I (Mina) quit my job (eek!), so now I need help with Barcelona/Florence...OR, should I just fly by the seat of my pants?
 

Hi all:<BR><BR>I quit my job, and yes, I thought about it for a long time. I have money saved up, and hopes that I've networked enough to find something at some point. Please don't say I'm a nut...I may have a heart attack! :)<BR><BR>Anyway, so I will be at work until the end of the year, and after that I would like to travel! I have previously sought help here to narrow down my choices, and have come up with Barcelona and Florence. So my questions are:<BR><BR>Any suggestions on where to get an apartment in the area? In Barcelona, I was thinking about the Gothic Quarter. L'eixample sounds nice, but is a bit pricey. Any suggestions on apartment rentals? I found tourism-catalonia.net, but was wondering if anyone had personal experience with others.<BR><BR>In Florence, would the area near Ponte Vecchio be OK? I found some reasonable apartments around there.<BR><BR>However, here is my other dilemma: My friend suggested instead of committing myself to two places, maybe with the 2.5 months I will have, I should get a eurail pass and go where the wind takes me, and stay in cheap hostels. I would be doing this trip alone, so that makes me a bit nervous. But it also sounds like such freedom! It will be winter, so while it will be cold (mercifully, I don't get cold too easily), I imagine it won't be hard to find lodging.<BR><BR>Anyone with backpacking experience care to share? I have never done it before. Perhaps I am naive to think I can. <BR><BR>Thank you in advance for your input. With your opinions, it will help me with ideas on what to research and what books to buy. I have never planned a trip on such short notice (2 months, with departure planned for January) and now that I've given notice, I realized I better do something valuable with my time.<BR><BR>I look forward to your opinions.

HOOORAAAAYYY!!<BR><BR>you know it is the right thing to do..<BR><BR>more soon.<BR><BR>:)<BR><BR>

I think it will depend on what you want out of the experience. if you stay put, you will need to research based on how to make these places 'home' for 4+ weeks at a time - how to live like a local. how many visitors do you expect, and, do you have friends overseas already (to go visit)? do you already know enough about these places that a month would make you happy?<BR><BR>is there any chance you can find, for your ten weeks, 5 places you can do a 2 week apartment rental, at a time? or would the cost be too much. for instance, Barcelona, Florence, Paris, Berlin, London? or whatever you pick. with 2 weeks in each spot, you can surely find enough to keep you hopping in each locale - and a place to crash each night. all of these places would be good for day trips. (not entirely sure about Berlin actually, maybe swap it out with the Riviera - Nice is nice. ha ha)<BR><BR>just thoughts.<BR><BR>keep in touch, ya never know, I might be in one of the above in the early part of the year! as will others here I am sure. <BR><BR>also Ponte Vecchio area is nice, good area to stay.

Mina - what wonderful choices you have to make! If it were me, I would decide where I would want to stay first and arrange for lodging there (Florence?) for a week or so and then go wherever. As you pointed out, you shouldn't have problems finding places to stay and despite the best information about weather patterns, etc., you really won't know what the weather will be like until you get there. I've changed my itinerary the last two trips that I've taken to France because of weather - and therefore got to see some places that I did not anticipate and probably would not have visited otherwise.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful time. I envy you.

First of all, see if you can get your job back!!!<BR><BR><BR>JUST KIDDING!<BR><BR>I have to congratulate you for stepping out on faith and just doing it! So many people wait for the day that never comes to follow their dreams. I wish you much luck and success on your journey and will be praying that God will keep you safe and prosperous.<BR><BR>Renee

I have backpacked but not in the traditional sense since there were 3 of us and it is just as cheap to rent a hotel room for 3 people as it is to stay in a hostel. However, with one person you might consider joining HI, purchasing their book on the European hostals and as you said go where the wind takes you. That some how appeals to me more than settling down in the location, but then that appeals to me, but perhaps you would like it better to do things from a couple places. M.

Good for you Mina! Go for it! Just a note to think about, the heaters in the winter in rented places cost alot. <BR><BR>I would plop myself down in one place, such as Florence, for a week, then move on as my whims would take me. It is a chance to celebrate freedom, so live your freedom in Europe for a while. <BR><BR>I would move around and use the internet cafes to keep in touch and to research places I may want to go to on the spur of the moment. We just did the same in Italy, we came to Fodors and to Venere, chose a place to stay and emailed them a day or so in advance, then checked our yahoo mail for confirmations, or just use your phone card and get the hotels directly. It is simple to do and amazingly uplifting to be able to hop on a train and go to a different place. Have fun and keep us updated.

I would stick with the two places for 4+ weeks at each. After all, when's the next time you'll have that much time to spend in one spot? If you go back to a regular job after this break, you'll still have time to go to different spots in Europe for shorter periods of time, but you might never again have the luxury of this much time.<BR><BR>Which reminds me, I have to decide where to spend the 2 months that I'll have between quitting my job and moving to Ireland. Husband and I are debating whether to use that time driving around the US or going to New Zealand/Australia.

Go Mina Go! Why keep working when everyone else is getting laid off...think of how happy you will make the person who gets your job :)<BR><BR>I can't offer any opinion on Barcelona or Florence, since I haven't been to either place, but as for backpacking--it's alot of fun, but for me after about a month, I get pretty tired of packing up my stuff and moving on every 3 or 4 days. <BR><BR>On the positive side, youth hostels are a great idea if you're travelling by yourself. You're likely to meet alot of other single travellers. I don't think I've ever eaten dinner alone when I've stayed at a hostel. The other nice thing that I've noticed about staying in hostels in the winter is that the average age of the hostellers tends to go up. [From you last trip report (which was really funny, BTW) I assumed you were a little beyond college freshman.]<BR><BR>If you choose Florence, I hope you give us some nice long reports! I'll be following in your footsteps when I quit my job in February and move there to study art, drink wine and eat gelato.

