Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 3 - 23/7/25 - Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Happy 34th Birthday To me! :)

I have never felt more tired. I am up very very early!

The Brazilian man working at the front desk at the Hostel kindly lets me collect my food from the fridge

I leave at 2:45AM to catch the Alsa bus. In 34 years I have never missed a flight. But I am very anxious about catching this one as I didn't know how much the bus would be. The bus is 5 euros. 

Hostellicious was a great place to stay as I could cook. 

I get to Berlin and spent too long at the airport . I bought some Mezzo Mix which I have spoken about before is my favourite drink when I am in Germany.

I get to my hostel in Kreuzberg. I;m staying at the Grand Hostel in Berlin Urban  Sonnenaleee: 

Please see information on this hostel here Hostel -

There are three men staying in my room. I would not stay at this hostel again because there is no kitchen. 

Above is the artwork inside the hostel room!

I take a long nap so don't feel like going to the Language Exchange Meetup like originally planned. 

I go for some wanderings and take some photos :) 

I go back to the hostel and change.

I then go to the Republic Beer Garden and meet *J and his friend from Toronto. I have a lemon vodka to drink. The friend tells me about some issues he is having with his landlord in Germany. We have a discussion about the housing crisis and I speak about my own issues renting in the UK. 

I get very lost going back to the hostel and I listen to Life is Good By Junk on the website

It wasn't a perfect birthday due the migraine but all in all a pretty great day :) 

J* name has been changed :)

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 2 - 22/7/25 - Faro Beachy Fun! :)

This was a great day but very tiring!

I meet a woman from Edinburgh at the hostel, She kindly lends me some milk for me to get my morning coffee! She is doing her Masters at Edinburgh Napier University where I used to work. 

The Dandy Warhols are playing in the hostel. I used to love that band growing up. 

I try to go to the art gallery but it is unfortunately closed.

I then go to the Faro Story Spot. You can find more information about them on their website here; Your first stop in Faro - Faro Story Spot

It is very expensive at 13 euros. 

I then meet I* at 2PM at the Faro sign. 

He is a local to Portugal. He kindly gives me a lift to the beach.

 

When we get out to the beach it's beautiful and he kindly buys me iced tea from a vendor.

Here are some more photos from the rest of the day. 

The staff at the hostel give me a coupon for 1 free beer as it is my birthday the next day. There is a supermarket nearby called Algarthos Supermercados. 

I picked up some smoked cheese, mortadella and toothpaste. I unfortunately don't speak any Portugese. 

I like memories so I pick up a newspaper called The Portugal News. 

Unfortunately I can't take I* to drinks as my migraine is still bad and I have a very very early bus to Berlin!

I feel very grateful to be able to travel again and not be stuck in lockdown!

The next day is my 34th Birthday! Berlin is my favourite city because of how liberal it is!

*I - to respect privacy I have changed the name to an acronym. 

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 1 - 21/7/25 - The Beginning of a Beautiful Adventure! :)

I have to be at the airport for 4:30AM as my flight is at 6:30AM. I take the Glasgo Cab taxi to the airport. 

For this flight I am flying with Jet 2. It is my first time flying with Jet2. The woman at the airport check in desk kindly wishes me happy birthday! :)

 I would show a photo of the ticket but I am having some problems working my new laptop so use your imagination! :)

Faro is in the same time zone as the UK. It is my first time in Portgual! :)

When I touchdown at the airport it is absolutely boiling! Here are a couple photos of outside the airport

 

I then take the public bus no 16 at 10:47AM from Aeropoto Faro to Terminal Rodoviario. The bus is 2.60 euros. I'll write an essay in the future of why I always take public transport from the airport to my location in future. 

I buy a blue hat as it is so hot. Below is a picture of where I bought the hat. 

 

 

I arrive at the hostel, as it was such an early flight, I have a bad migraine when I get to the hostel and I have to sleep. I was planning on going to the pub crawl that evening but I find out it is cancelled.

Below are some photos of the artwork on the inside of the hostel.

I really like this hostel as it seems really safe. There are 2 other people staying in the room. 

I go for a bit of a wander and take some photos around Hostellicious. Please see those photos below:

 FREE PALESTINE! When I was a student at the University of Leeds I would often go to the protests.

The art gallery looks super interesting so I may try to visit tomorrow. 

I still have a very bad migraine due to the early flight so I buy some food from a vendor but I can't manage it all so I plan to eat the rest of it in the morning and go to sleep. :)

 

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 0 - 20/7/25 Getting Ready!

It has been a challenging year for me both on a professional and personal level.

My last two birthdays were not fun so I decide to use my savings to take a trip to visit three countries in 8 days.

