**disclaimer: I will update this as I go more places, current posts are simply based off of where I have been already and would recommend for people my age in particular**
When it comes to talking about travel, particularly international, with people my own age (early 20s)...it never seems to go ~inspirationally~.
In the age of cinematic youtubers and Bali vs. Dubai content creators, influencers have pretty successfully kept us over-inspired enough to make their lifestyle feel relatively unattainable.
Envy keeps us engaged, that’s just the honest truth.
“Hustle Hard to Make Your Dreams, Your Reality” is overly preached as the reason why influencers get to “travel full time”--and to an extent that’s a decent message, but not entirely realistic. But that’s a topic for another blog post debate.
Bottom Line:
Not everyone has a trust fund, or is from hawaii, or has parents that don’t care where they travel, or gets paid by hotels to stay at their resort & create marketing content during the off-season. (I feel like we all watched the influencer starter-pack for that at some point lol)
So that’s why I made this particular series.
For the young adults that will fund their own venture, pick & pay for their own accommodations, and want their chance to embrace the world.
First on the Lineup, and for good reason, is:
IRELAND
Not only is it one of the BEST places to start traveling internationally, but also super solo-traveler friendly and safe. English is widely spoken, it’s a great introduction to the euro currency, and the people are friendly.
Let's Break it Down:
The capital city of Dublin offers every light academia comfort, with dark academia corners. It’s easily walkable, offers accessible public transport, and has many cafes and pubs for anyone to sneak into for a tea or pint. You truly can’t go wrong between the Jameson Distillery, Trinity College Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, or Guinness Brewery. Every corner is photogenic, so grab all of the souvenier pictures that your heart desires. Also, affordable walking tours and hop-on-hop-off busses are abundant for some learning as you go. It's casual enough for backpacking attire, and most of the best sights are public spaces around the city.
Transportation: One of the healthiest environments to learn to rely on yourself for navigation and coordinating your own transportation while traveling. There’s a couple bus lines that service coast-to-coast, so you can stay mobile and scamper down to Cork, or over to Galway, and through Connemara as your time frame allows. There are also plenty of tour companies as well that offer day trips to historic sites and nature spots. In both respects, the busses are *nice* and easy to nap, do HW/Computer Work (there's wifi), or just relax on--depending on the trip you’re taking. The stations are easy to find, and workers are helpful!
Favorites: The Omio App for booking standard domestic transportation is your new bff--trust me it's amazing. I also booked my day tours and city passes through Musement, an online site advertised towards backpackers/young travelers. It's super easy to navigate, reasonably priced, partners with solid companies, and offers great deals on entry passes to sites. Make sure to check for student discount offerings, they can be 10-25%!
Accommodation: While hotels are obviously frequent at every popular street or square, the airbnb and hostel culture is excellent in Ireland. Easily located hostels are plentiful, and each offer great activities to enjoy with your travel friends, just by yourself, or in the company of fellow travelers. Pub crawls and karaoke are crowd pleasers, and usually have "ticket" prices of 7-10 USD (they include a drink wristband). While Airbnbs may be more private, and are beautiful as well, they tend to be a little further out if you’re trying to 100% rely on walking. That being said, I quite enjoy a morning stroll, and as one of the countries I felt the safest traveling alone in, that wasn’t too much of an issue. Overall, the hostels seemed almost better located than the hotels, and most had clean laundry facilities for a couple euro to keep your backpacker-carry-on wardrobe in full rotation :).
Favorites: I stayed in Hostels the entire time during my first trip to Ireland, and my absolute favorite was the Snoozles Quay Street Hostel in Galway City. I got a dorm-style room for 15 USD/night with a window overlooking the main alley, which made the ambience very cozy and lively. It also had a separate bathroom space with very aesthetic tiles :). It was a couple blocks from "The Pie Maker," a *tiny* pot pie restaurant that ended up being the best meal of the trip. Additionally, a proper Irish coffee should be on your bucket list too if you want to do it right. Much needed after a full day of traveling.
When I go back to Ireland in general though, here's an Airbnb that's at the top of my bucket list:
Expense: Ireland isn’t the cheapest country on my list, but not the most expensive either. I’d rate it $$ (out of $$$$).
Examples: a bus ticket from Dublin-Galway: 16 USD, 1 night in a Hostel: 22 USD (Dublin) & 15 USD (Galway), and an airbnb walking tour: 18 USD. It's almost equatable with Charleston SC, however the biggest notable difference is the "need" for a lot of things. The Dublin bus is cheap and comfortable, casual clothing is perfect, meals are simple, and you can skip a 14 USD CHS cocktail since you'll have a 5 USD pint in your hand. I've always found it admirable how Ireland was all about rejoicing in the simple things--exactly the lessons we should be learning as 20-year-olds.
Tip/Trick:
To decrease your main expense--*airfare*--I’d recommend booking a nontraditional route. These tend to be more appealing while you’re young, trying to save money, and are able to power through a good bunch of hours in travel mode. I think they're exciting now, but I'm sure 30-year-old me will want something more streamline & less hassle. But hey, this blog is for 20-year-olds! Of course do some digging to find out what that looks like for your hometown, but for mine (Charleston, SC) I book CHS-JFK, then find a cheap flight JFK-London (for Europe Trips in particular).
I’ll show you the price difference:
Say you want to go to Ireland for St. Patrick’s, March 2022, because that's pretty a ball-out trip. Seems expensive right? We’ll throw the dates March 13-21. 5 months out, it starts at 660 USD to book straight up CHS-DUB on google flights. But after some round-trip flight digging and looking at separate prices, CHS-JFK-CHS is 157 USD, JFK-LGW-JFK (London-Gatwick) is 346 USD, and LGW-DUB-LGW is 61 USD. Totals to 564 USD round trip for St.Patrick’s week to Ireland. You save $96, which may not seem like a TON, but quite honestly that could be your entire in-country transportation fees or 70% of your accommodations fees if you book hostels. The entire trip you could easily do and ~thrive~ for 900 USD, 850 USD if you’re stricter.
For St. Patrick’s week in Ireland!
Also, always book the flights first, wait a few weeks, then book the accommodations, and wait for the transportation and tours until a week or two out. That'll keep expenses spaced, and also give you a more accurate representation of how much "fun money" you'll have closer to the trip.
And that's Ireland!
Good Food, Great Beer, Cozy and Casual, with Kinder People. Trust me, it's where you'll want to start your international traveling, and where everyone in their 20s should go to learn the art of simplistic adventuring. Cheers :)
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