Logan Tinnes vs. Europe

Logan graduated from Nevis High School last May and currently resides with his grandparents in Nevis. He is cooking for Dorset House in Dorset, MN, for the rest of the summer and will then head to Grand Forks this fall where he plans to major in Commercial Aviation in the UND Aerospace program. Of the trip, Logan says he just wanted to do something adventurous after high school because, in his words, people always say “I wish I would have done that” and he didn’t want to be one of those people.

He describes his experience as challenging, but worth it.

Let’s head to Europe with Logan for a bit.

Departing on June 13th, Logan and his friend, Caleb, flew out of Minneapolis to Boston. After switching flights, they crossed the ocean bound for Reykjavik, Iceland, then flew to Amsterdam where they toured first.

1st stop: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Logan and Caleb stayed in Amsterdam for a week. One of the most interesting things about their trip was the sleeping arrangements they had made. Using only an internet website and a smartphone app, the two stayed with complete strangers the entire trip! In Amsterdam, they stayed at a house which was in the next city over so they had to take a train when coming and going. After 3 nights at this place, the gentlemen was going sailing and invited Logan and Caleb with. “We didn’t feel comfortable going because we didn’t have any power or WiFi so we’d have no way to communicate our safety,” Logan said. So the boys decided to get a hostel for the remainder of their stay in the city.

When asked how they found their specific places to stay, Logan says they looked up cheap hostels on Google and booked through there or used a couch surfing travel app that allows travelers to stay with locals who are willing to host them. 

Logan’s favorite thing in Amsterdam? Meeting up with other couch surfers and touring the city via bicycles.

In the city, the two didn’t take much public transportation and walked over 50 miles alone. They enjoyed numerous sightseeing attractions and also a canal cruise by boat one evening.

Next stop: Oslo, Norway

After Amsterdam, Logan and Caleb flew to Oslo where they stayed for 4 days. Before making the big trip, the two friends decided on the places they wanted to visit and included Norway because of their heritage. “We got to Oslo about 11pm and had to walk to our host house from the train station. He had to work at 8am every day so we had to be out of his house by then, too,” Logan said. What he describes as physically and mentally challenging, due to having to tour around Oslo for so long every day, while their host was at work, Logan says this was his favorite place to stay, however. “Our host lived on the same street as the Korean and Italian Embassy, and a block away from the US Embassy. It was a high class, gated neighborhood,” he described. The young men found this host on a website where you request to stay at their home. The man accepted and let the two crash there. Logan says they sent out about 20 requests per city, in hopes to hear back from someone. They took a chance and had great luck.

In Oslo, Logan says his favorite day was when they took a ferry two hours away to an island where they went hiking and were treated to some amazing views.

“A lot of sightseeing filled our time and we saw some great parks and museums,” Logan mentioned. He also added that it was hard to find people in the cities to talk to as everyone speaks a lot of languages without much English.

Bus trip to Berlin, Germany

After Oslo, Logan and Caleb took a 16-hour bus ride to Berlin, Germany, which took them through Sweden and Denmark. “One thing we noticed when we got there was graffiti everywhere,” Logan pointed out. “Out of all the other cities, it was crazy how much graffiti we saw in Berlin alone.” The two spent their days relaxing in the city as they were tired from their time in Oslo, due to having to get up so early and stay out so late to accommodate their host’s wishes.

Highlights in Berlin included a visit to a concentration camp, the East Side Gallery, and one of the most important landmarks in Berlin: Checkpoint Charlie. “It was really weird to see all of that history in the city,” Logan expressed. The two stayed in Berlin for 3 days.

Next bus stop: Paris, France

From Berlin, the two friends took a 12-hour bus ride to Paris, France. Logan says the tickets were incredibly cheap. Plane tickets were about $150-200 Euros to fly within, while the bus ticket from Berlin to Paris was only $45 Euros. (FYI: 1 Euro equals 1.18 US Dollars.)

When arriving in Paris, the two went directly from the bus straight to the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower. Only staying one night in a city they describe as “filthy and expensive” the two crashed at a host house and left the next day. “It was so run down, dirty, gross and expensive,” Logan described. “We both felt that way. The Eiffel Tower is the focal point of the city, but there was garbage everywhere.” Logan says neither he nor Caleb cared for the city and felt the most unsafe here. They also felt uncomfortable at their host house saying the man was lonely and divorced, missed his son a lot, and gave a lot of hugs. “He was nice, but he just made us feel weird,” Logan confessed.

Last stop: Barcelona, Spain

The last city on the European adventure was Barcelona, Spain, where Logan and Caleb spent another week. A lot of their time was spent at the beaches, which Logan described as amazing. The two had a great time in the city but admitted to being tired at this point, sick of traveling and ready to go home.

When asked what types of food they enjoyed over the course of the month long vacation, Logan said neither were ready to expand their palates quite yet. “We found pizza shops or McDonalds,” he laughed. Did they check in with family back home pretty often? Well, with a 7 hour time difference and limited access to WiFi, calls were made about every 3 days.

Back to the US

Flying back to Iceland on July 7th, Logan and Caleb had an 11-hour layover. From there, they went back to Boston where they were supposed to catch a flight to Minneapolis. Because the flights were booked so close together, the boys ended up missing their flight to Minnesota. Logan said, “We sprinted across the airport with our backpacks on and got to the line. The lady told us we were too late.” He said this was the saddest moment of the whole trip. “We were crushed,” he said. The airline gave them emergency tickets to fly out the next day for an extra $100. Having to spend the night at the airport made for some last minute memories as the airport actually closed at 1am and the guys got kicked out. They just waited outside in a pickup zone until it reopened at 4am where they were then able to sleep until 9am before flying back home.

When landing in Minnesota, Logan says, “I just felt relieved, honestly.”

After enjoying 80-90 degree weather over the duration of their trip, and making a lot of memories, Logan said it was an interesting trip. He’s glad he did it, but admits it was a challenge. “Overall, the trip taught me things I never expected to learn. I’m thankful that I can create opportunities for myself in life and I’m also grateful that we stayed safe and healthy the whole time,” he concluded.