Well this is only 2 years late. My last post left you on a cliff hanger as I was on a plane on my way to experience my first solo overseas trip. So without further a due, here is my day by day experience with Contiki Europe 2016.

Company: Contiki
Tour: London to Athens
Age: 19
Dates: 28th April 2016 (2 Days in London solo)
1st May 2016 Started Tour
22nd May 2016 Ended Tour

Okay.  I might divide these posts by city/country. Bare with me.

Day 1: London, UK
I have arrived! It’s 12pm UK time and I am so tired but the adrenaline is keeping me going. I checked in to the Contiki Basement to leave my suitcase there as my room at the Royal National isnt ready yet. I cant believe I am in another country….? After a 15 minute pep talk (to leave the basement), I finally hit the streets to discover London. I attempted to find my way to the heart of the city without a map (why?) and got very lost and more scared (great job Kahla) however I eventually got there! I face timed my mum as soon as I saw the Big Ben and London Eye (duh) and was just in awe that I was really here. A lady dressed as a mime came up to me and asked for a selfie cause I had a cool ‘Aussie’ accent, so I took one with her and she demanded £10….silly me. I kindly let her know that I literally had no cash on me as I just arrived in the country an hour ago and kindly deleted the photo (she still wasnt happy but jokes on her, I took 2 selfies with her). Hungry. How does a shy, anxious, introvert order food at a restaurant/cafe without the comfort of drive thru? She walks around and tells herself she isnt hungry… But that didnt last long. I ended up finding a Starbucks (yay, familiar) and grabbed myself a coffee and sandwich then stayed inside the cafe for 2 hours on wifi (yay anxiety). I was pretty chuffed at myself by this stage (no longer hangry), and decided to go for another walk around London. Only 10 minutes in, it started to hail, so I plodded along until I got back to the hotel to check into my room. The Royal National Hotel is nice. Nothing fancy, but not dodgy like a hostel either. I got a room with 2 beds (score!) so I used the extra bed as my suitcase holder. I took a nap and when I awoke,  I saw on messenger that a few people from my tour were organising dinner for that night. I normally never partake in social events, but being on the other side of the world just changes a girl (haha). I met up with 3 other Contikiers from my tour, we went for a walk and found a nice Italian place to eat dinner. Im glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to meet them, it made me feel more comfortable knowing a few familiar faces before the tour started. Afterwards, I went back to my room and crashed for the night.

Day 2: London, UK
This morning I woke up around 7am UK time, rolled over to check social media on my phone and saw my suitcase on the ground…and a person in the spare bed. I dont think I’ve ever been so scared/shocked/embarrassed in my life. I tried to investigate this person from the comfort of my pillow (pretending I was still asleep) but had no luck. I decided to just ignore this sleeping person and continue to check my phone until I willed myself hard enough to get up. Shortly after this decision, the mystery person woke up, looked at me and said ‘Good morning’. Turns out I was booked into a twin share room that meant I was buddies with a stranger (I had no idea what that meant haha). Also turns out this stranger is also a Contikier (not my tour though) and she lives in the same state as me back home (small world)! We got talking about our solo travel decisions and anxieties and bonded pretty quickly. I had no plans for today, neither did she, so we agreed to do something together. After we got ready, we went for a walk to grab breakfast. We found a little cafe called the ‘Pret’ which I absolutely loved (we need one in Aus). Me and my roomie booked a ‘Hop on, Hop off’ tour bus to explore London some more. We saw St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. We walked for ages, talked, laughed and got lost. I really enjoyed myself and was much more excited for the experience ahead of me. That night was my meet up with my tour manager/driver and Contikiers at the Contiki basement. Here was where we handed over travel documents, got to know the basic ins & outs, met with our passengers and got the low down for the next morning (6am start, weh). We all decided to head down to a bar for dinner and drinks to get to know each other better. It was a good night meeting everyone, we all got along so well already and my tour manager seemed amazing already! (Bless you Joel)