#tbt series : the ultimate Baltic road trip

Jun 30

Jun 30 #tbt series : the ultimate Baltic road trip

Aka the craziest, most spontaneous, unbelievable and definitely the cheapest trip to date.

But how did that happen?

As I remember it , there wasn't really a plan for that. There was a slightly bored me in the middle of my gap year (between high school and university) scrolling through Fly4Free looking for an inspiration for the next trip. And here it was - Wizzair is opening a new route from Wroclaw to Oslo and the first X tickets are sold for 1€ one way. Not much to think about, really.

But for me being me, it couldn't be just Oslo, not in the middle of July. There had to be more of Norway and something else after that.

So the research went on and as it turned out, the route Wroclaw - Oslo wasn't the only new and cheap one. The flight between Oslo and Vilnius in Lithuania was only 5€ - perfect!

But once I am in Lithuania already, can’t I go any further? Well yes I can if I check that one of the international bus companies (of the likes of FlixBus at the moment) and discover that the tickets further on to Riga and Tallinn are ridiculously cheap as well (10-15€ maximum between the cities).

I quickly posted this cray plan on Facebook to see whether anyone wants to go with me and within few hours I got 3 other friends on board. So there was the plan, but what’s next?

How come the cheapest?

Well, first of all, I am completely aware that it was year 2012 and the prices were different. I don’t think that Wizzair opens its new routs with tickets for 1€ anymore and the bus travel across Europe did get more common and therefore more expensive since then.

Secondly, it was pure luck really (people say it’s a skill to find deals like this but I don’t know about that - I guess you just have to know where to look?). Here’s a breakdown of what the trip cost us in terms of transportation - I even found the original message I sent to one of my friends to show you a proof!

Wroclaw - Oslo
16 zl = 4€ / 3 people
1.3€ / person

Oslo - Vilnius
91 zl = 22€ / 3 people
7€ / person

Vilnius - Riga
60 zl = 14€ / 3 people
5€ /person

Riga - Tallin
48 zl = 11.5€ / 3 people
4€ / person

Tallin - Warsaw
144 zl = 34€ / 3 people
11.5€ / person

Warsaw - Wroclaw
35 zl = 8€ / person

+ spontaneous ferry to Helsinki
apx. 15€/person

= Full 3 week Baltic Trip transportation
apx. 50€ / person

Lastly, an extremely economic student approach. Transportation was our only cost this trip (apart from food obviously) since we decided to move around Norway exclusively hitch-hiking and sleep using only couch surfing. I can’t remember how much we spend on food at this point but I do remember it included a dedicated backpack filled with dry food and conserves brought from Poland and filling ourselves up with bread and potato salad from Dia while in Norway. I don’t think we ate in even 1 restaurant or went to even 1 bar during this trip but hey, that was not the point at all!

Unforgettable memories

This was definitely my craziest trip to date, the most spontaneous for sure, and so memorable. We got out of our comfort zone unlimited number of times, met so many amazing people (some of them I even mangled to see again after that and follow their stories until today!), found ourselves in the craziest situations.

Plus I got to do it with the best human being on the planet, my close friend to this day.

Looking back at it, I’m so happy I did it when I did it - I'm not sure I would be up to this kind of travelling now. I still love the independency when travelling but since then I switched hitch-hiking for renting my own car and couch-surfing for Airbnb.

Remembering all the crazy stories and situations we found ourselves in, I only hope one day I will as much trust in my kids as my mum had in me letting me do this all on my own…