Crossing the Pond – An Enormous Adventure Either Way

East or West, Crossing the Pond is Exciting

You’re ready! You’re finally ready! Can you believe it? I don’t care who you are, Crossing the Pond is an enormous accomplishment!

If you don’t believe you’re ready, consider how far you’ve come:

• You took baby steps and started small by Exploring Your Backyard.
• Then you Explored Locally and learned useful tourist skills in a nearby town.
• You took a fun Road Trip which included an exciting drive and an overnight.
• You braved an airport and an airplane ride and took a fun Long Weekend Trip.
• Using your solid travel foundation you took a week-long vacation to one of our Amazing Big Cities.
• Finally, you used your Passport to take a not-too-much culture shock trip to Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean.  

Congratulations! You’ve built up good travel habits while ignoring the fear of the unknown.

By starting small and working your way up you’ve given yourself the confidence you need to fling yourself out into the world.

You should be very proud of yourself.

You’re finally ready to cross the pond and leave the safety and security of your home continent.

Crossing the Pond . . . Which Way?

First off, you have to decide which pond you want to cross . . . the Atlantic to Europe or the Pacific to Asia.

On your first trip (of hopefully many) I’d suggest you visit one of the fabulous World Famous tourist traps.

These big, well-known European and Asian cities are highly visited for a reason . . . they’re set up for tourists, easy to navigate, English is widely spoken and there’s plenty to see. 

Countries I Wouldn’t Visit First

Unless these cities are on your bucket list and you’re all set to expire I would NOT recommend starting with:

• Ireland
• China
• India
• Egypt

The goal is to give you an amazing travel experience, not to overwhelm you.

Remember what travel boils down to . . . spending your day seeing awesome things, eating interesting and different food and sleeping in an unfamiliar bed.

Good Places to Start International Travel

Here are a list of international cities I’d recommend as your first jet-lag trip:

• London

• Paris

• Rome

• Tokyo

• Amsterdam

Places I recommend with slight hesitation:

• Sydney

• Athens (this barely makes the list)

• Venice-Florence-Pisa (also great for solo-travel)

Why These Cities Make The List

I would wholeheartedly agree that there are way more interesting and exciting places to visit, but I recommend these cities for your first big trip for several reasons:

1. Ease of visiting from the United States – Direct flight are numerous

2. Ease of language – English is either the main language or the most commonly spoken second language

3. There are lots and lots and lots of things to do – If you get bored you can only blame yourself.

4. Locals are friendly – Don’t believe what you’ve heard about “The French”. I’ve never encountered a rude French person. Indifferent, sure. Rude, absolutely not.

5. Ease of public transportation – No need for cabs, Ubers or a rental car in these public transportation friendly cities.

I absolutely DO NOT RECOMMEND driving in any of these cities. 

Why These Cities are Great

You should plan your first big international trip to a city that excites you. Hopefully one of the following brief city descriptions leaves your heart in a pitter-patter.

London

Visiting London is very much like visiting your Strange Cousin. There’s absolutely no language barrier, although you might have to listen a little more closely at first.

The locals are chatty and friendly and have a high standard of living. Be prepared for everything to cost a little more than what you’re used to.

If you’re interested in the Monarchy, History, Art, Shopping, Churches, Architecture, Theatre, Futbol (Soccer) or really big Ferris wheels, London is the place for you. It’s a huge international city chock full of fun, that’s still somehow manageable without feeling overwhelming.

Folks from all over the world call London home so the food scene is diverse and delicious.

Plus, if you’re like me, you can trace your ancestry back to Great Britain. It’s really fun to wander the same streets your ancestors did (not that they’d recognize it today, haha).

Paris

Oh la la, Paris has so much to offer the newbie traveler. Home to world famous art, cuisine and culture in my many visits I’ve truly come to believe that France and the United States are more closely intertwined politically than they let on.

In fact, the more time I spend in Paris the more I realize how much American culture is rooted in French history.

Paris is a beautiful and huge city, you could spend a month wandering its ornate streets and barely scratch the surface. Yet somehow the city does’t feel overwhelming with its easy-to-navigate transit system.

Paris is more affordable than London and it’s the only place to see the teeny-tiny world-famous Mona Lisa.

Don’t believe what you’ve heard about the stuffy French. You might be a bit aloof with foreigners if you lived in one of the most visited cities in the world too.

Rome

Rome was my first big overseas international trip and I’m glad for it . . . but talk about a shock!

I remember standing outside the Coliseum and Roman Forum and realizing how any millions of people have stood in the exact same spot throughout Rome’s 3,000 year history. It left me feeling very insignificant. In the grand scheme of the world, the silly things I worry about on a daily basis don’t really matter.

A little self-reflection is always a good thing and Rome offers perspective in droves.

There’s nowhere else in the world where Pre-and-Post BC civilizations collide like Rome . . . if you pay attention you’ll notice floor mosaics of Zeus turn into masterpiece paintings of Jesus.