Although life in the UK is hard at present with low salaries and high rents. I am glad that we can travel again and talk to human beings and are not trapped in lockdown.

I picked up the below notebook from a charity shop to write down all my travel details.

 

I have never been to Chicago but would love to go one day!

I passed on all the locations of everywhere I was staying to a female friend in case of emergency. I also write down notes on my travels so I have memories.

For this trip I am going to Faro, Berlin and Budapest. 

It will be my first time in Portugal and Hungary and I will spend my 34th birthday in Berlin

My flight to Faro is at 6:30AM meaning I will have to be at the airport at 4:30AM. It is my first time flying from Glasgow airport! 

A return ticket on the 500 Glasgow airport bus is £17.50 which is a rip off but I have not yet found a cheaper way to get to the airport. 

I am up most of the night as I packed everything quite last minute! 

For the first two nights I am staying at Hostellicious at 60 Largo de Sao Pedro.

Please see information on that hostel below.

Faro Hostels • Hostellicious

This was an excellent trip and I think I planned it really well, please stay tuned for the rest of this blog series :)

Single Woman on a Budget - Travel Tips 3 - Travel Toiletries

As I have gotten older I have learnt to travel light. The UK hand luggage rules stipulate you cannot take more than 100 MLs hand luggage of liquids; Hand luggage restrictions at UK airports: Liquids - GOV.UK

I unfortunately was born looking far younger than my age so I carry a small amount of make- up and travel toiletries so I am taken seriously and look appropriate for my age.

Below are some travel wipes, these are good for when you get sweaty when you travel. Although they dry up quickly. They are less than 100 mls and fit easily in your hand luggage.

I have mild hyperhidrosis which I am still trying to combat. When I was filming a TV show I found I got really sweaty as I was quite anxious so I picked up a Dove deodorant. 

This one I really love as it's 50ml and its a stick deodorant as I am trying to be more environmentally conscious. 

I no longer use make-up wipes as I found I went through small packs of make up remover wipes really quickly. 

I picked up the below 'Make-up remover cookie' for only £2 at a Tesco in the UK.

It is a little hard to get make-up off but its much easier and cheaper to travel with! You can use soap and water in a hostel bathroom to get the make-up off.

DM (drogerie markt) is a popular chain of retail supermarkets in Germany. You can get everything from food to make-up there.

I picked up all the below make-up at DM. These are products from a brand called 'Essence' an affordable make-up brand which was launched in Germany in 2002.  Think the equivalent of 'Collection' you would find at a superdrug in the UK

They are all travel sized so really useful. I have been trying to be more minimalist. The mousse foundation has run out already but as it's in a travel sized tub I can refill it with foundation or reuse the tub.

I hope that helps you :)

Why I Always Eat McDonald's When I Travel

"What’s wrong with McDonald’s?...You know how many people McDonald’s feeds every day? You know how many people it employs around the world? Plus, they make an incredible product, okay? It tastes tremendous, it’s affordable, it’s consistent. I can walk into a McDonald’s in Nigeria, order chicken McNuggets and when I bite into it, you know what it’s gonna taste like? It’s gonna taste like home.”

- Ray from HBO's Girls sharing his opinion on McDonald's. You can find this monologue on Youtube.

I grew up in the early 90s. My Dad would always take my sibling and I to McDonald's on the weekend if we were good. Over the years, we accumulated many McDonalds's toys at the height of the Beanie Baby craze in the late 90s.

As I spent a couple years doing the Open University I learnt to work in strange places on an almost remote basis.

When  you travel, there are two things you need- internet connection and food.

When my flight was cancelled in January 2025 late at night I found a McDonald's in central Prague a good place to get something to eat late at night and arrange a hotel/flight home.

McDonald's differs in every city. Below is the McDonalds I had in Berlin in January 2025. 

Curry sauce is typical of Berlin. I was interested to try the different food on the menu. I was surprised that they had the McRib on the German McDonald's menu. You can see more about the products they offer on their website here; Burger | Produkte | McDonald's Deutschland

This year McDonalds' introduced a new 'McDonald's Around the World - 'Mecca um die Welt' as it is known in German. Above is an advert for this I took in Berlin.

Below are two items from the Around the World Menu I sampled in Scotland this year;

Black Pepper and Garlic McNuggets 'Stolen from the Japan' menu.

McShaker Sour Cream and Black Pepper Fries, typical from the Polish McDonald's menu.

Squishmallows, have become a popular toy/craze at McDonald's in recent years. Pictured below is 'Rossi' who I got with a Happy meal on a trip when I was starved for food!

He will shortly be on his way to the charity shop to make a young child happy :)

Although I hate how unhealthy McDonald's is, I am yet to find anything else where I have cheap food and a consistent internet connection in the digital age across the world.