Backpacking through Europe anyone?
 

Howdy Fellow Members:

My daughter just informed me that she'll be leaving college for a semester to backpack through Europe. I'm so happy for her. So great that she wants to see the world at her own pace. I guess she'll be on the road for 2 months. Now I have to figure out how to help her pay for it. LOL

Her intineray as of now is, Germany, Spain, UK, Scottland, and France. Of course I'm sure this will change once she get some financial reality.

Anyone have any experience with this? I've been to Europe but only in hotels. lol

What a great night. I'm so happy for her as I know she'll have a blast and finish college as well. I don't know what I did to deserve such a awsome child.

Just wanted to share something postive. :D

Gabby

i've done something similar in the end of the eighties... i was globetrotter for a tv show, and i covered 83 countries in 7 months... i was 19 then...so yes, i think it's a positive activity for anyone.
financially... wait the end of spring and you will see the real cost of the trip, because the price of everything will drop or raise due to the financial crisis...

Thanks Nex, good advice about the economy-I hadn't thought about that. I guess you didn't stay in hostel as you were working? The hostel situation worries me a bit but my daughter insists this is the way she wants to travel? I dunno?

actually i was worst than hostels hosting, and sometimes more than backpacking... lol

students hostels is actually one of the best solution she can find, because all the people over there are students in the same situation, or were student before they open these hostels...

you can find some information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpacking_%28travel%29

but she can also check at her local university, there is a lot of services for backpacking and traveling for students... the best shot is when you know where you can sleep, even if you change your destinations day after day... and if you have some contacts in the regions where she goes, she is better having these phone numbers in case there is a problem... or even just to give you some News by the phone.. :)

this is a fun activity and a great learning for teens/young adults.

Thank you very very much Nex. I'll pass this info on to her. We had a long discussion tonight about the safety issues. I told her to tell everyone she's Canadian. LOL We looked up a bunch of hostels tonight and they don't look so bad. I'm not really sure how hostels work. Does the student pay in advance usually or when they get there? I didn't see a whole lot of reservation type of stuff for some of the hostels we looked at online. How much money did you have in your pocket at any given time?

She'd better go with some adults... and by adults, i mean over 30-35...
[s]Europe can be a bit tricky :)[/s]
Scratch that... the WORLD can be a bit tricky

In the UK, They have the Youth Hostal Association which offers budget accomodation for travellers. They do B&B and most have internet access

http://www.yha.org.uk/

http://www.yha.org.uk/yha-overseas/

The thing when you do something like this is to Plan ahead, give yourself some sort of time line, and when your due to move on, to actually move lol, I know this sounds funny but she could stay in one place too long and that will blow her budget for the trip.

Finally, that last point says it all, Budget your trip and stick to it, say you've budgeted $50 a day to Spend you'll need to find accomodation, Travelling costs and meals.

I know in Europe you can get an open train ticket which will cover you for unlimited travel between countries for $XX and remember to always state that your a student, to get the max discounts. http://www.europeanrailguide.com/railpasses/

Good Luck to her and remember Gabby, Kids need to do this as its a transformation from being your little girl to a Young Woman ;) You'll notice how grown up she is when she returns.

Good Luck to her, She'll love it :D

I hiked the Eagles Walk which is a walk across 1/5 of Austria during September 2008. I can't reccomend Austria enough. It's such a beautiful country :)