Hello, again! Today we’re going to talk about planning your backpacking trip through Europe. We’re not going to go over actually packing for the trip, but rather we are going to talk about building your itinerary and executing the perfect trip.
Before you plan for your European backpacking trip, I think it's a good idea to look at a map of Europe to familiarize yourself with the how big the continent really is. This should give you inspiration. Start writing down a list every country that you want to see. Once you’ve come up with your list, follow my step-by-step instructions to plan and execute the perfect backpacking trip throughout Europe
Step 1 - Make a list of about 20 countries. There is no need to cut out any country yet, just list your favorites. We will whittle this list down later, but at first list all of the countries that you would put on your “bucket list” of must-see countries.
Step 2 - Next, take your list of countries and research how expensive each country is – the most efficient way to do this is to research the price of hostels in each country. For example, one of the more expensive countries in Europe is Switzerland. You can still go to Switzerland if it’s on your list, or you can stretch your money out longer if you go to a country in Eastern Europe – your choice. The average price of a hostel in Switzerland is about $60, while a hostel in Hungary is about $8. The hostel price gives you an idea for your future itinerary of how long you can stay in one place.
Step 3 - Plane tickets can be pricey, so shopping well in advance of your trip is important. I do not suggest purchasing a round trip ticket for your trip because you probably will not fly in and out of the same destination. For example, if Ireland is on your list, go there first. Also, I learned that buying my ticket in Europe was more economical. So, although I had an itinerary, I didn’t purchase the rest of my plane tickets until I was physically in Europe.
Step 4 – Decide how long you want to travel. You're planning a backpacking adventure which usually means you're going to be traveling for more than one month. But really the deciding factor is how long you think you can afford to stay away without it breaking your bank. You’ll want to write down how much you think you'll need a month based off your research of researching how expensive these countries are and how much you're going to be spending on food, activities, shelter and transportation. For example, if you estimate that you can live on $2,000 per month and you have $14,000 saved, then plan for a seven-month adventure.
Step 5 – Now it’s time to narrow down your list of 20 countries from Step 1. To do so, simple proximity from one country to the next may help with your decisions. For example, if Norway is on your list, it may need to be cut out because it is very out of the way and expensive to get to compared to other countries.
Step 6 – It’s time to figure out your daily budget. You're going to want to set a daily budget at this point. To do so you must know how long you're going to be away, and your average price of hostels, transportation, activities, and food. When you arrive at your budget, you can plan the bulk of your adventure.
Step 7 – Planning activities that fit within your budget are important. To learn about fun activities, I often visited blogs, researched various websites and visited Facebook groups. I typed in requests like “all the weirdest things to see and do in Greece,” or “the most unique thing to see in Ireland” or “the craziest things to see in Switzerland” and I got numerous articles about things that you probably never heard of and then wrote them down because that information is important when you're planning that full itinerary.
Step 8 – When planning your itinerary, you take your narrowed down list of countries with activities that interest you, and you start the planning process. First you need to know how you're getting from point A to B to C to B and everywhere in between. Planning your itinerary in the most efficient way to get from country to country is important. You do not want to bounce all over Europe wasting time on a train when you could be spending it in another country.
Step 9 – Set a date of when you know that you're leaving to help you prepare for your trip, but also buy travel insurance. Nobody likes paying for expensive travel insurance, but if something happens to you and you don't know where you are and you break a bone or get things stolen, you want to be covered. Do your research because they're a lot of different travel insurance companies out there, but just find one that suits you best.
Step 10 – Finally, be a bit spontaneous. This is a trip of a lifetime. Catch the blog next week to learn more about shopping on a budget.
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