, I would recommend using apps like Hostelworld and Airbnb (use Airbnb if travelling in a group because it's cheaper that way). As for food, if you're a non-vegetarian, you're in luck, but if you're a vegetarian like me (and worse, if you can't cook- also like me), then make sure to carry lots of ready-to-eat packets. Hostels typically have kitchens where you can prepare meals. My humble suggestion: learn to cook while you still can.

And finally, don't plan too much! Make sure you keep enough "slack" in your schedule so that you can fully explore the wonderful surprises coming your way. I would strongly recommend starting out exploration of any new country or city with a free walking tour, because your tour-guide is a local who can give you amazing (and often surprising) suggestions on how to make your trip memorable.