March, 2024 – Preparing Contingencies


“When going on a huge adventure, what contingencies should I plan for?”

That’s a great question, Mr. Excuse-for-Exposition!


My next step, after locking in the primary plan, was to create the secondary and tertiary plans. What do I do if something goes wrong… and what do I do if a second something goes wrong?

For me, that was actually fairly straightforward – One of the many skills that one picks up as a Mechanical / Industrial engineer is failure analysis, and failure prediction… combine that with my innate cultural paranoia, and you’ve got the recipe for someone who naturally over-plans things.

I started my backup planning for this trip years ago, in all truth. “What happens if my Passport gets stolen?” was an easy question to answer, and a situation that I’ve found myself in previously. Being a dual citizen, I have two passports – Primary and Secondary plans. As a Tertiary, I have a US “Real ID” drivers license… not quite as good, but good enough to at least get me into an embassy.

(Ed Note: See “And it all comes tumbling down” here – https://talesfromthehutt.com/2011/10/13/and-it-all-comes-tumbling-down/ – for the story of when Ben had his passport stolen previously, and learned that a photocopy of a passport is NOT a viable backup contingency)



There’s a few other contingencies that I prepped previously, just as part of my normal life.

Communication? Cellphone, backup older cellphone, and laptop.

Camera? Cellphone, backup older cellphone, credit card to buy a new camera. Never forget this – Credit cards (and cash) make for excellent all-around backups… but they do tend to draw attention and risk.

Vision? I have contacts, and bought extra 6-month packs so I wouldn’t have to rush when I landed in Ireland. But on top of that, I also have two pairs of glasses… not ones I’d enjoy using, but ones that could keep me safe for a time.

Data? Cloud backup services, along with a small stash of USB drives that I’ll mail back home every so often.

Paying ability? An international credit card (with zero currency exchange fees), along with secondary credit cards in a second wallet, and cash (Euros, Krona, etc…)


As part of my Grand European Adventure though, I did have some unique contingencies to plan for.

Housing, for instance, I backed up with a list of “vanilla” hotels in each city I’m staying in. Places that’re international and safe, like Marriot and Hilton – not somewhere that I’d get a good sense of the city… but somewhere that, in an emergency, I could rely on to either have a spare room or be able to help me find one. I included address and phone number, so I could either call or be able to get a cab.

I also created a list of embassies and consulates for each city that I’m in – not only the phone number and address, but also the name of the presiding ambassador / consular, so I would know someone I could ask for specifically if things REALLY hit the fan.


I stored all these plans on the cloud – but, since the cloud is inherently unreliable, I’ll have a few backups there too. I’ll print everything off as .pdfs, and save them to my various devices… but since electronics can fail, I’ll also have at least two physical copies with me, and will share copies with my friends and family.

Of note – None of these backups are being kept together. That’s a key! If two backups are both in the same satchel or checked bag… they’re not really a backup, are they? I plan on having three bags for this trip, and each will have one backup of each item: My primaries will live in my personal bag. My secondaries will reside in the backpack that has my clothes, and bulkier items. Tertiaries will have to content themselves with my checked back – a small duffel that’ll hold things that I can’t bring on the plane… like contact lens solution and the special dreadlock shampoo that I like to use.

Am I paranoid? Absolutely.

Is paranoia bad when the world actually seems out to get you, and take advantage of any small lapse in attention? Well. Time will tell, won’t it?

March, 2024 – Filling in the Details

With the first steps of planning complete, I had a general sketch laid out of where I was going, and when I’d be going there. That’s a great start, but it’s not nearly enough to sustain me on the adventure. An actual trip needs details – flights need to be booked, reservations made, and travel times accounted for. The Eurail map is great, but… not enough on its own.

So I started at the beginning.

I mentioned slow and methodical planning, in Part 2… and that was the name of the game. Over two weeks, I worked line by line through the plan. I booked tickets to Greenland, and then onward to Iceland. I worked item by item – I’d lock in the book-ends of a city first, ensuring that I knew when I’d arrive and when I’d leave, and then I’d book the place to stay.

In Greenland, I booked the tickets arriving and then departing. Only then did I book a place to stay.

The same for Iceland – The flight there was already booked, thanks to Greenland, so I only had to book the outbound flight. Then I locked in a place to stay in Reykjavik, then booked a campervan for a few days, and then booked the same place in Reykjavik to stay before my outbound flight.

Norway, Sweden, and Finland followed suit.

I ran into my first issue getting from Stockholm to Helsinki – turns out, even though the Eurail shows a connection between the two… that’s just saying that a connection exists. Not that you can book it via the Eurail. I took a short break to recompose myself, and then forged ahead. Found a ferry / cruise ship that goes between the two, booked it, and then found my place to stay in Stockholm.

The Baltic states were next – another ferry, and another “the Eurail doesn’t cover this area” situation. Busses were the name of the game in the Baltics, and after another rest / cool-down period for myself to recompose after getting quite frustrated that the Eurail map is BLATANTLY not telling the whole story, I got busses booked and hotels reserved.

As a side note – don’t get a Eurail pass. They’re not worth it. I should fight it, and cancel my pass, but… I’m holding onto it just in case it becomes useful. But seriously – the Eurail is not NEARLY as helpful as it makes itself out to be, at least when you’re outside Germany / France / Austria / Switzerland.

I took my time, taking Europe chunk by chunk.

I locked down the Nordic states, then confirmed everything. I locked down the Baltics, then confirmed. Central Europe came next, and was (surprise surprise) double-checked. Then Western Europe, and on into Ireland. Central and Western Europe did have a lot of Eurail connections, but included a few flights too, for simplicities sake. That’s one of the many little things I’m excited for, with living in Europe – flights are just so much simpler and cheaper than here in the States.


I finished near the end of March… giving myself a few days break to relax after booking the final flight into Dublin. My next steps are to confirm everything a second time, create contingency plans, and lock down emergency contacts for the various countries. Then I’ll need to confirm healthcare coverage, details for settling into Dublin… and then start selling and storing my various possessions.

Slowly but surely. Step by step.