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Wanting to travel through Europe
Sunstrand
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Well as the thread title states I want to hit Europe and do some back packing for as long as I can with a limited budget. I lost my job just before I went to Australia and have yet to get a new one, (the oil patch in Alberta is kinda slow right now, at least for what I used to do anyways).
So what I was thinking was to sell most of my possessions and use that money to get to Europe and see the sights, maybe do some odd jobs to suppliment the cost of living, but mostly travel around and take photo's. If I sold most of my electronics, dvd's, and game systems, then paid off some bills I would have about 10k Canadian, minus the amount of an airplane ticket.
My question to you guys is, is it possible to stay in Europe for an extended time, 4-6 months, with that amount of cash. I guess another question would be how hard it it to get day to day work, and also should I get a work visa or just try and work under the table?
So what I was thinking was to sell most of my possessions and use that money to get to Europe and see the sights, maybe do some odd jobs to suppliment the cost of living, but mostly travel around and take photo's. If I sold most of my electronics, dvd's, and game systems, then paid off some bills I would have about 10k Canadian, minus the amount of an airplane ticket.
My question to you guys is, is it possible to stay in Europe for an extended time, 4-6 months, with that amount of cash. I guess another question would be how hard it it to get day to day work, and also should I get a work visa or just try and work under the table?
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As regards visas, Remember that if you want to work, you'll need to make different arrangements for each country. For the UK, you can arrange a working holiday visa (that will mean you're legally entitled to work in the UK), provided you come from a country that qualifies. From here:
The list of countries is this: (short version: Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders; yes. US citizens; no)
Australia
The Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brunei Darussalam
Canada
Cameroon
Dominica
Fiji Islands
The Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Saint Christopher and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Swaziland
Tanzania, United Republic of
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
Vanuatu
Western Samoa
Zambia
Zimbabwe
(I'm thinking of doing the same thing)
For a working holiday visa, no. For a full work visa, yes. UK (and in fact, any EU country) work visas are incredibly difficult to get, because your employer has to be able to demonstrate that nobody else in the EU is able to fulfil the function you'd be performing, though I think there are some exceptions for professions that are in short supply.
There's a list of the schemes under which you can apply here. thought bear in mind that most of them have pretty tight restrictions.
It's definitely possible to spend 4+ months in Europe on 10k CND. Last year I did just that, and had no problems money wise. In fact if you can keep a tight budget(unlike me) you might even be able to stay longer.
If you are looking to save money spending time in Eastern Europe is always a good idea, and you might consider some parts of Asia as well. You could also check out couchsurfing.com for some free places to stay(I wish I knew about this site on my last trip).
Finding work under the table really depends on the country. From what I saw England was pretty strict about Visas, but in Italy almost all of the Hostel workers I met were working under the table.
Hope you can make the trip work, it'll be a great experience!
As far as your accomodations, stay in hostels. They're cheap, and you meet so many other travellers like yourself. Only downside is they're not as nice as hotels, but there are web sites out there with user reviews and everything to steer you clear of the dodgy ones, and towards the good ones.
if you're traveling from the UK, I'd recommend Ryan Air (Ryanair.com). The flights can be as cheap as 1 GBP, and they are based in the UK, I believe, and fly all over the continent.
If you're planning to go to Vienna, I highly recommend Wombat's City Hostel. It was awesome, clean, and the staff was incredibly nice.
Actually, in my experience, everyone in Vienna was super nice.
Also, I'd recommend traveling to Normandie/western France. Nice villages/towns include Bayeux, Arromanches, Caen, and some others. Beautiful place, kind people.
From my experience, Northern Europe tends to be a lot more expensive than Southern Europe. I spent a week in Spain and spent maybe 250 (340 USD) euro, living moderately well and buying pretty much whatever I wanted...and staying in nice hostels. A friend went to Norway for 2 days and spent over $700 USD. Insane. So, if you want to live fairly moderately, it shouldn't be too hard to make it on 10,000 CND. That's almost 7,000 euro. It seems to me that it shouldn't be terribly difficult, especially if you work while you're there.
oanda.com for conversion rates.
Northern Europe would definitely be worth a visit, but unfortunately you'll go broke really fast, like Dulcius said. Accommodation in particular costs a fortune.
edit: I've backpacked all around Eastern Europe for a month and spent less than 1,000 euros, and I wasn't being particularly cheap. Just paid attention to the price of accommodation and the price of beer.
About rail passes, some trains particularly in Germany charge an extra fee even if you have a pass, and that can get quite expensive. It's a good idea to plan your trips using the "free" trains: you'll travel a little slower, have to change trains a bit more often, but on the upside you'll meet a lot of backpackers who generally avoid the expensive trains. The Deutsche Bahn website had an excellent online service for planning your routes.
Mostly urban legends (Sleeping in a hotel, waking with stitches on you stomach and later finding out you're one kindey short). But you can find cheap stolen goods I've heard
I had a friend who was kidnapped in Estonia.
YMMV.