Muchen and Austria

After a very tired and slightly depressing day of airline travel I arrived in Munich and met up with Tim and Miren at a large, popular hostel. We only spent one night there but that was long enough to meet about six hundred drunk and annoying American 18 year olds.

However, I'm proud to say that it was a young Australian girl who took out the gold by being the first to pass out on the bathroom floor in a pool of vomit in a very strong time of "8pm". After making sure that she wasn't actually going to die, I offered to take a photo so she could cherish the momentous occasion forever. Note to self: big hostels in Barcelona, Munich, London are to be avoided.

Things improved rapidly the next day as we hired a car and drove South, past the underwhelming Neuschwanstein Castle and into Austria. I've always enjoyed driving in foreign counties and the spectacular alpine scenery made this trip even better.

We spent the night in a caravan park just across the Austrian border which had a spectacular view of Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. Through a powerful telescope you could just barely make out climbers and after dark their camp-fires speckled the rock face. The next day we took a cable-car up to about 1500m and spent the afternoon hiking the trails above the Ehrwald Ski Fields. Not quite as scary as Zugspitze but still pretty spectacular. Many thanks to Tim and Miren for a great weekend!

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Just a few weeks before I was due to arrive in Iceland the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano erupted in precisely the right direction to shut down all air traffic in mainland Europe. It was about half way to Reykjavik when a grinning local informed me that every plane in Iceland Air’s Fleet is named after a different unpronounceable volcano and offered a high five that I knew i’d come to the right country.

Iceland had been at the top of my travel wishlist for quite a while. I was sold on the promise of spectacular scenery and fantastically friendly locals but didn’t know what else to expect. I later discovered that they have an obsession with hot-dogs (the national food), an openly lesbian Prime Minister, a comedian for a Mayor and a special government task-force to investigate Elves and Pixies. They joined the allies in the recent Iraq war committing exactly one troop (she was withdrawn only a few weeks later) and although beer was banned in the country until 1989, since then they've been making up for lost time. They even have an annual "Beer Day" (March 1st as opposed to 'Friday') celebrating the legalisation.

I started with a few days in Reykjavik sharing an amazing hostel with a fittingly fun collection of other travellers from England, Canada and even Greenland! I usually slept well into the afternoon, before heading out to watch the World Cup at a sports bar with more giant TVs than patrons. At midnight I would head out to watch the sun fail to set before rounding up the troops for a pubcrawl down the main street.

A vast majority of the 150,000 locals wait until about 2am before cramming themselves into the multitude of pubs, clubs and bars to dance, sing, chat and drink the morning away. The atmosphere is unbelievably friendly and they play a disturbingly large amout of WesMusic. One pub strung together tracks by Muse, The Beatles, Radiohead, Weezer and Tina Turner! By 6am the bars start to close so the party-goers spill outside to wrestle and eat hot-dogs.

I met up with a cool French Canadian poker player (imagine a younger, better looking version of me) and we agreed it was time for a road-trip. After stumbling into a local tourist office with absolutely no plan we re-emerged an hour later with a complete interary, organised and booked for free by the amazing staff - only in Iceland!

Over the next 5 days we drove past hundreds of waterfalls, hiked around on a glacier, bathed in a hot-spring-fueled stream flowing through a grassy meadow and stayed overnight in a tiny cottage just a few kilometers from Eyjafjallajokull.

Photo stops included a mirror lake full of floating icebergs, a glacier covered in ash, barren 'moonscapes' and - just for something different - a church.

The food was also great. Some of the more memorable dishes were a whale burger (DELICIOUS - imagine the flavour of beef, the texture of tuna), special Icelandic style fish and chips and a huge plate of the best lobster tails I've ever had. We picked up hitchhikers from 3 different countries, suffered severe tyre damage and almost saw Tom Waits.

The only fault I can find with Iceland is that its too far away. If we dug a hole straight through the middle of the earth from Adelaide we'd end up pretty close. Lets start digging! (If you need more inspiration check out this)

London

I've never liked London much. Its big, expensive, dirty and full of people who will go to almost any length to avoid making eye-contact with a stranger. In most places if you accidentally bump into a someone they'll be ready with a smile and a witty comment. A Londoner is more likely to look down and scurry away. My negative attitude was vindicated soon after I arrived. While Walking between pubs in Wimbledon I was accosted by a large group of comically small teenagers who blocked my path and stole my hat. Although the situation was easily defused and I even got my hat back, it still left a sour taste.

Although the atmosphere doesn't inspire me, there is no shortage of fun stuff to see and do. Huge parks to get lost in, more free art galleries and museums than you could possibly visit and shops boasting an excellent range of stripey shirts and funny hats.

This trip I even managed to avoid the cliche of bad English food. This was mostly due to my extremely generous friends who not only offered me places to stay but also fed me delicious home cooked meals.

By spreading myself across the spare rooms of a few different friends I was able to experience the diversity of London. Ryan lives in a impressive and suitably expensive housing development with a great view down over the Themes. Agnese and Will prefer their bright but cosy apartment and the slightly alternative vibe in Stoke-Newington. A vegetarian curry feast at Rasa was a culinary highlight.

