No 7 of 30. Inter-railing, everyone has to do it once. In America they call it Eurailing (at least I think so; Americans can’t get Inter-Rail tickets because you need to be a European resident, but they can get Eurail tickets). You get a ticket, for less than a monthly travelcard in London, and you can go on any train in Europe as many times as possible for one month. I made the most of it. Lots of stories to tell, and I won’t be telling them here. I should do a series about that trip though, perhaps using notes I made on my travels.
I really travelled light. The bit about the socks is true. Photos prove it; I’m wearing odd colours in most of them. I also never took a guide book. Instead, I constructed one myself, in a simple spiral bound notebook. For weeks I prepared, photocopying this from one book, that from another, pasting in colour metro maps where possible, writing down addresses of possible hostels and sights I might visit, and which stations had the all-important luggage lockers. I was being methodical but allowing for every possibility – if I was in Prague but decided to go to Amsterdam, or perhaps the other direction and see Budapest, it was all worked out in my head (in fact I went to Krakow). I carried therefore the ultimate reading tool – the 1998 Thomas Cook Rail Timetable. Worth its weight in gold. At the back of my self-made guidebook though I left space for my travel notes – and there I logged obsessively every move I made. I enjoyed every single moment.
petescully 
Hey, Pete.
Just spent a good hour here, reading and admiring your fab work. I’m always surprised by how my techniques have improved since drawing daily, and how, somehow, all that drawing has honed my style, too. I see that here too, Not that I’m saying it wasn’t great in the first place! But, wow, it’s looking even greater now. Do you see that yourself? Looking good, matey. Looking good.
Pete, i really enjoy learning about you through this series. I love your use of blue, the details in each of these drawings and your trademark captions all over the drawings.
This one just brought back good memories of the summer of ’98.
Looking forward to the next one, and the next one after that…
I agree. Your work is inspiring, and these little stories are fun to read. I do hope you came home with more than 3 socks, though– at least a pair of shorts.
cheers andrea! I know what you mean, after drawing more and more i can see the progression, makes it worth while. I do draw myself into corners stylewise sometimes though so I have to reverse.
cheers france, and congratulations on the birth of your daughter!
cheers rob! and yes, while i came home with other clothes and lots of postcards, i did only have three socks. I also lost one of my favourite jumpers, in poland.