Conclusions

With a few weeks' distance from the trip, it becomes even clearer to me what a great experience this was, a real break from everyday life and something I will remember fondly for a long time.

Both the style of travel and the destinations were exceptionally enjoyable and I would definitely consider undertaking such a trip again. Leaving the house with only your own goals and needs is such a liberating feeling that I can only recommend everyone to try it out for themselves. It doesn't have to be a huge journey. Actually, just being in travel mode at home is enough. Because when you are on vacation somewhere, you don't think twice about taking a two-hour drive to see some tourist attraction. Think about how much you could see in Germany with that kind of effort! If I had been on an Interrail trip in Freiburg, I would probably have visited all the museums. I have been living here for 16 months now and I have never been to the Colombischlössle! Or to the Europapark (but that will definitely change soon).

Finally, I want to emphasize how supportive I find the DiscoverEU project. Ultimately, the Interrail ticket only accounted for a relatively small part of the travel costs, but without it, I wouldn't have set out at all and would have spent "only" 11 days at home instead of having all the impressions I got. If every EU citizen received such a ticket for their 18th birthday, a lot of positive things would certainly come out of it. Even if they don't immediately discover a great love for the EU, they will certainly develop an appreciation for the other and break out of their familiar environment where everything is known.