Ambitious Caffeine-Fuelled Journey Across Europe Goes Awry
An adventurous travel vlogger who set himself the ambitious goal of consuming seven cups of coffee across seven different European nations within a single day has revealed how his meticulously planned expedition unraveled following the fifth beverage. Scott Manson, the creator behind the popular YouTube channel Planes, Trains, Everything, embarked on this logistically complex caffeine quest utilizing trains, planes, and buses, traveling from Milan in Italy all the way to Edinburgh in Scotland.
The Elaborate Plan and Its Initial Execution
In a recently published video documenting the attempt, Manson outlined his unusual mission. "Tomorrow, I'm going to do something a bit silly," he announced to his audience. "How possible is it to visit seven countries in one day? Well, on paper, it is possible. But I thought, 'Let's jazz things up a little bit. Let's visit seven countries in one day and buy a coffee in each of those seven countries'. Now, we've got a challenge." He acknowledged it would be one of the most logistically challenging day trips he had ever undertaken.
The journey commenced at 6 a.m. in Milan, Italy, where Manson enjoyed his first coffee of the day. He then boarded a train bound for Zurich, Switzerland. Upon arrival, with just thirty minutes to spare, he secured a cappuccino at the station, noting its significantly stronger taste compared to the Italian brew. His itinerary then took him by train to Basel, a city situated on the Swiss border with both France and Germany.
The Journey Progresses Before Hitting Obstacles
From Basel, Manson transferred to a bus heading to EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, located on French soil, marking his third country. There, he consumed an espresso before catching a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. With a tight one-hour layover, further reduced by a twenty-minute flight delay, he managed to drink a coffee in Frankfurt, bringing his total to four.
The next leg involved a flight to Brussels, Belgium, where he successfully purchased and drank his fifth coffee. From Brussels, he planned to take a train to Antwerp to continue his journey toward the Netherlands. However, this is precisely where his carefully constructed schedule began to collapse.
Transport Delays Derail the Caffeine Challenge
Critical train delays proved to be the undoing of Manson's ambitious plan. His train from Brussels was delayed by thirty-one minutes, while his connection in Antwerp allowed for only a thirty-minute window. This miscalculation meant he was set to miss his crucial connecting train to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. "The next direct train means that I will have approximately one hour at Schiphol airport to get through security and get to the gate," Manson explained. "And Schiphol airport is not a small airport. So this could be interesting. And I thought my biggest concern on this trip was drinking too much coffee."
Although he visited a ticket office and found an alternative solution, granting him approximately fifty-five minutes at the airport, the time pressure became overwhelming. Upon arriving at Schiphol with fifty minutes remaining, he was forced to abandon his quest for a sixth coffee entirely, as he had to sprint to catch his flight to the seventh and final country, Scotland.
An Anti-Climactic Conclusion to the Day
With his unique coffee challenge officially over, Manson landed in Edinburgh. Rather than celebrating with a seventh cup, he entered a Black Sheep Coffee store and opted for a bottle of orange and mango Rubicon and a packet of ready salted crisps—a decidedly non-caffeinated conclusion to an extraordinarily long and demanding day of international travel. His story serves as a vivid reminder of the unpredictable nature of complex multi-modal journeys and how even the best-laid plans can be disrupted by the realities of modern transport networks.
