How to Backpack Europe: everything you need to know | Eurail, hostels, currency, making friends, etc

[00:00] there is so much you need to know before

[00:01] you plan a backpacking Europe trip and

[00:04] so this video is going to tell you every

[00:06] single thing you need to know about

[00:08] backpacking Europe from flights to

[00:10] budget to urel accommodation and hostels

[00:14] Transportation souvenirs everything you

[00:17] could possibly think of I'm going to

[00:19] tell you all about it so I went

[00:20] backpacking last year for a month with

[00:22] my friend Sophie after semester at C and

[00:26] we went to 13 different countries some

[00:29] of them I went on my own most of them

[00:31] were with Sophie and then I visited a

[00:32] couple other friends in some of the

[00:34] other countries so I went to Germany

[00:37] Denmark Poland Czech Republic Hungary

[00:41] Italy Switzerland France England Wales

[00:46] Iceland and Ireland I think that's all

[00:48] of them I've kind of divided these into

[00:50] two different sections so kind of what

[00:52] you need to do before you leave and then

[00:54] traveling things once you're there that

[00:56] kind of stuff and then each of those

[00:58] have different categories Within each of

[01:00] them I have literally a massive it's

[01:03] like a 1500w document of like all my

[01:05] notes and make sure I remember because

[01:07] there's actually there is quite a bit

[01:09] you need to know about backpacking and

[01:12] you can just kind of wing it but there

[01:15] are definitely some things that will

[01:16] make your life a lot easier when you're

[01:17] backpacking if you know them ahead of

[01:19] time first of all your rough Plan before

[01:21] you leave you kind of have to make a

[01:22] base of what countries you want to go

[01:24] not that you can't spontaneously do

[01:26] something when you're there but you

[01:28] should have kind of a rough plan of what

[01:30] countries you want to go to in what

[01:31] order just because it's a lot cheaper to

[01:34] not zigzag back and forth across Europe

[01:37] so you want to reduce your travel time

[01:39] and also reduce costs by going kind of

[01:42] countries next to each other instead of

[01:44] going from one end of Europe to the

[01:46] other order doesn't really matter unless

[01:48] you are trying to hit a specific event

[01:51] in a country if you're trying to do a

[01:53] lot in not a lot of time like we went to

[01:55] 13 countries in one month I would

[01:57] recommend 2 to three days per country I

[01:59] think on average mine was 2 days but

[02:02] like Iceland I was there for 6 days so

[02:04] it just kind of depends what your plan

[02:06] is obviously Iceland was kind of a

[02:09] farther away country so that necess more

[02:12] time and I'll go through this more but

[02:14] definitely try to book overnight trains

[02:16] if possible because then you're not

[02:18] having to book another night of

[02:20] accommodation and also you're not taking

[02:22] daylight to travel to a whole different

[02:24] country so that is my base

[02:26] recommendation there as far as flights

[02:28] obviously you need to buy your flights

[02:30] to Europe if you're already in Europe

[02:32] and planning to a backpack trip then you

[02:35] don't really need to worry so much about

[02:36] flights but seeing as I'm from the US so

[02:39] this is from a US perspective flights to

[02:41] Europe are obviously more expensive if

[02:43] possible don't try to be too strict with

[02:45] dates because flights could be much

[02:47] cheaper if you went like a day earlier

[02:49] or came back a day later or whatever so

[02:51] try and be flexible and move the your

[02:54] start and end dates around a little bit

[02:55] just to see you might get a much cheaper

[02:58] flight price and always make sure that

[02:59] that you have the flexibility to change

[03:02] your flights if possible so if something

[03:04] happens at home and you have to come

[03:06] home early it's way nicer to know that

[03:09] you can change your flight without an

[03:10] extra cost or wasting the money of that

[03:12] flight if you have that flexibility

[03:14] built into your ticket originally so I

[03:16] would highly recommend making sure to do

[03:18] that also just in case you're making

[03:20] spontaneous plans and all of a sudden

[03:21] you meet somebody you meet a friend and

[03:23] you want to go to this country oh now

[03:25] you can easily change your plans and

[03:27] your flights so being able to be

