How to be a successful European traveler on a budget.

You don't have to be European for this guide to be for you.  This is a basic guide for anyone that is interested in the rich and diverse culture of Europe, who wants to see the sights, hear the sounds, taste the foods, and smell the smells (not recommended if traveling to Venice) of Europe on a budget.  You will be surprised at how far your money can go while traveling Europe.

You want a European adventure? Well, first thing is first: airfare. This is often the most expensive and painful parts of planning your travel, and there isn't much you can do to get around it. If your looking for the cheapest tickets then your going to have to search around. If your a student then studentuniverse is a great site that often has the cheapest prices around. You have to have a valid student or faculty email to get membership, but besides that it is free. If you aren't a student then you will have to search a little more.

This is what people don't often realize about airfare: Buying a series of one-way tickets is often cheaper than buying round trip. It can also give you more flexibility in when you would like to return. Also, I have found that 8 times out of 10 you can visit a place that you would normally just fly over for little to no extra cost (airfare cost that is).

So, for example, say you wanted to fly from Dallas, Texas to Rome, Italy. Buy a one-way ticket to New York City (if you want, stay in NYC for awhile!), then fly from New York to London (or Paris, really anywhere on the West coast of Europe is going to be the cheapest. I have found London to be pretty reliably cheap). Stay in London for awhile if you want! Then, and this is the part that makes this the budget way to fly, buy your ticket from London to Rome from one of the European budget airlines (easyjet.com and ryanair.com are the biggest ones, although there are many others). You will often save a few hundred dollars doing this there and back, plus you have time to stay in all the places that you would normally just miss!

Things to be aware of: The European budget airlines will charge you more (around $14) for a bag that isn't a carry on. So, as always, it saves to travel light. You also need to be aware of the charges they sneak in (usually about $10 or so). They will charge you for paying with a credit card, then they will charge you for online-check in, and sometimes other things. You need to be very sure that you haven't opted in for any additional services, like early check in, to keep the costs low.

Oh, and the best time to buy airline tickets?  As soon as you know what you want to do.  In my experience there is no real way of telling if your ticket prices are going to go up or down, so my advice to you is to not rush things, and just buy the tickets when you are ready.  As long as you aren't buying tickets around a holiday, or the day before your leaving, then the prices shouldn't really be that much different.

Traveling is about the experiences, not the stuff, and the less stuff you have the better your experience will be. Contrary to popular belief it is possible to do laundry while abroad. Almost anywhere you go there will be a public laundromat, first and foremost: use it if it is cheap. If it isn't, and you are couchsurfing (more on that later), then ask your kind couchsurfing host if you may use whatever his or her method of washing clothes is (this also may be the laundromat, but you might get lucky). Be aware that in many parts of Europe dryers aren't common *cough* Italy *cough*. You may have to hang our clothes out to dry, so plan accordingly. If need be you can always wash your clothes manually, but it is better to do this method before you run out of clothes, than after. Brittany and Ben at eurosatemydollars.com have a great article on this here. They are a real inspiration, and I recommend looking at some of their great posts. In short, you need a universal sink stopper, some soap, and some resolve.

I suggest a good backpack, and that's it. Grab an EEE PC (or other similar netbooks) if you think that you need a computer, which I do suggest so you can more easily keep your travel plans up to date, and contact couchsurfers/find hostels.. Have a nice, waterproof backpack, and roll up your clothes that you need (look at the weather before hand). Hey! Look at you! You're a regular backpacker now.

Things not to forget!

• Your passport (this is is a no brainer, but very important). It is important to know, however, that once you are in Europe, you are in Europe. You will not go through customs as long as you stay within the EU. And remember, if your tourist visa is about to expire, go to Switzerland and then back to the EU!
• Toiletries. Try and remember that Europe has them as well. There is no reason to bring a giant tube of toothpaste. If you run out, you can always buy more.
• An unlocked cell phone does wonders (make sure it can use GSM), you can pick up a pay-as-you-go SIM card for around $15 in whatever country you are going to be in, and then you have an emergency phone, useful for contacting people your traveling with, and couchsurfers that you might be staying with.
• Make sure to leave a copy of your passport with someone you trust at home. If you lose your passport this will make it much easier for the US embassy to ID you and get you a new passport.
• Have at least a rough sketch of where you want to go. This will make finding tickets ahead of time (aka cheaper) much easier. Plus it allows you to check to see if there are any events like concerts or film festivals that will be where you going to be.
• Bottle openers, wine tools, and swiss army knives (and the like) can be great things to have during your adventure, but if you are traveling light and only have a carry on then you can't bring them on the plane. If you want to travel with any items that are only allowed in the belly of the plane, then you will want to get a very small computer case or handbag to take with you on the plane, and then you can put your backpack in the belly. You will have to pay extra if you use any budget airlines in Europe, however, so I don't suggest bringing any of these (unless, of course, you are planing on taking trains, then they don't care).
• Do not forget to tell your bank that you will be going to Europe! If you don't they will shut off your credit or debut card, and you will be stuck in Europe with no money while having to try and deal with your bank back home.
• Get charge adapters for any electronics that will need charging during your travels.
• GPS's are useful, but not really necessary. The cheap way is to go to the first hotel you see in whatever city you are in and ask for a map. They will have one, for free, and often it will list all the local attractions on it.
• Don't use your back pockets.  Pickpockets exist, and most aren't as cute as Oliver.  Be aware of your things, but don't be scared.  As long as you pay attention you won't have a problem.  Remember: pickpockets aren't muggers, and they don't want a fight.  If you discover a pickpocket yell at him loudly! He WILL go away.

