Breaking Up + Backpacking Through Europe? - Comments

@ exploding boy.
This is so helpful and you're actually making me super excited Thanks so much!

No problem! I got completely chewed out by a Dutch person for calling the Netherlands Holland when I first moved there so I figured I'd give you a heads-up.

I'm glad! Breda is a really beautiful city as well, and I think Eindhoven, Breda and Tilburg are all in the same region or general area. My friend said Utrecht was beautiful as well but I never got to go there properly. Only to the train station when I missed the last direct train to Tilburg from Amsterdam one evening. Also, there's a place called Kinderdijk (I think that's what it's called anyway!) where there's all these massive windmills and it's so impressive / pretty.

If you're doing Loch Lomond, you can actually camp up there for like £10 a night or something, and it's so tranquil. Well, as long as it isn't raining, ha! Edinburgh's really good for touristy stuff, so I'd definitely recommend that for a visit if you get to Scotland, and the castle is a must-see. The view from the top is crazy. Although I do prefer Glasgow but again, I'm biased because it's my closest city.

@ exploding boy.
Ah thanks for telling me about Holland! Here I am going around telling people I want to go to both as if they're completely different

But all of this does help! We were looking for more places in the Netherlands and Loch Lomond is actually on our list

Thanks so much!

@ Corvus.
Yeah he was ridiculous. I blocked him on all social media and I blocked his number too.

Move. Change your number. Because wow.

I've never been backpacking through either country, but I lived in the Netherlands (heads up -- Holland is actually part of the Netherlands, it's one of their state things) for 6 months and I'm from Scotland so I can give a tiny bit of advice, ha! For Scotland, make sure you've got a waterproof jacket / coat with you. It doesn't matter if you're going in the height of summer, we get rain at any points and a lot of the time, it's without warning and horribly heavy. Also, I'd take a jumper because we don't have the best summers. And I don't know if you've got specific places to visit but I'd suggest visiting Loch Lomond. It's absolutely stunning even on the most horrible of days and personally, I prefer it to Loch Ness. Also, it's worth making a point of remembering that the UK drives on the 'wrong' side of the road. Whenever I'm in continental Europe I always forget and end up going backwards round roundabouts and stuff, so I assume it's the same for people visiting.

The Netherlands is gorgeous as well. If you're going into the cities, make sure you look both ways before crossing the road -- I learned this the hard way by stepping out without looking and almost getting myself killed by a rogue cyclist on the wrong side of the road. If you get the chance, do cycle tours as much as possible. They're beautiful and amazing. Also, visit the lesser-known gems. Eindhoven is a great city and so is Tilburg (although I lived in the latter so I'm biased!) and they're often cheaper to sight-see around!

I don't know if this is useful. I hope it is. I'm really excited for you!

I've had a guy like that...within 3 days I cut it off. I've been through too many relationships ignoring red flags to mess with them now, haha. I'm glad you got away from him.
On a better note, I'm excited for your backpacking plans! My boyfriend and I have wanted to do this exact thing for a while but now that we own a house and I'm going to school I'm not exactly sure when we'll finally put those plans into realities.

I hope he takes the end of this well and doesn't cause anymore problems! Be safe and block him if he keeps acting crazy!

@ PoeticMess.
The more I think about it, the more I think that should've been my sign to leave and never look back.

@ ocarina.
Thank you! I broke it off through text.

In the end, he wasn't too happy about it and tried to guilt me. "You know, it's not every day I tell my step dad and friends about people I like. What is so wrong with me? I'm just a fuck up like everyone else. If I was looking for someone else I wouldn't have told my friends about you." But he ended it with, "This is what you want and that's all that matters."

oh my gosh i got more and more horrified as i kept reading i 1000% agree with all of your friends this guy seems like the epitome of bad news the condom thing especially. if he's like this at the beginning, it'll only get worse and i don't even want to imagine what worst is. good luck! and honestly, make sure to break it off with him safely! his behaviour seems erratic at best here and could translate to something a lot more hostile which makes me worried :c i'd have friends close by or something if you're doing it in person

That dude sounds insane. You're definitely right about breaking things off. Honestly, I would've walked away right when he didn't want to wear a condom and pulled the "do you trust me?" stuff. His attitude about that is gross and he obviously doesn't respect what you want.