Aussie reflections on two decades in Europe

Twenty years ago I packed my suitcase and took off from Sydney, Australia for a European adventure.

My plan, if one could actually have a plan at twenty-something years old, was to see a bit of the other side of the planet before I settled down. A couple of years in London, assorted trips in-between working as an IT freelancer, then off to the States for two more years, then back to Australia. It was to be clockwork.

It wasn't. I never got as far as the US, at least not living and working there; two years in London turned to five, interspersed with regular trips to Berlin due to a long distance relationship. Which seemed all very exciting at the start, finishing up early on Fridays to get the 15.40 out of Heathrow; but getting the red eye out of Berlin Tegel every second Monday then a packed Piccadilly Line tube to work in Leicester Square wore thin pretty very quickly.

Taking a train in the UK is not a pleasant experience in general, in the year 2000 trains to Gatwick Airport still had wooden doors which had to be manually opened and closed by the passengers. You can imagine the goings on when a recent arrival was the last to exit, and the station master is busy blowing a whistle, waving his flag, frantically trying to get someone to close the door so the train can depart on time. Trains on time were exceedingly rare. I seem to recall that for British Rail statistics, a train wasn't officially late until it was 20 minutes past due.

Except for Eurostar. It's the best way to travel between London and the continent. Certainly not the cheapest, but effortless, and once you've done it you won't want to travel between London and Paris or Brussels any other way.

Look out for their "Party Train" promotions, leave after 4pm on Saturday, return before midday on Sunday, and you can have a night out in Paris for 35 quid. I have friends in Paris who I would visit regularly, and that was a great way to do it.

I also found the train to be a great way to connect to the rest of France, to go to places like Bordeaux, Nice, Avignon and Montpellier. You can book your tickets online and print them yourself, or use the smartphone app and go completely paperless.

Of course, if you want to get places like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, or Lisbon, the train turns into a bit of a trek, and IMHO it starts to become worthwhile to put oneself through the trials and tribulation of airport security, taking ones' shoes off, discarding all liquids and generally being poked, prodded and eyed with suspicion because you'll get there in under 3 hours.

There is only one country I ever regretted going to and that was Switzerland. You can read about why that is here : Switzerland Travel Advisory