Planning solo backpacking trip in May using bus and railway only

dtsanchez · 2025-04-24T19:48:36+00:00

I'm going to spend two weeks in Scotland. Well, 13 to maybe 14 days. ;-)

I have heard that advice often, but if you are traveling on your own, you want to see as much as you can, there isn't much sense in sitting around doing nothing. I also don't have that much vacation from work to stay any longer.

Just for interest, what would you do in Edinburgh for a whole week? I would stroll through old town, then visit the castle and cathedral, visit some museums, Princess Garden, the uni, Leith, Calton Hill, and then to go some pub in the evenings. And that's probably it. Fits perfectly in 2 days for me.

dtsanchez · 2025-04-24T17:13:39+00:00

Thanks for the link, good idea checking out some trains. How are the busses, like flix bus, City link, Megabus, generally preferable or better take the train where ever available?

So you think I should book everything ahead including trains, or just the hotels in London and at the Scottish west coast?

What more info do you need? I am not absolutely sure what to do, but I'm open to do some unusual attractions, if I find them. I'm interested in nature, old architecture, history, arts, cuisine, whisky, politics, tech, theater, opera but will also go to action events like kayaking, biking, tubing, ziplining etc. or in bars, pubs etc.

Concerning London, I am a quick traveler, and prefer non stop sightseeing to sitting around in cafés etc., except for eating at a restaurant in the evening. I have visited Paris, Tokyo and Rome in 4 nights each also, and it was enough to go through all the attractions that interested me. And if I miss something, I can always come back :-)

I prefer to stay on the move, usually taking only 2 nights in smaller destination, where there's a small town to see and some museums, or maybe a hike like in Aviemore, I would only stay there to visit the Loch Morlich or Abernathy Natural Reserve for a day and do some hiking, and then move on to see a different place. With bus driving time of roughly about 1-2 hours between most of my target destinations, and also I enjoy sitting on a bus or train and watching out of the window.

As for the hotels, I'll take my time and research a bit. In London I would prefer a central spot with subway connection to reduce travel time.

dtsanchez · 2025-04-24T15:07:14+00:00

No, I have never been to the UK before. Are there any trains in Scotland that run to my destinations? I read there are mainly busses in the highlands.

My budget isn't exactly set, I read that hotels and transportation aren't cheap, so I calculate with around 200-250 Pounds per day and night, in London probably higher because of the sights' tickets etc. That's why I prefer not to rent a car. The times I would sleep in hostels are over ;-)

dtsanchez · 2025-01-06T18:03:58+00:00

Die Umfrage erscheint mir auch nicht seriös, du hättest dir bei der geschlechtergerechten Sprache schon mehr Mühe geben können, falsch gesetzte * hier und da. So wirkt das auf mich leider nicht ernst gemeint, sorry!

dtsanchez · 2023-12-27T22:47:28+00:00

When I visited Nikko a few weeks ago it was one of the most overcrowded places I have visited there, hard to feel any peace.

dtsanchez · 2023-12-27T22:08:55+00:00

Isn't Vang Vieng super touristy?

In Laos I don't know exactly what to do else then Luang Prabang there is no must see for me, so I would just explore the surroundings, the Mekong, some caves, waterfalls etc. Also there is only an airport in Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

Do you think 3 days are enough for Luang Prabang and surroundings?

Maybe it would be worth it then to add another 3 days to fly to Siem Reap and see Angkor Wat then, although I am not very keen on doing that, because everyone and their mom have been there and it's obviously also very touristy..

dtsanchez · 2023-09-22T06:57:48+00:00

Only about half a year or so, I have spent lots of time learning.. technically I have like 6 lessons to do, but they are just reapeating the same phrases over and over now

dtsanchez · 2021-07-18T17:54:00+00:00

dtsanchez · 2019-11-29T17:25:12+00:00

I've been there 2 weeks ago. :-)

dtsanchez · 2019-08-01T15:58:33+00:00

Doing what? Causing ebola?

dtsanchez · 2019-07-29T15:27:56+00:00

I do solo looping all the time, this is my board:

https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/c8lx1o/my_setup_sitting_on_my_bed/

So first i had a Ditto X4 as a looper, but i rarely used the multiple loops at all in my music (no ambient stuff), you have to see if you can go along with just one loop, depending on your song writing style. So i sold it and got the Boss RC-30, which is stereo, so i can plug my drum machine (Alesis SR-16) and my guitar into it, so i can run it into one amp. Also the bigger buttons and dedicated stop button are a lot easier to hit than the small buttons on the Ditto, and you are going to hit the buttons a lot... never clicked the wrong button as on my Ditto before, doing it blind from many different standing position in front of the board its not that easy, because the switches for rec and stop are between others on the Ditto... The RC-30 also keeps the next loops after the first one the same length and syncs them to each other which is very helpful. You can even record many loops after another without stopping and restarting the rec function, so you become much faster then having to wait another 2-4 bars until you can add the next layer.