There’s so much to see in Rome and Vatican City, you’ll be so busy from sunup to sun down (and later) I bet you don’t even notice there’s a language barrier. If the language becomes an issue, there are plenty of translation apps to help you get by.

Pompeii and Pisa are a quick train ride away. Extend your trip and visit Florence and Venice.

In fact I wouldn’t blame you if you bought a 1 Euro home and stayed in Italy forever.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is awesome. It’s easy to navigate, the locals are friendly and there’s a lot to see. Plus one of their famous foods is french fries. Sign me up!

Try to visit in April and May when the tulip fields are in full bloom.

Don’t miss taking an evening stroll through the Red Light District, even if you don’t think you should. There’s always talk of shutting down the Red Light District or moving it out of the city center. It’s an interesting historical aspect of Amsterdam to see . . . and I mean you should “see it”, not necessarily be a part of it. Haha.

Amsterdam has world-class art museums, diverse food and great shopping. As someone who has never done illegal drugs, I find wandering the streets and peeking into shop windows to read the descriptions of what different drugs do to the brain fascinating. 

Side Note on Amsterdam: We are here to explore, not do drugs. We don’t go stupid places and doing stupid things at stupid times. That’s how we keep ourselves safe.

Tokyo

I’d recommending starting your Asian adventures in Tokyo.

Tokyo is a walkable city with delicious food, enlightening and peaceful sites, no homeless and the most kind and caring residents you’ll ever encounter.

The culture in Japan calls for parents to set a good example of kindness for their kids to emulate, thus a “positive karma” follows. It’s working and the rest of the world should take note.

For example, if you’re in the subway studying a train map, I guarantee a friendly local will ask you where you’re going, walk you to your train and make sure you get on safely.

Kindness of contagious, we should all pass it on.

With almost no culture shock, Tokyo is friendly, clean and a safe introduction to Asia. You will NEVER meet nicer people, visit a cleaner city or find more orderly escalator riders.

Side Note:

Bring your own fork if you are’t fluent in chop-stick use.

Other Good Places to Visit

Sydney

Disclaimer: I haven’t been to Australia, yet. In the time that I’ve been a flight attendant the Australian Dollar (AUD) has been very strong to the US Dollar (USD). Since I go on multiple trips a year, keeping costs in check is important. In the last year the AUD and the USD have stabilized and Sydney bumped up to the top of my travel list.

Then Covid-19 hit.

Although I haven’t been to Sydney, I’m still going to recommend it as a good first time trip, but only if cost isn’t an issue for you.

That being said, site-unseen Sydney still makes the list because of it’s great transportation system, friendly English-speaking locals and an enormous amount of fun things to do.

I have a lot of friends who’ve spent all their money and went to Australia . . . all of them had a fabulous time and their only complaint was the cost, and the very long flight.

Athens

I very tentatively put Athens on this list.

There’s a huge language barrier and big culture shock, but so many of our American traditions, beliefs and educational structures were developed in Ancient Greece it would be irresponsible of me to leave this fabulous and very old city off the list.

In fact, if you think you only have one international trip in you, make it to Athens and climb to the top of the Acropolis.

Explore their museums, enjoy authentic Greek food and take a ferry to one or more of the famous Greek Islands.

You’ll leave Athens agreeing with Socrates that, “Wisdom begins in wonder”.

Solo Travel

Venice-Florence-Pisa

If you’re considering taking this first adventure solo I’d recommend you take of my favorite trips, Venice-Florence-Pisa.

Side Note

If you fly in or out of Milan you could also add on Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at the beginning or the end of the trip, but be sure to get tickets in advance.

Everyone Has a Different Appreciation for Art

I personally could spend all day, every day wandering through art museums and digging around old churches. Not one of my travel friends feel the same way, so occasionally I take a solo “Art Trip”. It’s usually the highlight of my travel year.

Because everyone has a different appreciation for art, this train trip across Italy is a great first solo trip. It’s art heavy by design and you can linger as long as you want without annoying your travel pals.

You can also eat all the gelato you want without anyone judging you.

Venice and Florence are both very art and church heavy (both cities are very safe) and I believe are best visited alone . . . that way you don’t have to worry if you art obsession is “boring” your friends.

Italy has a convenient train system that connects Venice, Florence, Pisa and Milan quickly and easily. (If you want to save some money, consider flying in and out of Milan, it’s the financial capital, not the tourism center).

Plus there’s something immensely satisfying about going on a big alone trip and returning home in one piece, like a modern day Marco Polo.

Thanks for Stopping By

Please feel free to share your questions or comments below. If you see any typos, let me know!

I encourage you to share my tribal knowledge with someone who loves or would love to travel.

The Art of Travel (TAOT) ~ Written by Kylie, a huge thanks to Alex for helping with photos.