I won’t lie – I have almost as much fun planning out a trip as I do actually going on it.

Finding new places to go and adventures to do while searching the web is a great way to get the travel juices flowing.

Of course, I’ve actually had this trip itinerary planned out for the last 3 years as part of my Balkan Trip 2020 that got unceremoniously cancelled due to Covid.

Even still, I wanted to take a good look at the trip and try to plan it out a little more than I had.

Having said that, there’s a fine line between overplanning with no room for spontaneous adventures and going in blind with no plan at all.

I’ve done both and I feel like my travel experience now has led me to a nice middle ground.   Alot of planning but with room for changes on the fly if they should come about.

So, with that said, here’s my upcoming trip itinerary:

Turkey

• Days 1-5:   Istanbul

Romania

• Days 6-7:   Bucharest
• Days 8-10:   Brasov
• Day 11:   Bucharest

Bulgaria

• Days 12-13:   Veliko Tarnovo
• Days 14-17:   Plovidv
• Days 18-21:   Sofia

North Macedonia

• Days 22-24:   Skopje
• Days 25-27:   Lake Ohrid

Albania

• Days 28-31:   Berat
• Days 32-35:   Tirana

Kosovo

• Days 36-37:   Prizren
• Days 38-39:   Peja
• Days 40-41:   Prishtina

Journey home

• Day 42:   Vienna
• Day 43:   Zurich and Lichtenstein
• Day 44:   Flying home from Paris

And there you have it – 9 countries and 17 cities in 44 days.   I feel like I’ve spaced things apart enough even though it seems like I’m moving from city to city at a rapid pace.

One thing to remember though is that most of these cities in these Balkan countries are small where you can see everything in a few hours and spend the rest of your time relaxing.

I guess we’ll see if it all works out in a month and a half…

41 days to go!