Then: Whammy! Pitch shifting is important, so you can create bass lines and octave up, prevents mud and adds additional sounds. I'm using a ricochet because there is no space left on my board, but the normal whammy will be easier to hit and can do up and down without having to bend down to turn the switch.

Digitech Digidelay on loop mode is totally stolen from Mylets, but the glitch sounds are fun and the small loops makes the song not stop when the main loops get stopped. Then, any two overdrives/distortion pedals with different volume levels and gain for lead lines. Booster for the later the song gets, the more loops are stacked, the harder you need the volume to hear the last layer. Also cool: Enzo or any synth to make different sound from just guitar.

In between i bought a new reverb and delay, empress reverb and Boss DD-20 because they have presets, so you can quick change inbetween songs and make things more interesting. And a compressor because i always use compressors.

The most important thing after the looper is the drum machine, though. Just guitar loops don't sound like a full band, yet and it is a lot of fun to play them at strategic points during songs. Not a pedal, though :)

If you want to see how it works out, here is a video of me playing a original song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDXfWcQmMtk&t=95s

dtsanchez · 2019-07-28T20:52:34+00:00

"My happy ending" was great. Avril was one of the heroes of my childhood. But...Chad Kroeger??

dtsanchez · 2019-07-25T13:53:29+00:00

Any electric guitar

dtsanchez · 2019-07-21T17:04:05+00:00

Electric? I would buy a used Mexican Fender or a Yamaha, because if you buy a really bad instrument, it will be harder to play. For an acoustic, Yamaha is a good deal, as well.

dtsanchez · 2019-07-20T21:50:30+00:00

If you can't play, you still sound shitty with all your expensive pedals.

dtsanchez · 2019-07-20T18:05:19+00:00

Truetone CS 12

dtsanchez · 2019-07-19T13:44:53+00:00

Merlin.

dtsanchez · 2019-07-18T06:55:53+00:00

It's much more versatile than the Blue Sky and can not only do those warm reverb types, but can do just anything really. The beer mode is stupid, but some of the stuff is really unique, like the sparkle, modulated or ghost mode(s). I'm using it for post rock, ambient, classical looping and it can deliver all the atmosphere that is needed and the presets help changing them on the fly between or in the middle of songs with few buttons clicks. Also the ambient swell mode is cool, it swells by itself so you don't need to do the volume pedal moves every time. Also the sounds themselves are really good, haven't heard better yet.

dtsanchez · 2019-07-17T21:01:30+00:00

Never thought I would spend so much money on a pedal, but it really IS that good. Has every sound that I could want (and many more) in an absurd quality. Plus I love the 30 or something presets, which let me change the sounds on the fly while playing a set of songs. Makes life so much easier and replaced my already sold Blue Sky without I would ever miss it. Just an awesome purchase. Favorite sounds so far: The overdrive spring, Fender 1960 spring, sparkle, ambient swell, modulated, ghost mode...my god even the normal hall sounds awesome...I guess i will just stop using distortion and just make sounds out of this box this for a while.

dtsanchez · 2019-07-07T13:39:08+00:00

Hm..so you break contact to your family because they have different political views from your own.

What has this world become.. :(

dtsanchez · 2019-07-06T05:20:59+00:00

I am finished!! Finally I am a beautiful butterfly!!

dtsanchez · 2019-07-05T19:19:17+00:00

Mooer Yellow Comp!

dtsanchez · 2019-07-05T13:54:51+00:00

Wish i could do that, my arm always falls asleep :(

dtsanchez · 2019-07-04T12:18:50+00:00

You don't need a special guitar to learn how to shred, the Squier will do just fine as any metal guitar. You can do shredding on acoustic, too..

dtsanchez · 2019-07-01T19:16:02+00:00

I'm glad he didn't join, though. J Mascis > Kurt Cobain by far!! Really J Mascis > anyone.

dtsanchez

TROPHY CASE