For many, at least for many living in the UK, the idea of a great trip just before Easter is to head somewhere slightly warmer, perhaps relaxing, to shake off the end of the Winter and to embrace sunnier climes. Beaches beckon, sunsets and sand tempt you southwards, and after a couple of weeks, all is well in the world once again.
Or, like me, you can head somewhere decidedly colder, where many layers of clothing are the only fashion consideration, where, in fact, the weather is literally Baltic. And so that’s what I’ve chosen for my latest journey – making my way eastwards through Germany and Poland, turning north through the Baltic states, before crossing over to an even colder Scandinavia.
I expect it to be a voyage of contrasts, taking in the simple pleasures of places like Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – where friendly local bars still serve a beer for a coupe of Euro – to the more pricey climes of Sweden and Norway – where mortgage papers and credit card guarantees may be needed to secure a thimble of Guinness.
And there must be something that draws a man in his fifties to this – because for the third time in a year I’m taking the trip by rail. Another sale has secured a generous discount on the Eurail ticket – this time I’ve opted for a pass that gives me fifteen days of travel spread over a maximum of two months. If I had that kind of time, I’d likely be lingering for a few days at a time somewhere further south. But instead I have three weeks – and this time it’s going to be a combination of rail, bus and sea travel.
Although I’ve planned all of my stops along the way, I’ve booked ahead with the flexibility to cancel or amend hotels one day in advance. This means if anything goes wrong, I shouldn’t lose out too much. There’s just one main deadline that I can’t miss – being in Tallinn on a specific date to get the overnight ferry to Stockholm. If I miss that, the whole of the Scandinavian leg of the joruney could be thrown off course.
So yes, there’s a degree of jeopardy that I don’t normally like; after all, this is meant to be a holiday. But it’s also meant to be an adventure – and I can’t wait to get going.
TravelCaster 
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