Where do I start....

First of all: This is the first travel report/blog or whatever you want to call it that I am writing. I absolutely love reading other people's travel experiences and wanted to share my own 😂.

About a year ago, I specialized in Europe and started traveling across the continent whenever possible. And I especially love exploring the East because it was more affordable when I was still an apprentice. But now let me share my experiences: It all started with a short trip to Venice. No one wanted to come with me, even though the price of €15.98 for a round-trip flight was unbeatable. So I thought, 'Whatever, I'm old enough to enjoy a nice vacation on my own.' And yes, I wasn't alone for long, I quickly found a nice companion for the evening after a spontaneous conversation at a bus stop. And that broke the ice .... we took advantage of all the cheap flight opportunities and the result after a year was: Czech Republic, Bulgaria, England, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, Croatia, and currently Serbia ... before that I had also visited Spain, Poland, Fuerteventura, Egypt, and the neighboring countries of France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, and the USA.... Sure, there are plenty of people who have seen more, but at 22 years old? 🤔 Now let's get to the amazing experiences... Romania: A country that is avoided by most people, at least based on my experiences. But unjustly so! The hospitality here is just as great, maybe even a little greater 😊 However, the ride with the hostel owner to a thermal bath was a bit unusual. He absolutely did not want to let me take the bus. We rattled towards the thermal bath at a minimum of 90 km/h in a big Mercedes, and of course, the nice gentleman joined me to relax as well. After interesting conversations about everything under the sun in broken German, English, and Romanian mixed together, we went into the sauna together. But others paid the entrance fee. He went through the revolving door with me, even if it may have looked a bit adventurous from afar. After the turnstile almost fell apart, we were finally inside. The next adventurous gesture came right away. Question: How much do Germans earn? €4000, €5000, or more per month? With my net salary of just under €980 (apprenticeship), I couldn't help but laugh and simply said: some earn more and some earn a little less 😉 I thought the guy was great, maybe even a bit cliché, but I kind of wanted that. After checking out the female visitors together, that was pretty much it and we drove back together, and he went back to the sofa at the reception to his wife. I could go on endlessly, but as I mentioned, this is my first report and I want to keep it as brief as possible. But same country, different topic. What questions do you expect when you get into a taxi and ask: 'Do you speak English?' Maybe 'don't understand,' 'no understand,' 'no no English,' or maybe 'Yes, of course!' No, it was: 'Where are you from?' Okay, that still sounds okay. And my response came promptly: 'Germany.' 'OK, OK my friend, come in. Which place, my friend?' Then came the question of all questions: 'Are you alone?' .... Yeeeess, whyyy? .... 😕 'I have daughters, many many daughters, very pretty. I will show you....' And I was immediately shown endless pictures of potential women on the smartphone.... at a speed close to the 100 km/h limit in the city. The Dacia with apparently 800,000 km on the odometer, including duct tape on the gearshift and the bench seat without seat belts, gave me a rather uneasy feeling. After I said out of courtesy that his daughters were very beautiful, a notepad immediately came out of the glove compartment and he wrote down his phone number for me as well as he could at such high speeds, with a request to come back soon and go to a good nightclub with his daughter. The sleeping arrangements are taken care of, he has plenty of room at home. Well, the ride was over and I assured him that I would come back before we drove back and I saw the trunk cover. Of course, I have many more stories to tell, but I have to wrap it up now so that the text doesn't get too long... I'm happy to share more later, but for now, I'm going to enjoy the evening at the tango bar in the Serbian capital with the owner of my apartment... 😊

Just a side note: I know how beautiful long-distance trips are... As a fan of the USA, who has already been to North America, I know how beautiful the wide world is, but I have now been to such beautiful places with incredibly great experiences. And let me tell you: Don't underestimate Europe! In different European countries, I felt much further away, even much further away than in North America.

I look forward to your comments. Have a nice evening and greetings from Belgrade. :)

[ The attached pictures are a mix from Romania, Croatia, Ukraine and relatively unspectacular, but with 3000 pictures on my phone, it's hard to organize them ;) ]