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Aaron Gilmore
Digital designer. Sipping coffee and reading is my favourite pastime.

A Month In Berlin

“Not all those who wander are lost.”—J.R.R. Tolkien

I want to travel a lot this year and I’m starting immediately. I’ll be spending the month of January in Berlin, exploring the city and working there. This post will outline costs and preparation for a month long trip.

Flights

Flights are cheap from Dublin to most European cities (usually), use Skyscanner or Kayak to search for flights, there graphs make it easy to find the cheapest trips. Kayak also has a great multi-city search feature. Last January I got a return flight from Dublin for £43.

Cost: £130

Accommodation

I use Airbnb every time I travel. It’s often cheaper than staying in a hotel, especially if you book a private room. I like it because it gives you a sense of what it might be like to live in the city you’re visiting. The hosts are almost always lovely and in my experience they always go above and beyond to give you tips and information about the city you’re staying in.

If you have a plan to stay somewhere for an extended period of time try and strike up a conversation with a host and you can sometimes get a place for a little bit cheaper or work out some sort of a deal. For example, Airbnb told me the place I wanted to stay in would be ~€1200 for the month, I ended up getting it for ~€800 after explaining my plans to the host and agreeing to do a little branding project for him on the side.

I’ll be staying in Berlin’s popular Kreuzberg district and my apartment is right around the corner from Five Elephant, one of my favourite coffee shops (so excited about that!).

Studio in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district

Cost: £661 incl. Airbnb fees + a little freelance design work

Packing

What to pack for a month of travel and work?

Clothing

  • 2 pairs of jeans
  • 4 shirts
  • 3 t-shirts
  • 2 pairs of boots and boot socks
  • Running shoes and running gear
  • Patagonia down jacket, it’s warm and it dries quickly
  • Finisterre sweater
  • Peacoat
  • Underwear and socks
  • Hat and gloves (Berlin will have a low of -7ºC next week 😱)

Electronics and Misc.

  • 15" MacBook Pro for work
  • Earphones
  • Kindle Paperwhite
  • MUJI grid notebooks and 0.5mm gel ink pens
  • Field Notes
  • iPhone
  • Apple Watch
  • Wallet and passport
  • Joby GorillaPod for iPhone
  • Aukey battery pack
  • Aeropress and Porlex Grinder ☕️

Travel Misc.

I got some travel insurance through Holiday Insurance, just to be on the safe side.

Still need to get a SIM card when I get to Berlin as ThreeUK don’t currently offer their “Feel At Home” service in Germany. I don’t know if I really need one, WiFi might be sufficient.

A bus ticket from Belfast to Dublin.

Cost: £35

Total: £826

Now, time to pack. ✈️