As a long-time parkrun tourist in Australia, extending my travelling adventures overseas just made sense.
Since Brad loves exploring the world just as much as I do, and since we'd prefer to spend our play money on plane tickets rather than concert tickets, expensive nights out or regular manicures, it has opened the door to parkruns abroad.
If you're a parkrun tourist, you may already know that different countries hold their parkrun special event on a different day than our Christmas Day one here in Australia. You may have already fantasised or even partaken in a multi-country, multi-parkrun trip, in which case, this post will be of interest to you.
This kind of trip sounds great in theory, but I tell you what, it's a lot peeps! It's a lot.
So, if you're someone who is in the fortunate position to have enough time, money and freedom to plan a trip to pick up extra parkruns around the world, here are the ten things I learned during our three-week, crazy, amazing trip to the other side of the world.
{Side note: "parkrun" is a collection of free, weekly, timed events where participants can walk or run the 5km distance. parkrun events are held in 22 countries every single Saturday morning... and occasionally on special days that might fall on other days of the week! To find out if it exists in your country, click here. Now, let's get into those lessons!}
1. parkruns can start at wildly different times.
The earliest I'm aware of is 7 am, the latest is 11:30 am. And in some locations, they start earlier in summer and later in winter (or even cancel for the whole of their deep winter). I heard tourists sharing on one particular bus ride a story I've heard so many times over the years about missing or almost missing a parkrun they'd travelled a long way to attend.
Takeaway: Assume that you do not know the start time and check every time. And not the night before - check before you book anything because you don't want parkrun to finish so late that you miss hotel check out or worse, your flight.
2. Speaking of start times, not every parkrun country has a culture of starting Exactly On Time.
We're pretty disciplined about this in Australia so you're probably pretty used to this as "normal", but several of the parkruns I've been to now we were lucky if they started their run brief at the scheduled start time.
Takeaway: The reason we travel is to experience something different than we have at home. So rather than expecting everything to be the same, rather than getting angry because they "should" start on time, laugh at the differences and remember - that's why you left home.
3. Know how you're getting to your parkrun.
This might sound obvious but depending on where you visit in the world, getting to the parkrun may require far more deliberate planning.
Is English widely spoken in that country? If you're taking public transport, how do you buy a ticket? Do you need exact cash? Do you need a physical ticket bought in advance from a ticket office?
If you want to take an Uber, Grab or taxi, do you need an app on your phone to book it? And to set that up, do you need access to your Australian phone number? Will you have access to this?
We did something different with sim cards and internet data for this trip and it worked great for doing all internet-based things but the moment we needed to "confirm this by typing the code we sent by text", we ran into problems.
We found workarounds but this is one of the hiccups we'll look to solve before our next trip overseas.
Takeaway: Assume that getting to parkrun won't be as straight forward as it is at home and it will help you allocate sufficient time to figure out all the things you didn't realise you'd need to know.
4. Have backups for as many things as possible.
One day, while we were in the Netherlands (more commonly known as Holland) there was a near nationwide train strike. Our travel plans for that day immediately went out the window as travelling the distance we'd planned by bus didn't feel fun or easy at all.
Because we were in the country to collect their Whit Monday special event and had already assumed public transport might have been limited, we had picked a hotel that was a doable walk if all else failed. And while the train strike was on a different day, we did end up walking as it turned out to be the easiest way once we were on the ground.
We also picked cities that had at least two parkruns nearby in case one cancelled at the last minute. This turned out to be wise in Oslo, Norway, where the most well-known, and closest parkrun to the city centre, was cancelled due to another event needing the space.
Takeaway: Backups, people. Give yourself backups. Best case scenario: You won't need the backup and you'll just be slightly miffed you did the extra work for nothing. But trust me: the peace of mind is worth the extra work.
5. Check the parkrun course webpage to see if they have toilets before choosing your parkrun.
You'd think after doing hundreds of different parkruns in Australia that I'd have this one dialled in by now 🤦 I can only guess that I missed this level of detail on this trip because there were So Many Extra Things To Check.
But having not checked meant that we didn't get to a parkrun in Wales because having no toilet on site - and not having worked out a plan to get to a public toilet nearby - when I also had my period was all just too hard.
Takeaway: If you're someone who knows that, for any reason, having access to a toilet before and/or after parkrun is a non-negotiable don't assume that because your home parkrun has a toilet on site or really close by that all others do as well. Many do not. Plan accordingly.
