Friday, October 12, 2007

My Dream Travel

My parents just came back from Japan. Telling me and my sister about their trip, my dad was saying that there were a lot of things my mother was unadventurous to try, had me and my sister been there we'd have more fun eating and playing. WIth that he sort of said that perhaps next year we could go there as a family. Next year after my sister's A levels. By then I'd be working already, I should be able to earn my keep and spend quite a bit on myself and have less financial constraints when buying stuff.

Then my sister brought up that she wanted to go Shanghai. She was planning to work for a couple of months after A levels before uni and earn some money to go Shanghai. She has a friend there so she can stay over with her. Shanghai has always been a place I wanted to go. I no longer trust another other part of China, at least I know I don't dare to eat anything in China. But Shanghai being more modern, and with more discerning people around, I think it should be quite safe. Besides, I want to have the xiaolongbaos there. And also to see the colonial architecture.

But those are not my dream travel plans. I was telling Someone the other day about it, then I told my dad about it, now I'm telling everyone here.

I want to go on a month long road trip around Germany. Just me and one or two other friends, we can rent a car and drive around Germany, totally free and easy. Usually when people talk about road trips it seems like it's usually America or Australia because of their inefficient rail system and vast expanse of land. But Germany's also a really interesting place to go on a road trip. Because of one major important reason. Autobahns. No speed limits. A must try for all roadies.

Okay, I don't have a driving licence now, but it's always nice to dream. My dad says it's dangerous to drive in a no speed limits environment where any little mistake can cost lives. But how can I not try it out in the birthplace of the auto?! It's also one reason why a small group of friends might be good. Too big a group can get too rowdy, but I don't think I can do it alone as an inexperienced driver. erm... Assuming that I can get a licence somehow or another...

One month would be long enough to fit in as many places as I can. I can travel around the big cities, small towns and little villages. For the big cities, I can park the car at the outskirts and take a train in and stay there for a couple of days. For the little towns and small villages I can town hop and village sightsee. A lot of the beauty of a European town is the traditional and quaint little suburbs, very pretty, very delightful.

A road trip with a nice car also settles the headachey logistics problem of travelling which I hate. I was thinking of getting an SUV, a Mercedes-Benz one no less, then can just dump all the luggage into the car and go around. I'm a very lazy traveller, I don't like to lug heavy things around, and taking trains with heavy articles for a weak girl is quite jialat.

I was calculating the cost of one such trip. If I go alone it would probably set me back by $10k, maybe sharing costs with friends will reduce the amount quite significantly to $6-8k depending on how many people are in the trip too. Think the main costs for the trip is the air ticket and the petrol needed. Car rental shouldn't be too expensive since cars are selling real cheap in Germany, as compared to Singapore. Food and lodgings shouldn't be too bad. We can eat currywursts every day and/or Nordsee, and once in a while in a proper restaurant. We can sleep in the car or a little motel along the autobahn. I noticed that where there're motels and/or factory outlets, warehouses, or huge hypermakets in Germany, there'd always be a McDonald's nearby. So when I miss home, I can pop by a Mackies and get some junk food.

Guess I need to slog it out to be able to experience such a dream. grr... And I don't even have any proper savings at the moment.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hehe, one of my dreams is to organise a road trip with a couple of my friends.. I think the ideal number of person would be a 3.. Tho I was thinking about the USA/Canada.. Germany is a great place for a road trip also, especially, as you mentioned, because of the freeways. But since I live "so close" to Germany and central Europe.. (2hr 30min flight) I'd like to set a bit farther away from my home.. Maybe even because of the language.. When I was in Germany for a day (had connecting flights in Frankfurt) I noticed that all the road signs were in German.. I didn't like that, especially since, in my country everything is listed in Maltese and English.

hehe I'm sure you'll like Germany! I don't have much background about Singapore, but I think it's a lot different from Singapore.. Even, since the countries reside on 2 different continents..

xxoos said...

ya, 3 people on a road trip is quite an ideal. i'm not so sure about canada, but i've heard that usa is not very safe, heard of cases of muggings and stuff. germany is relatively much safer. for me, since i understand basic german, i think i should be quite all right with the road signs.

Anonymous said...

So fun! I think driving in Germany is one of the best driving experience in the world. I heard that the roads are damn straight and long and u can speed like lightning and no one will stop u! So shiok! U shld get ur license asap! Dun wait liao!!! Heehee... actually i got license and i really feel like driving in germany! But ermz, i think better not la... I not experienced enuf, better get a safer driver! haha...

Aiya, ur whole plan sound damn fun! I can already imagine myself driving with the wind, stopping by picturesque villages and lakes and eating nice german food and toasting beer every now and then. Haha...

Hope u can find ur khakis soon! Dun miss out on such a great experience

xxoos said...

haha... you sound so excited for me xingyi, i'd have thought that u were the one who wanted to go instead. lol~ but the main problem is not with finding friends, but more of finding money. this trip won't come cheap...