Please help me with this planing!

[K.Pecas]

It is driving me crazy!

I am planning a trip to backpack through Europe With a friend. I need to know if this budget is correct pre person. We are going to be there for 60 days and we both have ISIC cards.... PLEASE FEEL FREE TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS IF YOU SEE A BUDGET IS TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW! If you do, please tell me how I can improve. Thank you so much! This has been so stressful.. I appreciate it!

Backpack- 90$
Plane Ticket- 500$
ISIC Card- 22$
Eurail Pass- 700$
Lodging- 700$
Other Transport- 300$
Emergency- 400$
Passport- 100$
Guide Books/ Maps/ Discount Cards- 150$
Food- 1500$
Spending- 1000$
Travel Clothes/ Shoes and Toiletries- 850$

[bs1313]

Only $700 for lodging? I am going for 3 weeks this summer with my girlfriend and we are spending 1700 for lodging that is between $40-$45 a night per person, which is pretty cheap but there are cheaper ones out there. But I personally don't think 700 would be enough. Is it 700 for one person? Even then that is like $12 a night and I don't think you will find it that cheap in that many places.

[nickolt]

ditto to the lodging. im going for two months with my bf and we are allocating about 1600 each. granted, a week we are staying with family, but even 1600 is on the low side. thats about 30cdn avg per night. you need to spend less money on food and more on lodging =P

[K.Pecas]

We are going to be taking night trains. We each have a rail pass for 21 days in 2 months and we are just going to sleep on the train.

[bs1313]

Oh well that is a good idea. That would probably save you some money. Good thinking!

[Eagle]

ooosunxshineooo, Welcome! I also have a few comments about the amounts you've budgeted for your travel items.

> Backpack - sounds reasonable. What type / size Backpack are you considering? Whichever one you buy, make sure you are properly fitted according to your torso length. Two good features to look for are a detachable Daypack (good to use for carry-on) and a stowable harness system (helps to ensure that straps don't get torn off by airport baggage handling systems).

> Plane ticket - that sounds a bit low. Where are you flying from? Also is that a return or open-jaw ticket?

> Lodging - I have to agree with the others, that sounds quite low (I'll address the sleeping on trains issue later). Also, what currency ($) are you basing your estimates on?

> Food - you might be able to budget a bit less for food. What are you considering for food - having the included breakfast at the Hostel, small lunch from a Deli or whatever, and then a restaurant meal for supper?

> Spending - what kind of things were you basing your spending budget on - Museum entrances, etc.?

A few points to keep in mind regarding the idea of "sleeping on trains". First, if you were planning to rent a Couchette, you'll have to pay an extra fee. This is not included in the cost of the Railpass, and often is close to the amount that would have been spent in a Hostel. In addition to that, reservation fees may also be required, and these also are not included with a Railpass. I generally try to structure my trips so that I can avoid night trains if possible (unless they're a direct high speed train).

Another point to consider is that you'll have to choose your night trains carefully. Depending on which route you choose, some of these will have two or more changes during the trip. You won't be getting much sleep if you have to change trains several times during the night!

To summarize then, I've categorized your travel budget somewhat like this:

> PRE-TRIP Expenses (Backpack, ISIC Card, Passport, Plane ticket, Rail pass) - $2412.00
> TRIP Expenses (Lodgings, Other Transport, Food, Emergency, Spending) - $3900.00

Your Trip expenses provide for a daily budget of $65.00. Again, I don't know what currency you're basing your estimates on, so can't comment on the issue of exchange rates. A daily limit of $65.00 could be somewhat difficult to work with.

It would also help to know which countries and cities you're planning to visit, as costs will vary slightly between different parts of Europe. If you could provide some further details, it would help.

I'm sure the group here can help you get this sorted and make your trip a reality.

Good luck with your planning!

[K.Pecas]

Regarding the train, I have spoken with the ISIC rep in my area, and because I'm in school, I can get a rail pass for $550 (american dollars) and if i plan to make all the train trips night trips, it is just an extra $110 added to the rail pass to have a second class couchette included for every trip.

As for the plane ticket, my friend and I are in college, so we are still millitary dependants, so we are planing on taking a military lift to Germany or England or Greece, and as we are on a Air Force bace, we have weekly lifts to Germany. They only cost about $25. Crazy Cheap. And even if that doesn't work, my friends dad is a wiz at getting crazy deals on plane tickets. He got himself and his wife an open jaw ticket to france for their honemoon for $332 each. But the likelyness of the lift not working, is slim to none. There are always at least 25 open seats.

We Plan on going to France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Spain, and maybe Poland and Portugal.

We are in US dollars.

The spending money is budgeted for museums and extras. We don't really want to go to any major museums. I've been to the louve, and it's not all that. It's cool and everything, but it's not worth the two hour wait to see everything. I'm more interested in the country and city life and interacting with locals and giving me a chance to use my french and german.

