On 13 June 2010 the Virgin Backpacker decided to take 12 months off work, pack a backpack and book a one-way ticket to Europe. At the age of 26, he had never set foot outside Australia. This is his diary.
We stopped in a little village, looked like it was straight out of a postcard. I jumped straight in the icy-cold fountain to relieve my right leg muscles! The Tour caravan came past shortly after, followed by the Tour an hour later. It is a long time to wait to watch some people cycle by! [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
We soon came across our first climb, which happened to be a Categorie 1 (2nd most difficult!) By this stage it was very hot, somewhere between 35-38 degrees, with direct sunlight. Not nice. I stopped a couple of times as the bag was killing already. Eventually we reached the point where the Gendarmies would allow [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
A couple of hours later we arrived in Chambery. It was now 8pm and we needed to offload some of our baggage. Ah ha, Bbox Pro Cycling Team parked opposite the train station! Wandered over, said G’day and found someone who could speak English who agreed to take our bags! Quickly changed into cycling kit [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
16th July 2010 A young Australian lass I met in Switzerland described my Tour de France adventure as ‘bending the laws of probability’. The more I think about the past week, the truer this becomes. When thinking about this trip some months ago, one of my friends in my cycling team suggested riding the stage [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
Now, about Jungfraujoch! The landscape was nothing short of breathtaking. Absolutely stunning!! The sheer faces of the mountains, the train itself, the glaciers…everything!!! Interlaken and Lucerne are gorgeous little places. I might go there after riding the Tour stages. Or go to see Suzie…not sure yet! Either way it looks like Greece on the 23rd… [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
14th July 2010 Well I suppose it is time to give an update…and explain the musings on the previous pages! First, the party/drinking on Saturday night was fun! There was a massive storm and went out in the rain to the red pub for some drinks with Michael and 2 Qld girls. They are nice…but [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
1. Book UK trains online, but don’t worry about Mainland European ones. In most of mainland Europe, trains seem to cost around €10 per hour of travel, with no difference for online purchase. The UK however is a much different story, with trains heavily discounted online. See nationalrail.co.uk. 2. Take advantage of FREE INTERNET. Internet [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
11th July 2010 Thank you for allowing me to share your special day. You are a lovely family and I feel like I have a Brazilian family now. Could you translate this so I can read it out to your family at the end? Obugada pio me permiti a compartilhar esse dia especial com vocês. [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
10th July 2010 Well the past day has been most interesting! Started off by sleeping in as my phone was still set to London time, so missed the massive breakfast on offer Met up with 2 Danish girls who were staying at the same hostel and rented bikes (for free ) and randomly rode [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
8th July 2010 9.40pm, sitting outside at McDonalds in Bahnofstrasse in Zurich! Caeser salad and a McFlurry was 13.80 CHF (about $15) – ouch hehe! Zurich is such a stunningly gorgeous city. After writing earlier at FIFA, I wandered back to town and found a cycle store – got there in time to see the [...]
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- The Virgin Backpacker
