I plan to leave in excatly one year and hit as many cities as possibly on little to no money (excluding the cost of the flight there and back from New York). Any wisdom or advice from seasoned 'packers would be appreciated; aside from that, If you have an assuming story about a similar trip, I'd love to hear it :]

holy hell, are you me? did i register a new name without realizing it?
i want to do this next year too. unfortunately, don't have any wisdom yet. you could do what i'm doing...read as much as you possibly can beforehand then leave the guides at home.
i'm reading europe through the backdoor, the let's go guide, and lonely planet. i also found some internet sources of information. search backpacking in google. soyouwanna.com has a good how-to on it to get started.
i plan on packing next to nothing and wearing the only clothes i'm bringing.

Sleep over at european sciforumers.

Should be for free...

so monkey....accepting any travelers? ::winkwink::

I would, but I might be in South America myself. I have some vague plans to start wandering through south America for a few months.

I might be back in europe though. But I can't say which country yet. Probably not finland.

Next year, I thought about wandering too, but I do not really know when. I thought about visiting my sister in Norway, by foot since I do not want to spend that much money.
In about a years time, I suppose I am still in Germany. Don´t know exactly which city, but if you need a place to sleep, I could offer one. ;)

but if you need a place to sleep, I could offer one. ;)

that does not sound purely pure in intention.

It does not?
Well, I assure you I do not have any intentions.

(Alas there might not be much space anywhere, I am extremely lazy and might have no intention of cleaning up. It might also be quite possible that I spend a certain amount of time with my friends, too drunk to know where I live. This makes the offer of a place to sleep somewhat uncertain. ) :D

Bring a tent and camp on the street.

I am flying to Germany (Munich) in Sept.! From there, to Italy if budget allows. Any German sciforumers willing to offer shelter, or insider's advice?
Then, in a year from now, to Latvia, and from there, perhaps to Lithuania.
Then, anywhere in Europe. I'll crawl if I have to. Getting there from NYC is not exactly low price.

Hmm, as I stated above I would be able to offer shelter, alas I´ll be living in the north (Hamburg or Berlin). As it looks, that would be slightly out of the way if you want to go from Munich to Italy.

I'm sorry to report that I will be slightly particular in who I might shelter.

PM need not to apply...

Well I could offer shelter in the Netherlands, but I don't trust strangers :+. Oh and I'm hardly ever at home.

I had once 3 people visiting that I met in a chatroom (not even a forum). Well, only 2 were from the chatroom. One of them was just a satanistic friend of one of them. Well, I don't know if they were really friends, but they hung out together.

It was ok...

Nobody raped me.

Well I like to keep internet people where they belong, on internet :P

sorry but we just don't stay where we are placed. i sometimes go outside my house into the real world.

sorry but we just don't stay where we are placed. i sometimes go outside my house into the real world.

How dare you!?!

roun:

Back in '95 I travelled Europe for a year; easily the best decision I ever made. Make sure you get all your Visas ahead of time, passport up to date, etc. Keep a safe stash of American dollars handy; don't bother with travellers cheques; ATM's are everywhere. Get some serious hiking boots and a decent Columbia jacket. Pack up everything you think you'll need, then take out at least a third of that. Buy your film before you go. Oh, and one more thing: don't try to smuggle anything out of Amsterdam. For that matter, spend a maximum of 3 days in Amsterdam; after that you kind of hit an Amsterdam black whole and it gets increasingly difficult to get out, lol.

I plan on wandering someday, after highschool i plan to become a tree planter fora while, pretty close except the walking, and you get paid haha :p but at one point in my life i just want to drift somewhere...haha possible career choice :confused: haha

Good luck and make sure this is what you want.

My advice is: If you get stranded, remember that you can declare yourself destitute at the embassy & they'll lend you a ticket home. Bring more money than you think you'll need and keep a detailed journal!!

'Good luck', remember dont trust anyone that smiles at you alot,
Dont drink the water or for that matter any of the local specially made drinks...
Live on fast food as you dont really know whats is in the local stuff (I still dont :D),
That is unless you want to be cultural and have a strong stomach,
and no aversion to throwing up for the next four days


My advice: Smile and carry a heavy stick
:m:

There is a difference in water quality between the european countries. It really depends where you are.

Don't go to mcdonalds or any known fast food places unless you feel homesick or whatever. If local food will make you sick so will the local mcdonalds.

If they eat at McDonalds so often, they can easily stomach anything. The local food is surely not as unhealthy as a fast food meal. :D

It´s true that you should not drink the water in some countries, for example Spain or Greece. Well, it is alright here in Germany and as far as I know France, Britain and those in between also have drinkable water.

And may I add that Sandinavia has mostly excellent drinking water.


as a comparison:

Every time I was in the US the tapwater was actually awful and undrinkable according to my standards. That was Charlottesville (washington), Madison (wisconsin), and LA.

Hey, everyone. I'm a female looking to backpack around Europe alone next summer. The people closest to me are flipping out, but I never thought it would be that dangerous. Am I just being naive? Any tips or bits of safety advice that would pertain more to females? Is there a female out there who's done this before? Thanks!

Take soap, towels, aspirin, pocket dictionary... and car :D

Hey, I got a story.
I was in Italy, Siena to be exact, last summer and being a cyclist I decided to rent a bike. So I found a place, lied about my age and place of residence to get a bike, and set off with a Dutch couple I met at the store who were going across Europe. I biked with them for maybe 15 km then went off on my own. I wanted to reach an area on the mountain away from the town, so I had to scale it straight up (straight being the only way that was paved).

After about 5 hours of biking with only 2 litres of water and 42 degrees celsius without humidity, I was getting fairly out of it. I stopped and felt like throwing up, so I told myself I'd get water at the next stop.

This ended up being about 3 km away. So I stopped, went to get water, and promptly fainted in the store. I wake up to four people standing over me, one slapping my face and one dialing an ambulance. I quickly tell them not to get an ambulance as I had no money for that, and the school I was studying with would kill me. So after about 20 minutes of relaxing at the stop I realized I had t oget back to the hotel before dark fall. Don't ask why, I just felt it was necessary (I chalk this up to having just passed out, and being in severe dehydration).

So I quickly biked the last 5 km down to the spot I wanted to reach, and started heading back for my hotel. Now, at one point I lost track of the quickest way to get there. I ended up stoping and asking for directions to my hotel Vico Alto. An old Italian woman who barely understood my shitty accent pointed me down a hill and to the right. The hill ended up being straight down the mountain and a highway. About halfway down, with my speed, oh, let's say at least 55 km/h on a shitty bike, I realized she had pointed me to Vico Alto Park, not hotel. I looked back, and my hotel was on top of the mountain.

So, I had to stop my bike. But the breaks would have thrown me off the bike. Thankfully, the side of the road was grass. So I swirved to my right, Threw on the breaks and skidded into the grass and slid painfully for like 10 feet. Then had to bike all the way back up, and to my hotel.

I can safely say, I've never been more tired.



(by the way, this is my first post in ages. I was hear I think before most of the people who've posted in this thread. wierd)