Hostels are a great thing, and if you want to be a conventional low budget traveler they are the thing for you. There are many great sites for finding hostels, Hostelworld.com being one of them. Hostels come in all shapes and sizes, some cheaper than others, some a little more sketch than others, but what you can expect from a hostel is a place to sleep (maybe on a bunk bed) for a cheap price.

My personal choice for traveling is Couchsurfing.org which is an awesome thing that sounds like a really bad idea. Couchsurfing is kind of like Facebook: you make a profile that tells about yourself, and then you can search for people in the area you are staying and ask to stay with them. For free. Sometimes you get to sleep on a floor, sometimes a couch, and other times they have an entire bed for you. There are a great many security features on the site, people who surf (the term for someone who is traveling and stays with people) leave feedback on the people that host them, and vica versa. You can get vouched for, you can verify yourself (which involves a donation of $20, but is completely optional), and you get feedback comments after you have an interaction with people. So, you search for people (message more than one person at once!) who live in the area you want to stay in, and send them a message. If they are free then they will let you stay with them for free! You can know if they are trustworthy because you can see all the comments other people have made on their page, and see any awards and recommendations that they have. Everyone is different, but I've found that people on couchsurfing are some of the most interesting and friendly people in the world, and often you don't just get a place to stay, you get a friend (not to mention you can talk to someone who knows the area, and can give you ideas of what to do during your stay). Couchsurfing is an invaluable experience and has really enhanced all of my travels. I've both hosted and surfed and had a great time both ways.

Tips for getting started on couchsurfing

• Fill out your profile completely, and put lots of friendly pictures of yourself up. Since you won't have any recommendations, it will be harder to find someone to host you at first. The best thing you can do for yourself is to make your profile interesting and appealing. Once you start to make some friends and get some other peoples' comments on how awesome you are, you will start to find an easier job.
• Verifying yourself costs $20, but it goes to a great nonprofit. If you don't mind paying the $20 then it does make your profile more appealing, but don't think you are obligated to verify.
• Message people as far in advance as you can! This is important, because lots of people will have other couchsurfers or be busy during the time that you want to stay. The earlier you can get to them, the more likely you will be able to stay with them. This is especially important in major cities like Rome or Paris.
• Make sure you read the whole page of someone you want to surf with so you know exactly what kind of accommodation that have to offer, and what part of the city you will be staying in. They will also have information about if they smoke in the house, or if they have pets in case you are allergic.
• Get a feel for the site. The more you look around the site and get a feel for how legit and fairly safe it is, the better you will feel about staying with a stranger for the first time.
• The first time is the hardest! Find someone who you think you will get along with and just jump in and do it. Stop worrying, just read their whole page and make sure that you are comfortable, if you get a bad vibe from them you can always just leave and go stay in a hostel.

You will save a lot of money if you use couchsurfing, and you will make lots of friends abroad!

These are special things that you might want to consider before you go on your trip.

First, the ISIC, or International Student Identification Card, has discounts throughout Europe, and offers some basic health insurance, along with special lines you can call with questions.  You obviously have to be a student to get one, and I personally have never used one, but you should check it out if you qualify, because it seems like it COULD be a good deal for $22.  http://www.isic.org/

The other thing I would like to mention is the Eurail pass, again something I have never used, but I have had some experience with it.  There are many options, and it can save you money, depending on what you are doing.  I personally think using a combination of buses, the budget airlines, and trains is a cheaper way of transportation (or biking, if you are into touring), but you do get increased flexability when using the Eurail passes.  The only word of warning I would give is to check the price of the tickets that you would be using the Eurail pass for, because sometimes the ticket is going to be "cheaper" if you buy it instead of using the pass (take how much money you paid for the pass and divide it by how much of the pass the ticket would use up, and see if it is cheaper, or more expensive than the actual ticket price.  You are really going to want to plan ahead to get the most of your Eurail pass, especially if you are using couchsurfing instead of hostels.

http://www.eurail.com/

This is my first hubpage article, so I will be updating and adding things to it.  If you have any questions then email me at themonstersarecoming@gmail.com, or comment on the page.  Also, feel free to click on, or buy anything from the links on the page, because some of the money will go to support my future travels and hubpages!!!

Happy traveling and surfing!