As far as food goes, I want to have at least one authentic meal in each city we stop, but we can live off the grocery stores and markets the rest of the time.

And to offset the cost for me a bit, I'm sending all of my family and friends a wishlist from amazon. So I'm hoping I won't have to break $5000.

[Eagle]

ooosunxshineooo, thanks for the reply. That clarifies the picture considerably!

That's a great price for the rail pass and couchettes (and of course the air tickets!), however keep in mind the aspect of changing trains during the night. Choose your routes carefully!

Visiting 10 countries during even a 60 day trip is a bit "ambitious" IMHO. For example, I spent 60 days in Europe in Sept./Oct. 2006, visiting only Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France and hardly "scratched the surface" in those countries. It would help to have a list of cities that you plan to visit also. You'll need to allow for adequate travel time between destinations as well. I'll give this some thought, and hopefully the others will have some comments as well. This will be easier to plan once you post a more definite Itinerary.

Hopefully your family and friends will be able to help out with your "wishlist" expenses, so that you can transfer some of your pre-trip funds to your trip budget. Keep in mind that US$3900 is only about €2480 (which would provide €42 per day) or £1965 (which would provide £32.75 per day). Some allowance will be required for exchange rates!

Cheers!

[K.Pecas]

Thank you so much.

I'm sure I'll get by with what I have, I'm usually pretty tight fisted. I'd rather be safe than sorry though. I will probably end up puting my graduation money towards this trip. I think that will raise the pot up to about $7034.. But I'm not sure how final expences will be.

And one question for you, you seem to really know what you're talking about. What is the best electronic translator to buy? I need one that is under $100 but I don't want it to be total trash like the one i used in france. I would rather have an electronic translator than 4 dictionaries for each language. That's too much bulk in my pack.

Also, what do you think of couch surfing?

[Eagle]

With the Grad money added to your budget, you should be able to get by if you're as "tight fisted" as you indicated.

A few comments regarding the Electronic Translator. I really like technology and always travel with a fair amount of "electronic kit", including a Cell phone and digital Cameras. However, my view is that electronic translators (including the newer models that can "speak") are somewhat a waste of money, especially considering the practical aspects of using one. The locals aren't going to have much patience in waiting while a traveller enters a word or phrase, and even if the machine provides a perfect translation of a question (or whatever), will you be able to understand the response in the local language?

My approach is to learn a few words in the local language of each country that I'll be visiting (please, thank you, good morning, etc.) and pack a small combination Phrasebook that covers several languages (just in case it's needed). I can get by quite nicely in Italian, and can stumble along to some extent using my high school French (I hope to become fluent in Italian some day!). However, the reality is that Europeans are much more clever with languages than those of us in North America, and in the majority of cases you'll be able to find someone that can function with at least "basic" English in most places. Be prepared to speak slowly and clearly, and don't use slang or local terminology.

As far as "couch surfing", I can't offer any comments or recommendations on that. I'm a "mature traveller" so that's not an option I would ever consider. I use Hostels or budget Hotels almost exclusively. As a parent, I'd have definite concerns about my children using a facility like that (although I suspect the risks might be higher for female travellers?). Hopefully the others will have a few opinions on couch surfing?

I can't recall if I suggested this before, but I'd highly recommend that you have a look at the book Europe Through The Back Door, as it's an excellent "pre-read" for those travelling in Europe. It should be available in your local Library or book stores.

Cheers!

[jessus]

All right. I'm all into the money planning right now, as I'm finding myself spending a lot of it for my upcoming trip!

Keep in mind that I am from Canada, things may cost a bit different here - and though I'm thinking in Canadian dollars, at the moment US & Canadian dollars are equal.

Backpack- 90$
- I think this is a bit of a low estimate... the decent ones I saw for sale were all over $120. (Mine was actually $220)

Plane Ticket- 500$
- I also think this is a low estimate... maybe you could get this without taxes, but add on a couple hundred for all of that ($700 is a more reasonable estimate)

Lodging- 700$ ...
- Okay, I'm also thinking this is a bit low too! - even if you use all 21 days of railpasses to sleep on the trains (and that was quite a tip about the extra $110 only for couchettes! I'm going to see if I can get that one..) - there will still be about 39 nights of hostels/etc. You should budget at least $30 a night for those.. with makes $1170.

Other Transport- 300$
- this one seems almost more than you need... if you have 21 days of rail, $300 of extra transport seems a bit excessive

Emergency- 400$
- personally, I won't be bringing any emergency money - my emergency method of funds is my credit card

Travel Clothes/ Shoes and Toiletries- 850$
- do you really need this many new things? I got a decent pair of travel shoes for $100... I may pick up a couple other items that are specifically for travel, mixed with my own clothes & toiletries... I can't imagine myself spending more than another $200! (And even that sounds like more than I would need to spend...)... unless the clothes/toiletries you have now are no good for travel for some reason?