I’ve been writing How You Can Go for several weeks now in an effort to gather my thoughts on travel and consider my possible opportunities. I’ve realized there are many, many opportunities available. In an effort to focus my intentions I decided I would try to create an itinerary for a possible trip using the ideas, programs, and tools I’ve discussed thus far on How You Can Go.
Where to go, where to go? Where not to go is really the question. I’ve always wanted to return to Western Europe, so I decided I’d look at airfare in the region using Google ITA Matrix Airfare Search. One of the first cities that came to mind was Lisbon, Portugal. I’ve never been to Portugal, but I’ve always wanted to visit. After trying a few departure cities in the west coast I found a steal of a flight from Oakland, CA to Lisbon, Portugal.
The prospect of meeting new people while sampling the local cuisine jumped to my mind instantly when considering what I’d do in Portugal, so I started thinking about WWOOFing. A quick Google search landed me on Portugal’s WWOOFing site
where I began looking at vacant host families looking for workers. One in particular caught my interest due to the vast size of the farm, and its focus on forestry.
I’ve done research on a blueberry farm before, and would love to expand my knowledge of sustainable agriculture. These are some under-ripe blueberries that likely found there way to someone’s table.
So far, I’d found my way to Lisbon and further on to a farm at a cost of maybe 800$—I rounded up for a bus ride to the farm and food on my trip. I then realized my flight would be getting in quite late in Portugal, and that I’d likely be quite tired. So I wandered over to to look for a place to rest up. After some hunting around I found a place I could hang out for the remainder of the week while I got my bearings and explored Lisbon.
Two nights in Lisbon would run me around $70, and I’d likely spend close to $40 on food while I poked around. This brings the grand total to around a thousand dollars.
For a thousand dollars I could be on a farm in Lisbon, meeting people and learning organic farming practices for the summer. From Lisbon I could move East and explore other cities while WWOOFing or spending time in Airbnb’s. Of course I’d need to budget another thousand to get home, but I wouldn’t necessarily include that in my initial itinerary—I think I’d like the flexibility during my travels.
I’m not a millionaire. You couldn’t even call me a thousand-aire. But this is in my reach.
With a little determination, a healthy dose of flexibility, and an urge to adventure I could make this possibility a reality. This is just one of the many opportunities available to me; just one of the many ways I can go. If you’ve got the travel bug I hope you’ll acknowledge it. Maybe you’ll be in Portugal for the summer:)
I’ve quite enjoyed making this mock itinerary, and I plan to make more in the future. Hopefully I’ve encouraged you to follow your urge to explore! Feel free to comment below if you have any ideas, or even requests for possible travel itineraries!
Cheers,
Alex
How You Can Go 