I traded bus life for train life // istanbul to budapest on sleeper trains

this week i traded bus life for european rail travel - five days by train from istanbul to budapest. next week i will be back to the bus build!
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[@robinhoward4204]

That was an absolute delight Emma - thank you for taking us along😊

[@csc232003]

This is my FAVORITE video you've made to date!!!! You're fun personality comes through so beautifully!

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

thank you!

[@punkineatr9095]

You’re such a great storyteller. Excellent video.

[@bsn2ndsflatdavis378]

When we lived in Istanbul , we would take our winter vacation ski trips in Austria by train. We had a 6 bunk cabin , which turned into seats. I remember them checking our passports often. It was a fun a way to travel.

[@pault2701]

Such an uplifting travel vlog, thank you Emma!

[@patriciaharkin1571]

Now that looked like a whole lot of fun Emma, Thanks for sharing with us.

[@jeffsadon552]

Thank you for bringing us with you on such an epic trip

[@francoisg1393]

This is my kind of trip. I'm not too much into staying in one place for too long. But city hopping, yeah, that's more what I'm used to. It's so great that your train connections worked. On my last trip, I didn't have such luck. But then, I was forced to take a bus through the alps, and I'm willing to bet I saw way more in that bus than I would have on a train, it was majestic. Travelling comes with these happy accidents. It's so cool to watch you have so much fun. It strikes a very familiar chord for me!

[@justplaintommy63]

I've always wanted to see the whole world, I know that wont happen but if it did, I would do it on a train. I have been on a few here in the US, and then seen the same country from a highway and the train is always the best view. So if I don't make it to that part of the world, I can be happy just seeing it in your video :) Welcome home, BTW. Sorry the snow came back.

[@nourltuber]

I see you are well, enjoy and stay safe! Be happy to see you back on the bus. Keep smiling😁😁😁

[@JustAskingAndCurios]

You need to do Japan with trains and overnight ferries. Always nice to share memories with a friend. Nice trip.

[@derekrichard9189]

I have to say i personally loved this video!! I can see you doing this type video too … I think you hit the nail on the head when you said you over think things !!! You have great videos and love your story telling !!! Let your friend know I and I’m sure others enjoyed her time in videos too …

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

thank you! I will tell her 😊

[@kathythorene5873]

I love your travel video by train. I too travel by train and love the relaxation of train travel❤. Good job ladies🎉😊

[@dougintothesunset]

0:41 Whoa . . .That's a cool looking train. What a glorious adventure you're on Emma. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

[@jeffcoler3104]

This is such a fun video. The fun the two of you had was something to be remembered. You two should start doing travel ads and selling them.

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

haha if that's an option I'm in

[@jasonjones5213]

Great video, there is nothing like traveling by train.I love it.

[@keithburkett9448]

Great Video Emma hope your having lots of fun. Y'all be careful and keep having fun and enjoy your adventure

[@diablofubar3623]

There's those Emma Smiles... Good to see you had such a great time on the Trains...Look forward to seeing more of your journey...:)

[@jeffreyevens2033]

Emma, thanks for sharing your train travel. It looked like alot of fun!

[@jeffreythomas9106]

Hey Emma. Been missing you and your videos. Hope you are having fun and a great time traveling. Stay safe and enjoy your vacation. Love you 💛 💐💐💛

[@traviskinchen2265]

Emma - I have enjoyed the travel videos just as much as the bus build videos. It's not the topic that makes it so much fun - it's you. Your perspective, your honesty, your way of telling a story, even if it's wandering through some thoughts that hang together or sort of or even not. It's just fun, and best of all, it's not like anyone else. When the build is finished and you move on to your next "thing", with or without Birbie, I hope your camera will tag along for some non-continuity stream of consciousness that makes the world look a new way and makes me smile. Thank you!

[@MelissaMalzahn]

Wow definitely some beautiful sites. I've always wanted to travel on a train.

[@_JoyceArt]

Trains are magical. There’s a steam train that runs 20km from me, not as a regular route, but for tourist-y purposes. Several times a year they have these arrangements where they serve dinner or lunch whilst riding the train, even during Christmas. Considering I grew up reading Agatha Christie, it’s still very high up my to do list, but I’ve still not done that.

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

I've got some of those around too! I just never find it as satisfying if you're not actually going somewhere though :/

[@kurtcraig3421]

fist time we've seen you smile for 24 mins straight, in a while.

[@brillbusbootcamp2320]

I love your Porto tram shirt! I was just running an original Porto tram / trolley car at a museum in Pennsylvania last month. They have 3 Porto cars among the 20-ish trolleys, and there are also steam trains at a different railroad across the street, and they even share part of the track. You’re right about trains being a great way to travel, but also I think your European train journey probably went better because the network there is so much more complete (and has more frequent trains) than what little we have left here in the USA. I hope we can get more worthwhile passenger train options here again someday.

