As the charming winter bells swirl around the corner, it’s a travel dream which brings about a perfect happiness surge. Whilst the air travels account for luxury, it’s always the road trip that brings about the best of experiences. The best part is that these trips come with a bonus deal of lifetime memories.
The endless views and budget-friendly deals coupled with hassle-free paperwork formalities are what made me, Nadeem Anjum, along with my team, opts for this dream road trip.
Guess what?
It perfectly turned into the best choice ever. So let’s quickly take you through our journey from the UK all the way to Pakistan. Yup, with so many countries in between, this sure is going to be super exciting.
Let’s get started right away.
– Teaming Up!
As it is rightly said that two is always better than one. I was overwhelmed when three of my friends Abud Hussain, Rangzeb Sadiq, Nafees Muhammad, and Nazakat Ali, agreed to take part with me in this adventurous ride. From the very next moment, there was nothing but chattering, laughter, excitement, and, most importantly, planning! Believe me, when I tell you, it was all worth it.
– The Plan Jam!
This phase of the trip is sometimes more joyful than the trip itself. While packing and stacking is the ultimate goal in usual trips, it’s the document check, route choice, the vehicle hunt, as well as eat and sleep requirements in road trips. As simply said, freedom and flexibility are what everyone seeks. However, the cost is all this effort and fatigue.
Who said it’s easy anyway?
Mapping the Route
Though the route choices are always endless, it’s the French route that turned out to be faster, cheaper, and more of a sight-seeker. After hours of discussions and brainstorming route, we decided to turn out the route to be the following way
1. England (Our starting point)
2. France
3. Belgium
4. Austria
5. Hungary
6. Serbia
7. Bulgaria
8. Turkey
9. Iran
10. Pakistan (The final destination)
This is how an ordinary UK- Pakistan trip was made to be extraordinary!
The Budgeting and Documentation
Immediately after agreeing on the route, the legislative requirements are what commenced. We plunged to gather the desired documents, which included some compulsory ones alongside some others, keeping in mind the legislative route requirements.
So here’s what we gathered:
– Passport
– International Driving License (the same is valid in Pakistan as well)
– Vehicle Log Book V5c (to ensure the safety of the travel vehicle as well as the driver)
– European Insurance
– Road Tax of Austria
– Road Tax of Bulgaria
– Car Insurance for Turkey
– Carnet de Passages en Douane (which is an essential customs document)
Summing up the documents, it’s the budgeting that took to our nerves. Luckily after hours of struggle, we finally ended up paying £4500 to the authorities. Guess what; out of this sum £2200 is refundable.
However, adding up the other expenses, we approximately had to add £2000 individually. This also included the vehicle, hotel, food, and fuel charges.
The Vehicle Selection
Tons of disagreement brought about an agreement that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Yup, the Toyota Hiace seemed to be deemed fit for our voyage in terms of comfort, space as well as ease of driving. We ensured that two people would be in charge of driving at a time with split shifts. It’s because, in an excursion enjoyment, there’s no compromise for none.
The Grand Hotel Hunt
The place to rest needs to be the best. That is why this took most of our time and energies of ours. Thanks to booking.com as it provided a one-stop shop for all our trip stays. The usual travel by road trip duration varies from 10-12 days. However, as per our plan, we had a total of 16 days to relish.
So, we booked a 1-night stay in France, Germany, and Serbia, followed by a 4-night booking in Iran. Turkey, as per our agreement, aced others by a total of the 7-day mark. However, this long booking was split further because it’s always better to stay near the border, at least for the last night of the country stay. Not only it helps to cut down the morning fatigue and traffic-struck stress, but it also makes the next destination journey easier and more comfortable.
The Food Localities
Visiting a new place with no hint of where the best food can be found is an absolute no. Being a Muslim, things can get pretty hectic, provided that the Halal options are always limited. So we rescued ourselves from this trouble beforehand as well. As a general rule, we hunt-stormed Google for all the Turkish restaurants.
Trust me, the taste, the quality, and the possibilities did not even disappoint us once. Moreover, we took our travel kettle with us. Once in a while, we enjoyed a perfect tea treat coupled with chocolate bars, dry nuts, and sunflower seeds.
These little breaks of ours, in turn, kept providing us with absolute serotonin, memories, and alertness surge.
– Troubleshooting the Flaws
As a whole, our trip was perfect inside out. But here’s how things would have been even better:
1. Certain borders have defined pass-through timings. Hence, it’s always better to make certain that you have knowledge about that.
2. We assumed the roaming to be functional all around. However, it turned out that in Turkey and Iran, there’s no other choice than to avail temporary travel sim.
3. Whilst traveling by road, the maintenance, and car workshops are often in faraway areas. So not having a spare tire, a toolbox, and perhaps a puncture kit is a mistake to regret.
4. Packing up a personal first aid box is always the wisest of the decisions. It should include some basic painkillers and all the first aid essentials.
– The Weather Matters!
No matter how accurate your planning and implementation are, the final call is always decided by the weather. In essence, choose anything that’s dry and moderate. Yup, avoid the winter snow and stay away from the rainy blows. Of course, you wouldn’t want to spoil your perfect trip with navigational errors and slippery roads. So that is why we chose the optimal October for our wonderful trip. Our voyage started early in October, thereby making us reach Pakistan by the very mid of it.
Besides, the months of March, April, September, and November are also suitable for such an adventure. However, the cold and snowy December and the harsh January are straight away NO!
– Conclusion
Traveling through the road brings about a variety of heartwarming visions, unique monuments, and yet the craziest of adventures.
The 16-day road trip from the UK to Pakistan is a lifetime memory hub. A trip that brought about exciting experiences, unveiling unbelievable mysteries, thereby bringing about the ultimate fun. It won’t be unjust to declare every step, from the decision-making all the way to planning and traveling, as the best choice ever. So if you’re unsure about whether or not a road is a choice of interest, go ahead, take a swing and give yourself a chance to experience this lasting opportunity. For more information about our crazy trip of ours, don’t forget to check out more tour details on Youtube.
