Traveling to Europe

Article by Jack Daniali at Travel & Holidaying

Traveling is something that everyone talks about doing a lot, but often just don’t get around to. The sad fact is that Americans travel less than any other nationalities in their peer group, such as Australians, Germans, French, Spaniards, English and Italians. Many Americans do get the chance to travel — the rite of passage these days seems to be the post-college trip to Europe.

Europe is a great place to start for Americans who want to really get into traveling. Taking a jaunt “across the pond” will give you a taste of a culture that is very different from your own but not so drastically different that you can’t enjoy yourself or get around. Europe is largely Americanized these days — McDonald’s and Starbucks are popping up all over the continent.

However, there is still much preserved from the “days of yore” that can be appreciated by anyone who wants a taste of the past and who wants to improve their understanding of history. One mistake that Americans often make when traveling to Europe is to try to cram every country or many countries into one short visit.

Spending a day in Romania and a day in Italy and a day in France or Spain will not give you a sense of anything — except maybe vertigo and disorientation. When planning a trip to Europe, plan for an amount of time no shorter than two weeks. Additionally, make sure that you pick a number of countries that you can spend a decent amount of time in — to get a real feel for the culture and climate of an entire country, regardless of its size, takes more than a day or two — plan at least three days for each place you visit, and if possible, more. The best way to travel is at ease and with enough time to truly enrich yourself — Europe is a great place to start!