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

what museum is this?? my last trip was also in Europe... we looked into doing a tiny train trip in the us a couple months ago and it seemed to difficult to be worth it

[@brillbusbootcamp2320]

It’s Rockhill Trolley Museum in Rockhill Furnace, PA. Here’s a short clip of Porto car 172 passing by. Its paint job is generic, but it is otherwise preserved just as it was for most of its 1929 to mid-1960s service life in Portugal. We also have 249, a longer passenger trolley still wearing 1970s Porto paint, and a work/freight trolley, C-64, that supposedly carried coal and fish around Porto. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2a7XmOhm7udZ9U Oh, and that whistle is the steam train right nearby. The video is old, but the trolleys still look much the same today, and steam trains just started running again last month.

[@grays5112]

I don't watch anything even remotely similar to this on you tube, -- YET -- , I really -- , REALLY, like your videos Emma, and am very glad you enjoyed your train travel, take care and best wishes from the UK 👍

[@0HARE]

What a beautiful, interesting travelogue! We love trains, too. I can highly recommend the South Korean KORAIL network. South Korea is probably too small a country for trains with sleeper accommodations. You can get almost anywhere in the country in four to six hours. Their tracks, rolling stock, and stations are super well maintained, and the staff are friendly and helpful. Nearby almost every station is a Tourist Information kiosk, usually with at least one English speaking attendant. Sofia is one of my dream destinations. The Kremona musical instrument company there makes excellent violins, violas, cellos, and double basses, as well as classical guitars. What’s not to love? Thanks for a fun and interesting episode!

[@MKDSime]

Happy Awesome Emma wishing you many more awesome great adventures 🙂

[@ryunova6128]

Ooh you are crazy in good way

[@larrys4383]

Well done. Thanks.

[@rebeccafaussett4673]

Luved it!!! Beats the bus blogs any day. Ive watched so many of those ( driving, scenery and cooking) blogs I'm ready for some adventure thru your eyes❤❤GOD BLESS❤❤

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

i'm glad you liked it!

[@HeyMichaelLeo]

You look really good and very happy in this video

[@HeyMichaelLeo]

Come to Florida

[@AB-C1]

Fantastic video Emma! Great adventure trip you guys had! Glad you had such a great time! Have a great week hope you have/had a safe trip back! 👍😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

[@fransie44]

Thank you for share your trips dear....

[@aaronriedel5372]

Another great video! Pure entertainment!

[@robinhoward9113]

safe travels

[@detlefschmidt3927]

...nice! i was just the same- just more spontaneous: as soon as i got the job done- i stood at the train station and thought to myself on the weekends-well, let's go somewhere else, even if it's just for one day! or at the airport! slept at night - there were still sleepers in Germany - not anymore today - and then looked around during the day - back in the evening and at night! that brings the most! so i spontaneously flew to america to visit my sister- didn't really pay attention to the time difference- well: met nothing and nobody! then back at the airport - and seen - there it goes to hong kong: I've never been there before! and as soon as I was back at the airport, I saw Tokyo and booked! I've never been there before! traveling can be so great! Of course with problems: of course - it never works without! Today you have many, many more problems! people are all stupid - just not me! :-) I want to live!

[@tigerspook1]

Delightful video,... It is quite true Emma, steam trains are so romantic they seem to give the impression that they're alive, I do realise progress is important, but with progress itself we lose the very essence of the gentle easy life before it,..

[@terrybrannigan9963]

Yes guidebooks!

[@tonyk2]

Hi Emma, Reading through the comments you're getting, it seems there are a load of railfans among your followers. Well, I'm one too! So no surprise that I really enjoyed this video.

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

thank you!

[@sonjadlong7554]

✨💖✨ Definitely a dream to travel by train. BLESSED

[@tedpreston4155]

HA! I remember an overnight train ride from Ho Hot in Inner Mongolia to Beijing, wondering how on earth I was going to manage to use a squat toilet while on a moving train! It seems I'm not the only one to face that quandary! It takes a certain talent, eh? I've never seen squat toilets in Europe, but I've never been as far east in Europe as Istanbul. (Of course, you cant GO any farther east and still be in Europe!) Did you see squat toilets in Turkiye, besides on the train?