6. Think about the implications of doing multiple special events while you're planning.
Sure, it sounds amazing: I got 5 parkruns in 4 different countries in less than 3 weeks while my friends at home only got 3, most of which were probably at or close to home. But apart from the obvious massive additional financial cost, it also required us to run more days than I was used to, go in and out of airports more times than I care to count, and sleep in So Many Different Beds.
I think it's worth imagining what it will be like to actually do the itinerary you're planning.
Does it sound fun or exhausting? Does it feel joyful or stressful? Don't get me wrong: I feel very grateful to have done this trip and Brad and I both agree that we wouldn't do a trip like this again. We'll do one with less countries and less moves, and while this might sound strange, less parkruns.
Takeaway: Plan your ideal itinerary and then Really Think It Through. Do you really want to fly that many times, sleep in that many beds, switch cultures that many times, and run additional days when you're probably jet lagged? If that excites you, go nuts. If it doesn't? Well, you're allowed to love parkrun without it being the entire centre of your universe.
7. Food options are a little or a lot different in other countries.
If you've travelled internationally before or even watched shows about other countries and cultures, you'll probably be thinking, "Der, Caroline. Of course, it's different!". But hear me out.
I had already travelled to and/or lived in several other countries before I started my parkrun journey. I've also had dietary restrictions for a long time. So I'm used to navigating the complex world of finding suitable food.
And yet, on this trip, I still struggled. In hindsight, it came down to my assumptions again (like several of the points above). I had assumed that the cities we were in, in the wealthy countries we were travelling through, would have similar options to what I have at home.
What I hadn't expected is that the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries seem to have an obsession with bread, cheese and meat. So if you're someone who needs or wants to get gluten-free, dairy-free and/or vegan food, then it takes a lot more work and planning in these locations. It's not impossible but do as much research as possible beforehand. And then do a bit more.
Takeaway: Got specific dietary needs or even strong preferences? The more research you do beforehand the more you'll thank yourself later.
8. Keep left unless passing... unless you're in one of the many parkrun countries that need you to keep right instead!
Oooft, this one got my attention when we were in the Netherlands for their special event. Due to its proximity to the UK, Kagerzoom parkrun got a big influx of parkrun tourists who have been repeatedly asked/taught to "keep left" at home.
Like us in Australia, this is a very helpful behaviour at most parkruns in the UK but was very UNhelpful at this temporarily busy Dutch parkrun. Well-meaning but unaware parkrun tourists blocked the path for parents pushing prams, fast runners who were lapping them and other park users on bikes.
Takeaway: When you travel to new parkrun countries, pay careful attention to what the locals do and try to copy their behaviour. A good rule of thumb is if they drive on the right, you'll need to keep to the right while at parkrun.
9. Consider taking carry-on luggage only.
This is something we started doing a few years ago after a 3-week, 7-flight trip that included three cities in New Zealand. It was such a hassle to check in bags and then wait to pick them up again, after spending each flight hoping that baggage handlers hadn't damaged them.
Yes, it requires leaving a bunch of creature comforts at home, washing clothes very regularly, and buying things locally instead of carrying them all with you, but in our minds, it is worth it. And while that might not work if you were going to Scandinavia or North America in the middle of winter, or if you are travelling with a baby or a person with a disability who needs additional stuff, I reckon most people could do this if they tried.
Takeaway: Fast travel with a lot of flights or transfers of any kind is much less stressful if you skip the whole check-in baggage business. Some airlines let you pay a little extra for 10 kg carry-on. We used this option when we went skiing in Japan and with clever packing, we still managed to navigate the early morning temperatures of -14'C ish. Try it. You might surprise yourself.
10. Plan other complementary things into your "parkrun trip".
It might seem obvious to some of you, but I know when I was in the height of my parkrun obsession, I could have fallen into the trap of making a trip entirely about collecting parkruns.
And even if you are wildly obsessed, what happens if the parkruns don't go as well as planned or something unfortunate happens and despite your best planning you (gasp!) miss parkrun? You'll probably be really glad you made additional plans.
For example, even though I enjoyed running at Blaise Castle parkrun in the south west of England, the most joyful part of my time in the UK was spending time with my girlfriend from high school and meeting her four-year-old daughter for the first time.
Takeaway: Think about what's important to you, beyond parkrun, and tie those things into your trip too. Even if your parkrun plans go perfectly, you're giving yourself more opportunities to experience even more joy and who doesn't want a little more of that in their life?
All photos taken by me on my little, awesome phone.