the beginning

it was the night of may 24th, where I headed to the airport for my flight to Vienna, Austria via Doha, Qatar. my bag weighed 7.1kg. after parting with family, I recall feeling the exhilaration, excitement, and eagerness about embarking on this long-awaited journey. waving goodbye didnt bring a sense of loss but rather provided the door to freedom, marking the start of a journey.

 

 

as there was still time to kill, I roamed around the airport with my two bags, which did take a toll on my shoulders. I was excited to take on the journey as a backpacker and wanted to stay true to it – by travelling only with carryons and without checking in items, haha.

 

I was ever so glad when it approached the time board the plane. on my first flight to Doha, I was served an egg frittata for breakfast which was pretty good. it felt like time passed really quickly while I was on the plane for nearly 8 hours as I spent time clearing photos, listening to music, and journalling.

I had finally reached Doha! here's a selfie near the transfer area within the Doha airport.

 

upon reaching Doha airport, I was greeted with a falsely familiar sight – a vortex. having just flown away from home, it was slightly weird to be greeted by essentially the same installation found in Jewel airport. apparently there was a controversy where Changi airport's vortex was accused of having copied the one in Doha. of course this was refuted. I do wonder who has the original ownership of the design though!

 

I made sure to get my coffee fix while whiling away the time in Doha's airport. I wished that I could have explored Doha but the layover of 3h50min was too short. maybe I'll do that next time!

 

I whiled some time away, walking through the terminals. Before I knew it, it was time to board the plane to Vienna. we were served polenta on the second flight. to my memory, it was my first time trying this dish and it was pretty good! It’s something I would eat again. the interactive flight map kept me entertained sporadically throughout the flight and I must say it was rather fun to use.

 

before I knew it, I landed in Vienna. it felt SO surreal to be on European soil and it took time for me to process that I WAS in europe!

apparently I had sat in the first class carriage on the train from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof with a second class ticket. the conductor checked my ticket but I think she let it pass after a short pause. she told the other commuter in front of me that they were in the wrong section and thats how I realised I was in the wrong one too. thankfully the conductor waved it pass!

 

the hostel was slightly challenging to find as it was located in a shared building housing other shops – and could easily blend in with the other shops. getting into the hostel was another interesting process as an access code was required to enter the lobby, and a separate one for the entry to the dorms. there was no receptionist around and the check-in process had to be done on our own. a lady with curly hair, another hostelite who was loitering around, gave me the passcode to enter the common lounge, explaining that the hostel had changed the passcode! I then entered the common room and saw some ladies from china who spoke to me in Chinese. they were trying to help another western guy who didnt know how to do the online check in, albeit with a language barrier. the Chinese lady and I exchanged glances that seemed to be a sense of acknowledgement of our ethnic commonality.

the room setup was interesting and not something I would go for again. the door to each bed had to be slipped open after keying in a passcode on the door. it felt slightly moist inside although it wasn't, and it could be potentially claustrophobia-inducing. the upside was that this hostel was very close to Vienna's main train station!

the rest of the day was spent exploring vienna and getting accustomed to the environment. I was definitely much more alert than usual, but also in tune with my senses.

although it was definitely a long journey to europe, I was bubbling with excitement, anticipation, and perhaps was experiencing an adrenaline rush from the thought of finally embarking on a huge journey on my own! no one in my family has been to Europe before so I was kinda carving my own path and doing it all on my own.

the journey to Europe

airlines: Qatar Airways

duration: 17h50min

8h10min from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) to Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH)

3h50min layover in Doha

5h50min from Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) to Vienna International Airport (VIE)

cost: S$702 (it was actually S$660.60 but I paid S$41.40 extra to choose a seat which went to waste when I changed the date of departure a few days after booking it..)