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

yeah, we did! my friends in eastern europe say they can remember them from childhood but I've never seen any elsewhere

[@ellsbells9943]

Hey Emma... that guide book is 30 years old! For books like Let's Go, Rough Guide and Lonely Planet it's best that they are as current as possible ... most importantly for current restaurants, hotels, hostels and the CURRENT SAFETY CLIMATE for soft adventure travelers. Also, 30 years ago I was able to scale Chichen Itza and Uxmal's pyramids ... today they are roped off ... it's a modest investment to get truly timely information, pricing, and personal safety, especially for women travelers. I'm loving your explorations ... living vicariously through you internationally as I finish up my own 4-window skoolie ... have fun, stay safe, drive slow, steer fast 🚍

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

Yes I know how old it is, saving money wasn’t really the point :)

[@CantankerousDave]

Both times I rode the bullet train in Japan, I got a nasty headache from all the rapid pressure changes as the train shot in and out of tunnels. There’s something to be said for a more leisurely pace.

[@reticu_late]

Absolute quality Emma - loved seeing the trains again - took me back to my many years of travelling around Europe. Ah... the vibes... Id always rather be on a train than a museum!! GREAT content. Oh - greetings from Warsaw. x

[@bierbaumpeter7994]

You have a subscriber in Hungary. 🙂 I hope you will have many good experiences.

[@GuyRutter]

What a great trip. Looked amazing. But it did remind me that you can no longer add eastmost Europe. Belarus and Ukraine being so much more different than rest of Europe. Sad days but great trip.

[@MKDSime]

Happy Women's Day

[@beachlife9419]

How's the weather there , so lucky

[@cindymerola6249]

What was the cost of it all and were did you started atin the usa

[@Pabkojdim]

No it's not silly of you I would feel the same

[@duathlete827]

Some of your narration is like listening to someone read a book. A bit like an audio book. I'd swear the words are from a famous author. I'm thinking you should be an writer. Excellent.

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

lol i thought you were going to say because it's slightly uncomfortable to listen to, just like an audiobook 😅

[@duathlete827]

@@EmmaBuildsBirbie Not at all uncomfortable. I felt as though I was watching a movie about a young girl and her travels. Great choice of words describing a romantic scene. Romantic as in a girl loving her life and travels. You are gifted.

[@sharonsmith9478]

I have wanted to do that tolove you girl

[@the_dingo_show]

That was so much fun, thanks for the ride!

[@mikethompson5966]

Ive wanted to take a train accross Canada for over 20 years and finally after watching this im going to look into tickets/accomodations. oneday europe, i never really wanted to but after seeing this im inspired!

[@Altarf_]

Hey Nice video! Where did you buy the tickets, Its online page for do it? Im planning to go from Budapest to Istanbul also. I am from Peru :))

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

bought them in person! we actually bought each leg separately at the departing train station

[@HajnalkaGyurgyovics]

Ok so I wrote that comment before I realized that is the already existing content of this video 😄

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

I saw it and was glad to see I went to so many of the places you suggested! I LOVED Hungary, hope to be back 😊

[@RoseSolane]

There were passport checks between Bulgaria and Romania and Romania and Hungary because Bulgaria and Romania are in the European Union (EU) but not in the Schengen Area. Only inside the Schengen Area border controls and passport checks are abandoned. So if you travel from Hungary to your next country (inside the Schengen Area) there shouldn't be a passport check. By the way, you visited two countries inside the EU but not inside the Schengen Area that are not on an island. Cypress and Ireland are also not in the Schengen Area (and in the EU), but entering by train is not possible (Cypress) or only from an country outside the EU and Schengen Area (Ireland). The Schengen Area comprises most of the countries in the EU plus a few countries that are EFTA member states. EFTA member states are countries in Europe that everyone thinks are in the EU but aren't. Switzerland and Norway are the two biggest. And no, the UK is not a EFTA member state!

[@PEARLDADI]

Dubrovnik?

[@Aljunaidthe1]

Hello Beautiful explorers. I was wondering how you got permits to cross the countries from Türkiye, do they need to stamp on entry or you need to have a visa for each country you cross? Please enlighten. I'm from Istanbul, thanks

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

I am not Turkish so I’m not sure what the rules are for you!

[@Aljunaidthe1]

​​​The rules apply to any nationality crossing an international border, I'm also not Turkish, but living in Istanbul. So I was wondering about the procedures at every border crossing. I tried to check out, but it's not clear. A response from someone who experienced it would be helpful. Thanks @@EmmaBuildsBirbie

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

Rules aren't always the same for every nationality depending on the country you're trying to enter but all I remember is basic passport checks. I'm not the best person to ask, sorry

[@caroleolsen8842]

But what about the earthquake?! Where you back to the USA when it happened??

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

nope. that's all in my last video

[@stregaone4471]

💖💖💖💖

[@artvandelay7236]

I've been a train aficionado ever since I read one of Paul Theroux's books about train travel. He took some great train rides in the 70's, 80's and maybe 90's including the Trans-Siberian, also the Iron Rooster (China), and also one from the US all the way to Argentina. He's a great writer and truly one of a kind. He once took an inflatable canoe to Cairo and rowed the Nile. My dream is to ride the Trans-Siberian one day... one day....

