June Community Call Highlights – Scenic Trains, Snoring Dorms & Horse Meat Debates
The Your Travel Friend Community Call this month brought us stories from the road, laughter over cultural surprises, and real talk about navigating travel choices—everything from what to eat, to how to sleep, to where to go next.
Natalie joined us from Ireland where she’s been embracing the countryside (and checking out a huge component of Ireland, the countryside and the tractors.
Hans shared a standout moment from his recent visit to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, which he said “caught his breath.” The quiet, picturesque village left a big impression, and was worth trying to get above the village to seek the viewpoints — proof that simplicity and scenery can be deeply moving.
With travellers passing through cities for the first time, tips were passed around for Munich and Italy! In Munich, the Residenz Museum was a surprising highlight, and is centrally located. Of course we all need to stay somewhere and it seems the Meininger hostels have become a fan favourite in the YTF community for availability, size, space for digital nomads + variety of room sizes.
Anna at the Trevi Fountain 2023
Rome was another city highlighted, which was an easy place to recommend things to do, where to eat and what to see with my Italy Map List. I mentioned my favourite part of italian cuisine is that what you read on the menu you actually get in your dish. Except for the time Hans read meat and ended up getting horse meat with his pasta.
This sparked the debate… would you eat horse meat? 👀
One scenic suggestion was shared to take the train from Germany to Austria to Italy. And if you have a week, Florence is one base worth exploring while taking day trips to Siena, Lucca, and Pisa. One traveller was very excited about taking the ICE train, while another was joking, “The chicken buses in Nicaragua were more on time than the trains in Germany,” which sparked a conversation about the quirks of infrastructure around the world.
As always, this call was a reminder that travel is more than destinations—it’s about the people, the questions, the in-betweens. Thanks to everyone who joined, looking forward to connecting in July’s Community Call!