When I was growing up, I wanted to be an archeologist. I loved history and the thought of uncovering temples and tombs in jungles excited me. I used to read books on Greek and Roman history and have discussions with my history teacher, even as young as 13. In short, I was huge a geek from the get go. Being such a huge history geek, visiting Pompeii, the city destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D, as always been high [...]

During 4 years of European travel, I’ve stayed at more hostels than I can think of. Ones I won’t ever remember, ones I wish I wouldn’t remember, and ones I wish I could stay at forever. I love hosteling. I would never want to stay at a hotel as I find hostels great value and great places to meet people. Here are my favorite places to rest my head when I go to Europe: Kabul (Barcelona, Spain) Kabul is tied [...]

Europe covers a huge area of the world where prices can fluctuate widely. For 20 euros, you can get a private room in Greece. For 20 euros in Paris, you may get 16 person dorm room. You can eat for a few Euros in Spain or Greece but a sit down meal in Italy will cost around 15 Euros. So thinking about how to budget for your European trip can be quite difficult. But let me share my experience and [...]

I first came to Italy in 2006. It was one of the first stops on my just began round the world adventure. Italy was everything I thought it would be and more. If there was a country that lived up to the hype, it was Italy. Backpacking around Italy, I spent most of my time in the north. Whenever I Kept trying to get further south, I always found an excuse to stay somewhere longer and I never made it [...]

Most traveling around Greece tend to focus on the Greek Islands and for good reason- they are beautiful, cheap, relaxing, exciting, and did I mention beautiful? It has always been a dream of mine to spend a summer slowly moving from island to island, getting to know the character of each while also working on a great tan! This summer I had planned on doing just that but like all the best laid plans, it didn’t work out and I [...]

A few weeks from now, I will turn one year closer to 30. It’s a reality that isn’t sitting well with me. At the beginning of the year, I decided I would spend the summer in Europe, with most of my time spent on the island of Ios in Greece. During the summer months, the island becomes a haven for young backpackers seeking to soak up the sun, water, and the suds. I knew there wouldn’t be another chance to do [...]

I’ve never really eaten much Greek food. All I ever knew about it was that it has strange names, gyros are really good, and I like Greek salad. I’m currently in Greece visiting the Greek islands and on this trip I was determined to dig into the local food. So far all my meals have involved traditional Greek food with every meal being a revolving door of new dishes. My thoughts? Greek food is delicious. There’s a lot of variety, [...]

I’m currently back in Amsterdam. Yes, I know I was just here a few months ago but it was Queen’s Day (Dutch national party day) and I love this city. It’s my 7th time in Amsterdam since I started traveling in 2006. After 7 visits to Amsterdam, I know this place pretty well. I’ve spent months in this city. I’ve walked everywhere. I’ve been to all the attractions. I know good places to eat, things to see, and parks to [...]

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Europe was all the train travel I did. Using my Eurail pass, I rode through the continent’s amazing countryside. In the past, I had done some limited train travel but, usually my travel plans are always random, so I typically jet set around Europe on cheap Ryanair flights. This time though, since I had a pretty set route, I really wanted to explore Europe by train. I had heard so much [...]

I love Europe. I really do. So much so that when I stop being Nomadic Matt, I want to move to Paris (or maybe Amsterdam). I love the cafe culture, the wine, the free health care, the liberal attitude towards life, the ability to travel to so many different places cheaply- it is all great. But there are things about Europe that really get on my nerves. Things that keep it from being the perfect place while making me realize [...]