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

mine too!

[@lindomarchagas1877]

Olá menina do sorriso mais lindo, que maravilha de vídeo, mais como esta viagem te muito bem, e assim que tem que ser; curtir a vida. 🙋‍♂️🇧🇷🚂🚃🚃🌹

[@mp-ss6sy]

You should seriously consider doing travel log videos. This was awesome.

[@kannieschrijfnie2042]

It is such fun to see you two enjoy this trip through multiple countries. I really felt part of the journey and it inspires me to maybe do that sometime myself. Have a safe trip back home (probably you’re already there 😃). 👋🇳🇱

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

thank you!

[@BigFireDave]

I use to love train rides. I met my ex wife on a train. Kinda left me not so happy with train rides. LOL No, really. There is a great cross Canadian rial trip, I might give that a try some day.

[@sammack633]

Great travel vlog 😁 Train travel is the best way to travel, Italy has some wonderful journeys, but my favourite was travelling through the Ecuadorian mountains on the roof of the train.

[@1954BigV]

I loved the easy going vibe you shared with Carolyn. How great to have such a delightful pal to travel with. Thanks for sharing,

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

she is a delight 😊

[@jjryansea]

I love your adventurous spirit. You seems so much more confident abroad than at home. Vicariously traveling along with you.

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

Well I’m definitely more experienced in traveling Europe than I am building/driving a school bus so that makes a big difference in confidence 😅

[@mscarlarn]

Emma!!! What a great 5 days! I so loved this video. . How much fun that was. Thank you so much for sharing this adventure. XO XO XO XO XO XO

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

thank you 😊😊

[@mscarlarn]

@@EmmaBuildsBirbie I watched this in the night and woke up this morning thinking about your trip. So cool. Xoxo

[@EnlightenMewithJoePena]

That was fun to watch. Also, that Last line: "And I'll see you never. Bye!" 😆

[@ritabroils6190]

So adventurous, in my younger years I could have done. Safe travels 🙏🏾 and sweet arrivals!

[@michelle14749]

What an amazing trip! You and your friend are fun travel companions.

[@isaacturnerit]

I’ll be honest I was looking at that bunk like can I do a fold down bunk in a bus lol

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

Please do, I need somebody to figure it out for me haha

[@Niteskate1]

That was awesome thank you Emma. I am taking the train across Canada this summer and now I really cant wait.

[@EmmaBuildsBirbie]

that sounds awesome!

[@chanipeterfamily8717]

Nice , i'm from Slovakia living in florida ,and i have family from Hungaria ,they have the best meat food and sausage's , have fun an enjoy europe :)

[@retireordont]

I hope travel vlogging is growing on you because I sure enjoyed this but I wouldn't want you doing anything you were not enjoying because that shows through pretty quick. Truly enjoying your work!

[@10to1imjokin]

I have said this before....you have a beautiful singing voice. And whatever you are doing, you make it enjoyable for us to watch ! I hope the rest of your travels are safe

[@davidgiffordsr.930]

There are places you can ride on Steam locomotive trains in the US. Colorado and Pennsylvania are two states. Just first I came across. Have a search engine? Could be a nice road trip for The Bus! Good luck.

[@ribbleslipscomb5171]

Good on you for enjoying every minute of your train trip. Trains are amazing, that's what I think.

[@D_R_Martin]

Such fun. You are doing such a great job at storytelling. Good luck in the rest of your journey.

[@hollyvasquez2087]

When back in the states, try Amtrak or even is you get back to Canada, try the Canadian

[@ammocandoit]

Ahh! I love seeing your non-stressed out personality! You're too cute 🤭

[@mskarenpie]

Loved your video!!! So refreshing. Thank you

[@nintendolunchbox]

Ever cuter outfit !

[@nintendolunchbox]

Cute hairdo ;)

[@georgeliao9538]

You look refreshed! Travel life does good for you.

[@autumnwormuth7827]

No idea is stupid if it works.

[@punjabseth260]

🌼🌼👌🏻

[@brightboxstudio]

That was really fun to watch! If anyone asks me what my train trips across Europe were like, I could just show them this video since you captured it so well. We had the chance to take some trains again in Europe last fall, and it was just as fun as it always has been. These experiences stick with you the rest of your life, which is wonderful. I started watching for the bus build, but your international adventure has been just as great. Which helps answer the questions you raised in your earlier video. When you move on beyond the bus build, whether or not you document that next phase on KZbin, you have the kind of flexible and positive attitude that will help you achieve that, and enjoy it too.

[@Torsee]

The last stanza of Edna St. Vincent Millay - Travel My heart is warm with the friends I make, And better friends I'll not be knowing; Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, No matter where it's going.

[@MKDSime]

mesmerizing 🤩