How to travel in Europe as a vagabond

When it came time to leave Sunseed I had no plans. My only goal was to see Europe, and do it on the cheap. The greenback hasn’t been fairing too well against the Euro, and as a result wiping your ass in Europe can cost you a fortune (70¢ to use a public toilet). For six weeks, I traveled from Southern Spain to Hungary then up to the Netherlands, and I did it for about 10 € a day. Here’s how:

Make cheap friends – Doing anything in groups is cheaper, especially if you have like minded companions. From my experience, the French are the surest bet for cheap friends in Europe. You may find them drinking in parks or hanging around bakeries. Offer them a cigarette and you have a friend for life. Avoid Parisians, they don’t like you anyway.

Antoine is a lazy bastard28-Jul-2010 18:01, Canon Canon PowerShot S90, 4.0, 8.557mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 160

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Carpool – Although Europe is very well connected with trains and buses, it is crazy expensive to use them. Three of us squeezed into my friends little Citröen, and it was great. We got from Southern Spain to France in a leisurely 5 day trip that brought us past some beautiful places. And splitting the cost of diesel three ways was no problem, even at 1.30€/Liter ($6.80/gallon).

Skip the Hostels – Luckily, being at the community got me used to a very simple way of living, so luxuries like sleeping indoors and bathing were easy to cut out. I slept on beaches, parks, or just on the side of the road. Bathing in rivers was not only cleaning, but always gave us an excuse to find a nice place to swim and relax every few hours.

Camping in the Pyreneese and wine, a prefect combo25-Jul-2010 21:01, Canon Canon PowerShot S90, 4.0, 6.0mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 160

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Eat local food – You’re in Europe, get some meat and cheese and throw it on a freshly baked baguette. No mustard or mayonnaise needed, this is the real stuff and it’s great. For breakfast replace meat and cheese with Nutella. Repeat everyday.

Go where you know people – I met this cool Swiss couple in China, so I contacted them when I relized I’d be in the neighborhood. Next thing I know I’m staying at their house and we’re going on some fun ass adventures together in their gorgeous and insanely expensive country.

Another castle, this one you can swim to08-Aug-2010 18:01, Canon Canon PowerShot S90, 8.0, 6.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 80

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Put out your virtual thumb – To get from Switzerland to Budapest, I used hitchhikers.org, and got a ride for €50. The trade off was the guy was batshit crazy and I had to listen to his lunatic ramblings for 12 hours (check his website tafinaff.com if you don’t believe me). But I got there in the end and that’s all that matters.

The Dutch can be as cheap as the French – I met up with some dutch friends I made in China, and we traveled together from Budapest through Czech Republic, and onto their home in the Netherlands. Being a radical socialist state most things are taken care of for you, so you don’t need to have much money to survive. Even the unemployed can have a good life here. I enjoyed activities like sleeping in an old library, a BBQ’s in an abandoned green house, and drinking cheap domestic beer. It was a blast.

Enjoying the Dutch contryside with friends and beer18-Aug-2010 16:51, Canon Canon PowerShot S90, 2.0, 6.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 400

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Weed is cheaper than beer – What can I say, spend 30€ to get drunk in a crowded club where nobody can dance anyway (sorry Dutch people, this is true) or spend 3€ to get high (legally may I add) and hang out with your friends discussing American imperialism and/or laughing about the word manhole. I rest my case.

Any ride will do – Especially a pimp ride like this one.

Niels brings me to the airport on his hog, with attached trailer... badass22-Aug-2010 18:01, Canon Canon PowerShot S90, 3.2, 6.0mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160

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