First time solo backpacking

I’ve been to 44 countries. But it was always with someone, usually my family, sometimes my friends.

In June I got an email:

DiscoverEU - Congratulations! You’ve been awarded a ticket!

That meant one thing - I’ll have free¹ tickets for all the trains in Europe for a week.

I’ve been thinking of travelling alone for a long time anyway, so that was just a trigger; I’m not going to waste something free. Free is good.

Sooo… Where are we going?

I’ve been to most countries in the EU but always had a huge white spot to the north. So Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were an obvious pick.

But if you don’t know already, I’m a Maximiser, so we’ll add Finland on top of it.

That was a plan until I saw that the flight back from Stockholm is soo much cheaper. Okay, we’ll add Sweden too.

Therefore², I’m going to 5 different countries.

Why did I think this trip is so important?

• Independence: I’m moving out for uni this year. That’s probably the first time you actually have to take care of everything yourself. I’ve figured out that maybe throwing myself in at the deep end will make things easier later on.
• Proof: I really wanted to confirm that I’m capable of travelling myself - planning, executing and spending long periods of time alone.
• Curiosity: I’ve seen plenty of backpackers while travelling and always wanted to know what it feels like.
• Think: I thought that maybe it would give me time to figure things out as I’m approaching adulthood. Or maybe I’ll come up with some groundbreaking idea.
• Plot: This year has been pretty boring³ so far. Up until May I’ve been either learning or stressing out before high school leaving exams and after that I’ve been mostly sitting in my room coding etc. For sure there has been a lot of time wasting too. So as you can see, with almost zero hangouts and cool stories, that trip could save this chapter.
• Content: Lately I’ve started uploading on YouTube and Rednote, so I could film the whole trip and make a cool video.

Favourite stories and reflections

I respect your time. I’ll only talk about the stories that I feel are worth sharing.

Lithuania

1. First night of the trip, a bit after midnight, I’m having my last-before-sleep-scroll when out of nowhere I hear a loud alarm. Then a second one. Third. Fourth. Now even my phone is ringing. Ohhhh, that’s just an EU-Alert! There’s probably a storm coming or something. I’m trying to read it with my sleepy eyes, bla bla bla air raid alert bla detected drone. Wait… What?!?! In exactly that moment, a Brit asks, “What’s happening?”. I told him, “It’s a drone”. In 10s, he and his friend were already dressed. In another 10, they were already in the basement. They did the right thing - there really was a drone. But the chances of them dying after tripping on the stairs were probably higher than a drone hitting a random hostel in Vilnius.
2. Getting to read a book⁴ while drinking tea in the morning in Kaunas was a huge morale boost.
3. Ate the worst kebab of my life in Siauliai. It almost killed me. Could’ve predicted it after seeing that the shop owner is not a Turkish guy but an old russian lady. That was probably the first time in my life when I didn’t finish a kebab. I’m still feeling sick to my stomach while writing this…
4. Almost no one in Lithuania speaks English. I know maybe 5 words in Russian. So I just spammed those, filling the gaps with Polish words in a Russian accent. Pretty fun. Especially the relief in their eyes that I’m not an American.
5. I have no idea why, but I don’t really know how Lithuanian sounds. Almost no one spoke it. I’ve been mainly hearing Russian, Ukrainian or Touristian.
6. Saw all the important places like the Gate of Dawn - used to hear about it soo much during Polish lessons.
7. I’ve politely argued with a Russian lady at the hostel that I’ve already paid on booking. Felt like she’s trying to scam me. Turned out I’m the scammer because there was no such wire. She was very cool about it though because she laughed and said “Буває і так.”⁵

Latvia

1. This story, again, involves a kebab. I’ve ordered one in Riga, at a busy intersection. Halfway into eating, the cashier called me and said she had a free juice for me and said that she thought I was local. We talked a lot; she’s a foreign student from Mongolia. Things like this never happen to me.
2. We had trouble communicating with a French grandpa because he didn’t speak that much English. He asked me, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”. Actually, I do. So we talked in German for like 20 minutes. I’ve really enjoyed that, because I get anxious butchering my German while talking to native speakers, and now I’ve felt zero pressure.
3. Cities at night have a wonderful atmosphere, but there’s not much to do there if you’re alone. All the fun is sitting with someone and drinking something.
4. My flip-flops broke, so I’ve fixed them with tie wraps - like an absolute engineer (got the blueprint from my parents, though)

Estonia

1. For the first time in my life, I bought myself a beer and drank it alone. Felt a bit like a bum. But it was really good, shoutout Saku on ice.
2. There was a self-service restaurant where you can eat instant ramen. Very cool idea; would like to see it in other cities as well. I don’t like spicy food though, and I ate the whole bowl only because a cute waitress was looking.
3. Walking around Rotermanni kvartal at night is a whole different level.

