Finally the day has come. In a few hours’ time, I will be boarding the Scoot flight and taking my One Flight Out to Europe. If all goes well, I will be returning home just in time to celebrate National Day.

This trip has been more than nine months in the making. I prefer not to call it a “holiday”, but rather, a “trip” or an “adventure”. To me, a holiday is what you go on when you’ve been working hard and you badly need a break away from work. This time, I wanted to do a long trip and visit as many countries that I have not been to before. One fine night in 2017, as I was lying in bed struggling to fall asleep, the idea came to me that I should fly to Europe and make my way back to Singapore by land. It seemed like an exciting adventure and I was immediately captivated by the concept of taking only one flight out and coming home by land.

I thought about the countries that I would like to visit and how the route would pan out. I had visited Europe quite a few times before but there were still many countries that I had not explored yet.

I thought about Greece and how magical it would be to visit the Acropolis, having been inspired by Yanni’s Live At The Acropolis concert film more than 20 years ago. I remembered that Scoot has a direct flight to Athens, so that could be a starting point for me. From Greece, I would then make my way up north and eventually reach Scandinavia, where I could finally visit Norway and trek to Trolltunga, which has been on my list for a long time.

I initially considered taking the Silk Road route back to Asia, passing through the Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. But as I researched more, I found that some of these countries required a visa and it wasn’t so straightforward to get one.

I then learned that the 2018 FIFA World Cup would be taking place in Russia this year, and how wonderful it would be if I could catch a match or two while I was there. So Russia was added to the list, and that led to me deciding to take the Trans-Siberian Railway route back to Asia. But instead of the full Trans-Siberian Railway route from Moscow to Vladivostok, I decided to cut through Mongolia and then down to Beijing, so it is technically the Trans-Mongolian Railway route. From Beijing, I could easily make my way through Southeast Asia and back to Singapore.

With this general framework, I plotted a rough route and calculated that it would take me at least three months to complete the trip. Actually, three months to cover the distance is quite short. Ideally, I would love to spend a full year travelling but realistically speaking, it would be a huge expense. I am prepared to go budget but Europe is inherently not as cheap as Asia or South America (especially Scandinavia), so I can only cut my expenses to a certain extent.

After freezing my a** off in Hokkaido two years ago, I decided that I will not travel in winter anymore because the cold is just too unbearable. It’s also a hassle to bring thick winter clothes while backpacking. With that in mind, I wanted to start my trip only in late April or early May, during the shoulder season in spring and heading in to the summer. During the shoulder season, costs are lower, there aren’t as many crowds and the temperatures are generally quite comfortable. Furthermore, the trekking season in Norway only begins in June and the World Cup takes place only from mid-June onwards.

I initially envisioned it to be a solo trip but I later decided to ask my family and friends to see if anyone would be up for the adventure. The timing didn’t work out for my friends so none of them could join me this time round. My parents were keen to come along but they felt that the full three months would be too much to take. So they decided to join me for the first leg of my trip, and rejoin me again in China.

In January 2018, I began planning the trip seriously and I researched more about the travel connections between countries. At first, I was quite adamant about taking one flight only (in keeping with the One Flight Out theme) and travelling by land but I found out it was not always feasible. In the end, I would be taking a couple of domestic flights and making some journeys across the sea by ship. However, the general concept of taking one flight out to Europe and making my way back by land remains intact.

After many months of planning, I have mostly finalised my itinerary and I will be visiting about 20 countries in all: Singapore > Greece > Bulgaria > Serbia > Hungary > Austria > Czech Republic > Germany > Denmark > Sweden > Norway > Finland > Estonia > Russia > Mongolia > China > Vietnam > Cambodia > Thailand > Malaysia > Singapore.

I would have liked to keep my itinerary more flexible but because my parents are joining me for the first leg and because I have to reach Russia in time for the World Cup, I have to plan my itinerary in advance. Furthermore, train tickets and accommodation get more expensive closer to the travel date, so it is better to plan and book in advance. I considered buying a Eurail pass for flexible train travel, but in the end, I calculated that buying the individual train tickets in advance would actually be cheaper, since I already know my dates.

I also had to firm up my China itinerary in advance because I will be spending more than 15 days in China, so I needed to apply for a China visa before leaving Singapore. Ordinarily, for Singapore Citizens, we do not need a visa to China if you’re visiting for up to 15 days. Before I could apply for the visa, I had to confirm my inbound and outbound travel connections and all accommodation within China. Thus, I couldn’t be flexible with my itinerary. The other way to get around this is to apply for the visa when I am in Mongolia but I prefer not to leave it so late.

For the final Southeast Asian leg, I have not made any bookings yet because it is still too far away. That is the only time I can have some flexibility in my itinerary because I will be travelling solo once again (anyone want to join me?), so I shall make my plans when the time comes.

I’m sure most people will be interested to know how much this trip is going to cost me, because that is often the biggest stumbling block to embarking on such a long trip. I promise I will share more as the trip progresses and keep you posted.

For now, I look forward to having a Grand Adventure and spending some quality time with my parents. I pray that everything will go smoothly, we will stay safe and be in good health throughout the trip. See you on the road soon!