[03:29] flexible is the most important part of

[03:31] backpacking also smaller flights if

[03:32] you're going to a different country or

[03:34] if you're going to Islands like if you

[03:35] want to fly out to sanini from Athens

[03:38] right those flights can definitely be

[03:40] booked much shorter in advance and also

[03:42] usually much cheaper than probably

[03:44] people in the US are used to but I would

[03:46] still heavily recommend trains over ples

[03:49] so this kind of goes into your rail I'm

[03:50] going to talk about your rail now inter

[03:52] rail is for those who live in Europe but

[03:53] for anybody who doesn't live in Europe

[03:55] you get a UR Rail Pass which is

[03:57] basically the same thing but for

[03:59] different cens uril is amazing and you

[04:02] don't need to be at a train station

[04:04] multiple hours early like you do at an

[04:06] airport so it just saves a lot of time

[04:08] and overall if you get a Euro pass

[04:10] you'll be spending less money you can

[04:12] get many more trains for the price of a

[04:14] Euro ticket than you will get for planes

[04:15] and planes largely only go to larger

[04:17] destinations so of course if it happens

[04:19] to work out and you've run through all

[04:20] the days on your Euro pass your rail is

[04:22] getting harder and harder to say then of

[04:24] course you can book a flight but I would

[04:26] highly recommend trains trains also go

[04:28] to smaller cities and Destin ations

[04:30] whereas planes are only going to largely

[04:32] go to bigger cities there are multiple

[04:34] different kinds of passes I believe I

[04:36] got the 15 days in two months which

[04:38] basically just means you can use trains

[04:41] you can go on any number of trains you

[04:42] want on a travel day so you add 15

[04:44] travel days in the span of two months

[04:46] those are flexi passes so you can get a

[04:48] four five or seven days travel in one

[04:51] month or you can get 10 or 15 days of

[04:53] travel within two months so I could go

[04:55] on three different trains on one day

[04:58] like midnight to midnight and that would

[05:00] still only count as one travel a so

[05:02] that's a really nice thing about Ur rail

[05:04] if you're trying to cross a great

[05:05] distance or if your path just has a lot

[05:08] of different layovers to get to whatever

[05:10] City you're going to continuous passes

[05:13] you can get 15 or 22 days in a row so

[05:15] that's like every single day for 15 or

[05:17] 22 days or you can get one two or three

[05:19] months in a row continuous passes are

[05:21] honestly way more than you need and way

[05:23] more expensive just because it gives you

[05:26] the opportunity to travel every day if

[05:28] you want to but but that's really

[05:30] unrealistic and you probably won't do

[05:32] that anyway so I highly recommend just

[05:35] getting the flexi passes they're also

[05:38] different prices so if you're a youth

[05:39] which qualifies as 12 to 27y Old then

[05:42] those passes are slightly cheaper than

[05:44] the adult ones which are 28 to 59 years

[05:47] old and the child 4 to 11 is free and

[05:50] Senior 60 plus is less an adult but more

[05:54] than youth I think I'm not totally sure

[05:56] highly recommend getting that cheaper

[05:59] ticket there's there's also first class

[06:01] and second class I got a second class

[06:02] ticket you don't need a first class

[06:04] ticket it's just more money basically

[06:06] especially if you're trying to do it on

[06:07] a budget that's what I recommend as

[06:09] amazing as URL is it is also a little

[06:11] bit confusing to use you have the URL

[06:14] app and then you just search the train

[06:16] or City station that you want to go to

[06:20] from where you are and the app will give

[06:22] you a whole bunch of different options

[06:23] like different times and different

[06:25] amounts of layovers or how long it'll

[06:27] take and you basically just add the

[06:29] train to your app and it will keep track

[06:32] of it and then don't activate that pass

[06:35] until you either get on that train or

[06:38] the conductor comes by and asks for your

[06:40] ticket because there are sometimes in

[06:42] northern Europe especially Germany where

[06:45] nobody came by to ask for a ticket so

[06:47] you kind of waste one of your travel

[06:49] days if you activate the ticket and

[06:52] nobody comes by granted most of the time

[06:54] people do come by but we've had a few

[06:56] times where nobody ever did so don't

[06:59] activate your pass until the conductor