Finland

1. Tried reindeer meat for the first time.
2. The library in Helsinki is something different. Wow, guys, to have that in your own city. Ultimate spot. I’d probably live there.
3. Sompasauna is unforgettable. I obviously had to go to a Finnish sauna in Finland. And this one was the best I’ve ever been to. It’s a free, community one inside the city. There were probably a hundred people when I came there. Three saunas and a piano in the centre. I left my bag with everything unattended; no one touched it. Everyone’s talking, piano soundtrack in the background. Completely challenged my premises. Almost everyone was clothed. No one used a towel - they even told me to leave mine outside, and it certainly wasn’t quiet inside. When they poured water over the rocks I only heard “Here it comes!” and your ears were absolutely burned. Then I swam in the cold Baltic. Damnn, guys. If you ever visit Helsinki, go there.
4. I went to a mass in Helsinki; there are only 15k catholics in all of Finland, so that was the most diverse church I saw in my entire life. It looked like a UN gathering.
5. Read a book by the lake in Tampere⁶
6. I’ve asked two ladies in Turku before the ferry if I can leave my bag with them because I’m going to a shop and my feet hurt so bad. They told me, “Ohh, but do you trust us???”. Hmm, do you trust me is the question; what if there’s a bomb inside or something.
7. Having a four-person cabin with a toilet on the ferry to Stockholm felt so luxurious, probably the best accommodation of the trip. But walking into someone’s cabin in the morning to wake him up is certainly not cool…

Sweden

1. Thought the city was mid until I discovered Sergels torg - it felt like Shibuya. Now Stockholm levelled up in my eyes and gets the title of the GCT - Greatest City of the Trip.
2. Visited the building where they hold the Nobel Banquet. It’s good to have a grasp of the place I’ll have to come back to, haha.
3. I read a book in the public library. Beautiful interior, but it’s not the reason why I’d like to have such a place back home. Everyone was so locked in, working so hard. It felt motivating to be surrounded by that.
4. At this point, I feel like there’s some weird plot armor around me. I always get what I’ve wanted in the end, somehow. This time, I really wanted to have a cool hangout with somebody. It was the evening of the last night, and such a thing still didn’t happen. I went out to buy some groceries. I saw an asian store but couldn’t really find anything there, so I decided I’d look for a different one. I’m at the Sergels torg again. I’ve checked on the map, and I should see the shop because it’s so close, but somehow I couldn’t find it. So I asked a random girl who was sitting on a bench. She didn’t know… but she stood up to look for it with me. We’d walked around for a couple of minutes and still couldn’t find it. Then it dawned on me. Hmm, if I can’t see it and it’s not here, maybe it’s underground? She agreed and said that it’s open longer than other stores, so maybe it’s at the metro station. We found the store. Thought now we’ll split. But she entered the store with me and waited till I bought my groceries. So a plan came to my mind, hmm, maybe we should grab a beer together? But I don’t have my ID. So I asked her, “Do you have your ID?” She was a little surprised by my question, but she said she did. So I proposed my plan: we’d check if drinking in public is legal and went to the checkout. Had some issues buying it, so a cashier came to us, and I asked him, “Do you think it’s okay if we drink it on the streets?” He whispered, “Just don’t go too crazy”. It turned out that our hostels are very close to each other, so we went in that direction and found a park nearby. Then I realised. We don’t have an opener. We’ve managed to open one with the other one, but the second beer was problematic. Tried opening it using the pavement for 10 minutes until I figured out that the bench was a better opener and finally opened it. We had the first sip and were surprised by how sweet it was. Turns out it was 0%. Just don’t go too crazy. We talked for hours and only got to know our names when we were already near her hostel. Ohh, and also, she gave me a cinnamon roll - did you guys know Sweden claims to have invented it? But yup, that was an awesome experience. Exactly like I wanted it before the whole trip.

Everywhere

1. I’ve walked soo many steps. I would regularly hit 40k.
2. I love you, Lidl Bakery, such a life-saver.

Problems and blues

Prior to the trip, I assumed that it would be very hard sometimes. Finding the right train, being on time, planning, checking in and so on.

I also thought it would be pretty lonely.

But it wasn’t at all!

Actually, everything felt so easy. Not like I’m travelling, just as if I was in my own town, living.

I was alone, but I wasn’t lonely most of the time. Though I have to admit, often I’d ask for directions even though I had a phone in my pocket. Just needed that daily interaction.

Only the first night and the next morning were a bit hard. I mean, I didn’t feel lonely or sad, but a bit down. Like everything felt a bit meaningless and I felt lost. But after going through that short valley, it was all good till the end.

Lessons and benefits

I’m very happy I went on this trip. There are a couple of things that I’ve realized.

1. Yes, I’m capable of travelling alone, and I still enjoy it.
2. Most people are good and are more than happy to help you.
3. It’s really easy to start a convo with someone, and they don’t mind it at all. I think a lot of people would like to start a convo themselves but just feel too shy. So do that, talk to them. You’ll see when to shut up.
4. I know I can be alone and feel good. Celebrating little things like eating a Mexican salad and feeling blessed.
5. My main goal in life isn’t to be a traveller. Travel is not my goal. I won’t work half a year to travel the next half with the backpack. I want travel to be a background to my actual goals; I want to do more important things while travelling.
6. I felt really reassured to know that other backpackers don’t visit museums as well because we’re too jaded and everything looks the same everywhere.
7. I want an international group of friends. Poland is very homogeneous so all friend groups are 100% Polish. I don’t support immigration as we can see in Western countries, but having a group of friends with people from all over the world is awesome. So many different experiences and perspectives are like food for your brain.
8. I’ve felt like I’ve forgotten all my English⁷ and the first days were brutal. But towards the end of the trip, I’ve felt very comfortable.

Final words

Was the trip life-changing?

Probably not

Was it cool?

Yes

So take that trip. Experience things.

Footnotes