Che facile!

Traveling in the EU has been amazingly simple. The Schengen area agreement between 26 EU countries means that even though I hold a US passport, once I am inside this region, I can move about freely like the locals do. In the past 3 weeks I have traveled by plane and train to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, mainland Italy, Malta and now the autonomous region of Sicily and I’ve only had to show my passport once to a couple of Italian polizia monitoring an obscure Alpine pass bordering Schweiz.

The rail and metro systems in every country work nearly flawlessly. I will say that while Malta has an extensive bus network, sometimes the drivers (seemingly all from Asia or Africa) didn’t stop for passengers or were late. Large ferries and traditional gondola water taxis connect the various island and cities of Malta and Italy inexpensively. 

Conversely, traveling in SoCal means lots of traffic and limited options to get around if you don’t have a car. Bicycling, which is fully embraced and integrated into daily life here, is only for sport/leisure in SoCal and is nearly impossible for commuting purposes due to lack of bike lanes and sidewalks. Plus it’s downright dangerous as car drivers are impatient and rule the road. Our car-centric culture in the US keeps our suburbs ugly and sprawling and directly contributes to American obesity. I came across some great YouTubers who go into this in great depth: Not Just Bikes and Climate Town.

If the US weren’t so dominated by big business, special interest groups (car companies) and lobbyists, we could learn a lot about really efficient, economical and earth-friendly mass transit. 
But I digress….

The last time I traveled solo for an extended period in Europe was many years ago, and I was reliant on navigating posted train schedules and paper tickets in different languages in every country. The Eurrail Rail Planner app is incredible and my new best friend. That, combined with Google Maps, makes solo travel a breeze.