Maz and Steve live in Haselmere, about an hour to the South-West, surrounded by fields and forests in a cottage older than every Australian building. I got my quiz-night fix at a local pub although we fell one point short of victory. As punishment I made Maz hike through stinging nettles and fields of potentially deadly cows.

Jo lives in Brixton, which despite it's rough reputation has been transformed into a very cool area - the Reggae capital of London. Our attempts to watch England win at football were quashed both by three piece jazz band who kept standing in front of the screen and by England themselves. Another sunny afternoon we escaped to Brighton Beach and I was particularly inspired by an outdoor wildlife photography exhibition. A word of warning: The bushes just above Brighton Beach are NOT a good place to take a slash. Although I did meet a couple of handsome fellows who also had their pants down, they definitely weren't peeing...

Despite all my grumblings I ended up having a really great time in London. Many thanks to Milton, Mel and everyone else mentioned above for making it so!

Gothenburg

On my first night in Gothenburg I headed out to meet up with a couple of local journalists, Martin and Peter. They were friends of a friend who had offered to meet for a chat over a couple of beers. Several hours and many beers later we were still arguing on their apartment roof, soundtracked by Bob Dylan's complete discography and watching the sun rise over the harbour. Another unexpectly great travel moment.

Every hostel i've visited in Scandinavia has been excellent - The Slottsskogens YHA was no exception - however it was full of 'interesting' characters. One young Australian, just out of high-school, spent his evenings wandering the streets wearing a flourescent yellow Legionaires hat asking every Swedish girls he saw for directions to where ever they were going. Then there were the two young Americans, 3 weeks into their first overseas trip who were already ready to murder each other. I can sympathize, having reached the same point with both of them in only 2 days.

I overheard one of them, a proud student of European history, unsuccessfully trying to convince a group of Germans that their country's current economic strength is proof that the sanctions after WW2 were insufficient. Noticing that the Germans were starting become agitated he smoothly changed the topic, asking if Germany had its own soccer league or if everyone just followed the English Premier League. I wonder if he's still alive. The second American's choice of subject matter was less annoying, but he made up for it by always talking at least twice as loudly as anyone else in the room. I made the mistake of letting them both follow me on a visit to the nearby Archipelago. One of them refused to buy a tram ticket and had to jump off the tram to avoid an inspector so overpowered the second and dumped his body in the ocean - if anyone starts asking questions I'll just blame the Germans. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon exploring some pretty but unspectacular islands with an interesting German who's acute sense of direction saved us from walking around in circles more than a couple of times.

Gothenburg itself is a very liveable city, with interesting bars, a huge park (complete with penguins) and friendly locals. I spent most evenings out drinking with Martin or Peter and although I rarely made it up before noon, I did managed one slightly hungover shopping adventure and bought a pair of expensive jeans. Before the shop assistant would hand them over he explained very seriously that they were made from a special kind of denim and made me promise that I wouldn't wash them for at least 3 months. I told him that suited me perfectly and asked if they also made underwear from the same material. The worried look he gave me indicated that they probably don't.

Hostelling Guide

Staying in youth hostels is one of my favourite aspects of travelling overseas. They are usually cheap, well located and afford the perfect atmosphere to meet fellow travellers. Although my first stay in a hostel was pretty daunting, several years and about 100 hostels later I'm ready to offer a few:

HOSTEL SURVIVAL TIPS

Before you get there:

Plenty of people have hostel horror stories - from abusive staff to bed bugs and yellow stained bedding. Although there are awful hostels out there, I've always managed to avoid them by booking online using a website like Hostelworld or Hostelbookers. The public feedback offered on these sites has always been accurate.

While maintaining a somewhat flexible travel plan is usually desirable, I always book accomodation for weekends and public holidays at least 3 or 4 weeks in advance. Theres no real downside because if your plans do change, the booking can be cancelled for only a small fraction of the total cost.

When choosing a room, less beds is always better. Girls snore less than guys and also tend to be quieter and cleaner so I take a mixed room where possible.

Surviving after you arrive:

Sleeping in a dorm room can take some getting used to. Between snoring, coughing and drunk people you're going to be woken up. To combat noise, some people use ear-plugs and an eye-mask but I prefer to sleep with my iphone/ipod handy. Combined with in-ear headphones it offers the ultimate in noise cancellation.

Getting eight consecutive hours of uninterrupted rest in a dorm room is only a realistic option for the heaviest sleepers. I prefer to head to bed after everyone else to avoid being disturbed. In the morning I expect to be woken up at the same time as everyone else. Then if i'm still tired in the afternoon/evening I'll nap for an couple of hours while the room is quiet and empty.

Most hostels clean their bathrooms and showers in the early afternoon so the showers can sometimes end up pretty disgusting by the morning. To avoid this, I usually shower in the afternoon or evening. Wear a hat in the morning if you've got hair issues.

Although most hostels are very safe, it still pays to be careful. I've heard of a few things being stolen but they were usually left lying around. I have my wallet and iPhone with me just about all the time and keep the rest of my valuables out of plain site, either in a locker or stashed under my bed.

As much as I love staying at hostels, after a few days in a row they can start to feel less like fun and more like hard work. Occasionally splashing out and getting a private hostel room or a hotel room is the best way to recharge your batteries.