Exploring Europe 2024:

My Three-Month Travel Plans

Back in February, while I was pet sitting in Alaska, I wrote about my 2024 world travel plans. My post-Alaska plans entailed traveling around UK and EU for most of the year, starting in mid-April with a two-month tour around Scotland.

Fast forward to early June, when I recently finished that two-month exploration and pet sitting assignments in Scotland. And on June 10^th I flew from Glasgow, Scotland to Brussels, Belgium to begin the European portion of my travels.

Schengen – photo by verborrea on Flckr CC

EU’s ‘infamous’ Schengen Zone travel restrictions

Exploring Europe can be quite complicated for travelers, like myself, who travel full time and prefer to move slowly and in-depth through each country. That’s because all non-EU citizens are limited to 90 days within a 180-day period. So essentially, after spending 90 days in EU countries, you must then leave EU entirely for another 90 days before you can return.

This scheme is called the Schengen Zone. It includes all the EU member countries plus several other non-EU European countries. Schengen rules have been in place for several years already.

Most visitors to Europe are simply making a 1-2 week vacation, possibly one month. So the Schengen restrictions don’t affect their travels at all.

But for people like myself who would like to explore all of Europe, nice and slow, the Schengen restrictions become quite a hassle. You must keep track of how long you’ve been within the Schengen countries, make sure you leave before your allotted 90 days expire, and find some place outside the Schengen Zone to go for another 90 days.

Then you can return for another 90 day stint. If you’re trying to explore all of Europe, you have to keep hopping in and out of the region, visiting it chunks at a time.

There are 27 countries in the Schengen Zone. I intend to explore each country for about one month, minimum. Based on that rule of thumb, I can expect to visit only three countries during each 90-day period. That would require nine 90-day visits.

You’re allowed two 90-day visits within one calendar year. So it would take 4.5 years of repeatedly hopping in and out of Europe, exploring three countries per visit. That’s a pretty darn long time to be able to see all of Europe!

In contrast, without the Schengen restrictions, it would take about 27 consecutive months to explore the whole region, aka two years and three months. Essentially, it takes twice as long to visit Europe with the pesky Schengen rules in place.

But them’s the rules. And so that’s how I’ll have to explore Europe, quite unfortunately.

My plan to tackle Schengen Zone countries

Sticking to my own rule of three countries per 90-day visit, it makes most sense to explore three adjacent countries each time. So in summer of 2024 I plan to visit Belgium, Netherlands and either Luxembourg or western Germany.

Next year I’ll target another block of adjacent countries.

Luckily for me, I’ve already visited more than a dozen European countries, about half of them part of Schengen. That includes the western countries of England, France, Spain, Portugal and, most recently, Scotland. Of those, only France, Spain and Portugal are part of Schengen.

Back in 2019 I explored most of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, including four Schengen Zone countries: Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia. Even so, I’ve only visited seven Schengen countries thus far. I still have 20 more to explore. This summer I’ll add another three.

Affording Travel in western Europe

It’s probably needless to say, but all western European countries are very expensive. Some are even more outrageously expensive than others. Accommodation, in particular, is super expensive all over western Europe. In truth, I can’t afford it.

So the only way I’m able to explore western Europe at all (and UK for that matter) is to cut out accommodation costs. The best ways I know to do that are by house/pet sitting and work exchange gigs. So this year I’ve begun pet sitting in earnest.

Pet Sitting

Thus far, pet sitting gigs got me through two months of travels around Scotland, without ever having to book a room anywhere. I managed to schedule back to back pet sits, all over the country, taking care of a variety of wonderful dogs and one sweet cat. The pets are as much a reward as the accommodations.

In Europe, like in Scotland, my specific travel destinations and my itinerary will be determined by the pet sit assignments I manage to secure. Since February, I’ve been very diligent and busy searching for pet sits on a daily basis, in my three target EU countries.

It’s paid off quite well. I’ve filled in most of July and August with near back-to-back pet sits, all in Holland, coincidentally. I just have a few short gaps between a couple pet sits to fill in. I’ll keep searching until my schedule is full.

Luxury Hotel Review Work

One other factor determining my specific EU destinations is my work reviewing luxury hotels. This year I’ve been assigned 23 hotels in Belgium and 50 hotels in Amsterdam, Netherlands. That means whether I secure pet sit assignments or not, I must visit the cities where I have hotel work. They include the three Belgian cities of Brussels, Antwerp, then Amsterdam, Netherlands, as noted above.

My travel itinerary and schedule is pretty much set in place already. First, I’ll be traveling around Belgium in June, followed by Holland in July and August. At the end of August I hope to explore western Germany or Luxembourg. Let’s see what happens!

In any event, I must leave the Schengen Zone by Sept. 8^th. At that time I will return to UK to explore Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland for three months. In fact, I already have my first pet sit scheduled in Cardiff, Wales in early September.

Part 1: Belgium in June

As it turned out, to my utter amazement, I did not find one single pet sitting assignment anywhere in Belgium! It was not for lack of trying. Starting way back in February, I’ve applied for well over a dozen pet sits in Brussels and other Belgian locations. To my great frustration, every single pet host selected another pet sit applicant. Boo-hoo, crying!

By mid-May I still did not have a single pet sit booked in Belgium. But I needed to start my hotel assignments in early June. So I had no choice but to reserve paid AirBnB accommodations for all three Belgian cities that I need to visit. It was pretty expensive. But at least I have somewhere to stay and will be able to complete my hotel review work.

Here’s my itinerary:

Brussels – June 11-18

Antwerp – June 18-22

Bruges – June 23-28

All three cities are stunningly gorgeous, filled with wonderful historic architecture, plazas, churches and leafy parks. Antwerp and Bruges also have canals, much like Amsterdam.

I’m really looking forward to exploring each city, sampling gourmet chocolates and visiting nearly two dozen luxury & boutique hotels.

I wrote in greater detail about my travels around Belgium in this article.

Amsterdam photo by crash71100 on Flckr CC

Part 2: Netherlands in July and August

In great contrast to Belgium, I was super successful finding a series of pet sitting assignments in Holland. Yeah! In fact, I have so many pet sits, that they fill most of July and August, with just a few odd days still left open. I continue searching for more pet sits to fill in those days.

Here’s my itinerary thus far:

Rotterdam – June 28-July 4

Amsterdam – July 5-18

Rotterdam (same hosts!) – July 18-22

Amsterdam – July 25- August 10

Amsterdam – August 14-24

Each Amsterdam sit is located in a different section of the city, so I’ll get different experiences each time.

In addition to pet sitting, I have 50 hotels to visit, all in Amsterdam. It should be fast and easy to access all of them from my various pet sits, so I’ll still have time to look after my cat and dog wards. But it will probably be pretty full-on, like holding down two part-time jobs.

In contrast, I don’t have any hotel reviews in Rotterdam. So my two Rotterdam sits will give me time to write up reviews of previously visited hotels, chill out with two lovely cats, and explore Rotterdam and some wonderful towns & regions nearby.

Part 3: To be determined for late August – early September

As I mentioned above, I have a confirmed pet sit in Cardiff, Wales, beginning September 4^th. I have 10 days from August 24^th, when I finish my last Amsterdam sit, to explore somewhere else in the region.

I hope to get to western Germany or Luxembourg during that time. But it all depends on what pet sitting assignment(s) I find. Let’s see what happens!

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You might also enjoy:

Wrap up of my two-month travels around Scotland 2024

I’m Going to Belgium

LashWorldTour 2024 Travel Plans

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