Ann's suggestion is something to consider.You will have the luxury of time on your upcoming adventure;then hopefully back to 9-5pm.<BR>Food for thought _ This is my life. It is not a dress rehearsal! Enjoy.

Mina... One favor please. Continue to grace us with your presence here. It will be so much fun to hear about your adventures.

Mina<BR><BR>I second Grasshopper. but everyone has good ideas too. <BR><BR>I also think no matter what you do, you cannot go wrong. Why not pick the one you are most excited about, for a month stay, and THEN run around? (if it were me I would pick Florence, but that is just me). You could study painting in Florence, or cooking!!<BR><BR>check out<BR><BR>www.shawguides.com<BR><BR>man I am so jealous.<BR><BR>maybe I will change my name to greenflygirl.

Best of luck. No answers to your questions, but I hope you have a ball!

Yeah ~ Mina !!!!<BR>This is great! Just the thing I did a long time ago and everything worked out fine...in fact, better than fine. <BR> Do keep us informed of all the really good, juicy details :O) , please?<BR><BR>Have a wonderful time planning and flying by the seat of those pants!!

Mina,<BR>Congratulations! I guess this makes you a traveler, not just a tourist. I would say Backpack. I did it for 5 months and it is a great feeling to go where the wind takes you. If you are a solo traveler, it also is so easy to meet people and perhaps, travel with them for 3 days or weeks or whatever. You get the idea! You can always change your mind and stay in an apartment the latter half of your trip. Regardless, no decision is incorrect...you will be making memories that last a lifetime.<BR>Cheers,<BR>Jan

Thank you for your thoughtful replies. I have been reading them and mulling, and mulling. I need to decide rather quickly, in order to do some more extensive research.<BR><BR>The idea of spending 4 weeks in a place is certainly a luxury...but then again, so is the luxury to pick up and go to wherever I choose. Neither of these options would be possible in my &quot;normal&quot; annual 2 weeks vacations.<BR><BR>I am thinking now of looking into a week or two at a set location (like nancy, flygirl, and Lynn suggested), then start flying by the seat of my pants. I fear that if I stay a month in each place, I may grow lazy (and lonely) and might not take advantage of the time to the fullest. Traveling every few days, while exhausting forces you to take advantage of the new place you are in. <BR><BR>Argh...but I still don't know. Please keep the opinions coming, they are insightful. Nancy's point of winter heating was something I remember reading about a few months back, and now is a good point now refreshed in my mind. I hear it's very steep, and usually added in above and beyond the cost of the rental.<BR><BR>Ann: I would say, go to Australia! I loved it, in a very different way from Ireland.<BR><BR>Syrin, yes, I'm a bit beyond college days, which is why this backpacking stuff is appealing to me. I thought the opportunity to do this was long gone for me.<BR><BR>The encouragement is helping, so thanks for the nice words from all of you. My mother is slightly worried (since I support my parents, I think they worry we will all starve...but that shouldn't happen for a few months. :) ) I will certainly try to give back to the forum by posting an adventure or two, but promise not to overpost so much that someone will be forced to do a parody of me. :)

Why would someone do a parady of your trip? Your writing is outstanding.<BR><BR>We rented a villa in Italy when it was cool outside, and we were charged alot for the heating and for the gas for the stove, yes, in addition to the original rental. It is expensive to heat places in Italy, take that into consideration, better to have the hotel do it for you.<BR><BR>I vote for winging it too, how many chances will you have to do this in the future?

Mina - just because you decide to wing it doesn't mean that you can't decide to stay somewhere for a week, two weeks or more. You may wander for awhile and come upon someplace that speaks to your heart and decide to stay. If you try to decide ahead of time exactly where you want to spend you time, and get locked into rental agreements, etc., you won't have the opportunity to find that (or those) special places.

My suggestion is to buy a train pass and go whereever you like. Try all those places between Rome and Florence like Bologna or Florence and Milan. Go to Paris etc. The good thing is that it is in offseason so hotels won't be booked and you can basically get a room by visiting and get great deals. I suggest to take a list of cheap hotels and phone numbers from the internet once you decide to move to another city. Buy a cell phone in Europe too!<BR>Another option is take a language course and stay in the schools residence.

Mina,<BR>How EXCITING!! Wonderful that you've decided to take advantage of a time in your like when you can have these adventures!<BR><BR>I'm also for a combination of staying in one place and travelling; but I guess a lot of it will depend upon what your gut will lead you to after mulling over the possibilities.<BR><BR>Remembering your wonderful trip to Ireland, I don't imagine that you'll have a hard time finding company. Still, if you're staying in one place for a long time, unless you do have gotten to know people, it can get to be lonely. I'd think that staying in one place for a week will tell you if you want to stay in one place, or spend some time travelling.<BR><BR>I've been to Florence as a tourist, but don't have a sense of what it would be like to live there. It's a great city to wander, to absorb art, but is it a city to live in as a temporary resident? I don't know.<BR><BR>My husband's daughter picked up and went to Barcelona about a year ago, and, at 25, she seemed to meet people very easily and loved living there. It seems like a city that's easy to meet people. So perhaps you might want to start there.<BR><BR>So my thoughts...start out in Barcelona, give it a week, and then see if you want to stay longer or take off. You can always decide as you go along. You wouldn't have trouble finding places to stay at that time of year. So you can stay in an area for a period of time, explore it well, and then find another area that appeals to you.<BR><BR>