Island hopping was high on the list for the blogging treatment having visited Spetses, Hydra, Aegina, Poros, Santorini, Rhodes, Symi and more, but how could I possibly not plump for inter-rail?

My 1987 experience gained from my three weeks of training around Europe has been hugely influential in my life, instilling an adventure gene that I am not sure existed previously.

Wilbur In Amsterdam 1987

The trip was full of mishaps, irritability, sleepless nights, plus terrible accommodation & food, but the glorious memories are as vivid now as they were nearly thirty-years ago.

I shared part of my aborted Yugoslavia experience with you recently and there are many more incidents from this trip and subsequent journeys in ’89 & ’92, some of which will appear in my forthcoming book and others that I am sure to write about at some stage on this blog.

Wilbur in 1989, Af Chapman Youth Hostel Ship, Stockholm

My first ever destination was Amsterdam and on that first trip we also visited Paris, Munich, Milan, Lausanne, Venice, Vienna and many others. Two years later the travels centred on Scandinavia and in 1992 Eastern Europe was visited properly for the first time.

Three inter-rails in six-years led to journeys further afield and a real broadening of my horizons. Thank goodness that I kept coming back for more.