Help with epic tour! =)

[scotty]

Hi, brand new to these forums, but i thought id share my plans and get some tips if possible.

Part 1:
Basically, me and a friend are travelling europe for 2 months, and im a little stuck on financials & things - heres some info for the first leg of the tour:

* Will be starting in England
*Will be staying in cheap hostels for europe + possibly couchsurfing
*Will be doing lots of sight-seeing in the countries (main countries will be mostly western europe, but seeing a lot of slovakia'ish area too.
*Will be interrailing it (friend is from canada so will be using eurail, but i *think* i read somewhere we can catch the same trains)
*Countries will be "spur of the moment", so will be getting the 30day unlimited passes, but favourite countries will be germany, greece, czech republic and italy

Basically, living as cheaply as that, im setting aside around £1500/month each.
Will also be taking a small netbook, for sending videos & pictures to family, etc - will this be safe??

Part 2: (not europe. but any help would be brilliant)

Both flying over to Vancouver, travelling from west - east in a van, sleeping in it too to cut costs, then travelling from west - east america, and back up to vancouver for flight home.

Allocated £1500/month again, so hoping to spend no more than £6000 for the 4-5 month trip. So lets say 7000Euros.

Not including equipment, backpacks, clothes, plane tickets etc, is this realistic?

(Trip will begin in March/April next year, Culminate around August - Europe will be done by June latest)
Thanks!

Sean

[madamtrashheap]

scotty, welcome to GFE.

If you haven't already, have a look through the Posts in the Currency/Budget section of the Boards as you will find a lot of advice on budgets according to your travel style.

As you are budgetting in £, I gather you are from the UK. If this is the case, you can certainly catch the same trains (trains are for all!) but if you mean rail passes then you will have to do a little research in terms of the best and applicable pass (and EU discounts to EU passport holders) as they differ for non-EU passport holders. You may also find, depending on your age, that you are able to obtain discounts to museums, etc where your Canadian friend might not. Again, an EU thing, so that may help with your budget.

As far a safetly of taking a Notebook with you, it's always a gamble as you can take all the precautions possible but some low-life might still find a way to steal it. If you can carry it with you, rather than locking in your bag, during the day then that is a start. Lockers in hostels are also a good idea, but again it's not on you so take out travel insurance to cover any losses and have a little more piece of mind.

Can't help with Part 2, but there are many Canucks on the Boards who will certainly be able to offer advice - stay tuned.

[Eagle]

scotty,

I'd like to "second" the welcome to GFE! Your trip is most certainly an "epic" and I'm not sure where to begin, however I have a few comments to start with.

For planning Hostel costs, you might have a look at www.hihostels.com/dba/continent-Europe-EU.en.htm. These are a "chain" Hostel, but it will provide you with an approximate idea on what your costs will be. They also have properties in Canada, the U.S. and the rest of the world. Having a membership (very inexpensive) will provide preferred rates as well as easier booking.

Guidebooks are an excellent resource for planning sightseeing in various parts of Europe, as these usually provide lots of information on opening & closing times, admission costs, etc. I'm assuming you've been using Guidebooks in your planning?

As MTH pointed out, both of you will be using the same trains. However, one important point that applies to Railpasses, is that these don't include the reservation fees which are compulsory on some trains (usually the fast trains, such as the TGV in France). You'll have to pay these separately. However, you could choose slower regional trains which may not require reservations. I usually like the fast trains, in order to maximize my touring time and not waste a lot of time looking at Europe through a train window. The slower regional trains often have multiple changes, while the fast trains are often direct.

I'll answer the question of the "safety" of your Netbook by comparing it to the Camera gear that I usually travel with. I haven't had any "safety" issues so far, but I'm fairly careful with it. Most Hostels supply Lockers, but you'll have to provide your own Padlock. I'd highly recommend choosing a good quality Padlock with "heel & toe locking" (speak with a Locksmith - he'll know what that means). Also, the Padlock shouldn't be too large, as the hardware on most Hostel Lockers will only accept a medium-sized Lock.

I've also bought a Netbook for my travels this year, so will be able to offer more useful suggestions after my trip (keeping in mind that I'll mostly be in budget Hotels rather than Hostels). I'm not sure how useful a Netbook will be for sending videos, as the processors they use are typically a bit limited in terms of "horsepower". However, photos should work fine. The experts at one of the local computer shops here have told me that even something as simple as PhotoShop Elements doesn't work well on Netbooks - it's far too slow to be practical.

I'm assuming that your friend is from the Vancouver area, and that he'll be sorting the arrangements for the Van? Rather than sleeping in the Van every night, you might consider using Hostels every few nights, so that you have access to the showers and other facilities. HI Hostels has some awesome properties in the Rockies such as www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels-HI---Banff-Alpine-Centre-011001.en.htm and it would be a shame not to visit at least a few of them.

One point to mention for you as well as your Canadian friend is that it would be a good idea to consider supplementary medical insurance for the trip across Canada and the U.S. Many Canadians have the idea that our "universal health care" will provide coverage throughout Canada. That's true to some extent, but the reality is that his / her Provincial Health coverage will ONLY cover the expenses they would have paid in the home province. If the costs are higher in the Province where an injury or illness occurs, they he / she will be charged the difference. If your Canadian friend lives in B.C., you might suggest that they stop by one of the BCAA insurance offices to get further information. The supplementary coverage doesn't cost much, and yearly policies area available.

Regarding your budget, I'd have to give that some thought? The general "ballpark" figure for expenses in Europe is to allow about US$75-100 per day for lodgings, food and incidentals (this doesn't include air fare or Railpass). The total amount of £6000 (or about Cdn$9000) may be a bit on the "low" side?

Good luck with your planning!

[stevedanger]

Vancouver is awesome. Spend some time here and see everything you can, from the parks to the beaches to the mountains, to all the locally-owned beer breweries. We just hosted the most incredible Winter Olympics in history and the people in this city are still buzzing with excitement.