[07:01] is coming towards you because you don't

[07:03] need to show anyone the pass really to

[07:05] get on the train the eural app also has

[07:07] a really nice map where you can add all

[07:09] of the trains you want to take in the

[07:11] future and it shows you a map of like

[07:13] where they all are and where they're

[07:14] going which ones you've taken and stuff

[07:15] like that so that's really nice to be

[07:17] able to actually visually see all the

[07:19] different trains you're taking and the

[07:21] thing with overnight trains so trains

[07:23] that are specifically marked overnight

[07:25] trains you need to buy a separate seat

[07:28] reservation for some trains that are

[07:30] like more common paths you will need to

[07:33] get to reservations for anyway which you

[07:35] can do either in the actual train

[07:37] station or you can't do them online

[07:40] which is kind of annoying but before you

[07:42] leave you can get them ordered and

[07:44] delivered to your house or most commonly

[07:46] you just go to the train station a few

[07:48] days before or once you first get to

[07:50] Europe I would recommend going to

[07:52] whatever major train station you're at

[07:53] and just say I need these seat

[07:55] reservations or I need these overnight

[07:57] passes because

[07:59] you cannot get on an overnight train if

[08:02] you do not have a overnight seat

[08:04] reservation we learned that the hard way

[08:06] we were stranded in a tiny little

[08:09] abandoned town in Denmark and I wouldn't

[08:12] recommend it so make sure if you need an

[08:15] overnight pass or you even need a seat

[08:18] reservation you get that figured out we

[08:20] went into Berlin train station and just

[08:22] went to the ticket desk they have a

[08:25] specific like location that you'll be

[08:27] able to find and they were super helpful

[08:29] with figuring out all the different SE

[08:31] reservations that we needed cuz the app

[08:34] doesn't really let you know about that

[08:36] you kind of have to figure that one out

[08:38] on your own unless you already know it

[08:39] so I would recommend figuring that out

[08:42] the second you get into Europe if you

[08:44] haven't already ordered your seat

[08:45] reservations find a train station say

[08:48] these are the ones I need and they will

[08:50] help you out it's not really that

[08:51] expensive some of them were literally

[08:53] like5 some of them were more expensive

[08:56] like the Eurostar from France to England

[08:58] that one was more expensive but that's

[08:59] more expensive train in general seat

[09:01] reservations something you need to know

[09:03] about but as long as you get them figure

[09:05] it out especially for overnights

[09:07] especially for overnight trains but if

[09:08] you figure it out then it's not a

[09:10] problem so just keep that in mind as far

[09:12] as budget I actually last week posted my

[09:16] backpacking budget video so I'll link

[09:18] that here and you can watch it cuz I

[09:20] went through every single thing I bought

[09:21] and the price of everything for

[09:24] accommodation Transportation food

[09:26] excursions and souvenirs for every

[09:28] single country I went to and I gave an

[09:30] average per day budget so you can watch

[09:33] that video for more in- depth about a

[09:35] budget but I think I determined that my

[09:37] average per day for everything was like

[09:41] $150 not euros dollars obviously I'm

[09:44] American so all of my money came into my

[09:46] account already translated into dollars

[09:50] I think at the time though the Euro was

[09:51] pretty similar to dollars so there

[09:54] wasn't really that much of a difference

[09:56] at that time anyway but also just keep

[09:58] in mind that some countries are way more

[10:00] expensive than others Poland was one of

[10:02] my cheapest ones uh Switzerland is super

[10:04] expensive as is Iceland is also super

[10:06] expensive so if you want a more

[10:09] expensive or less expensive it just

[10:11] depends on what countries you go to also

[10:13] what cities and what kind of activities

[10:16] you want to do but you can totally

[10:17] tailor it to whatever kind of budget you

[10:20] have now for packing I also made an

[10:22] unpack with me from my backpacking trip

[10:26] video a few months ago so I'll link that

[10:28] here as well so I won't go through like

[10:30] every single detail of what's important

[10:32] CU I definitely mentioned all those in

[10:33] that video but I'll go through a few

[10:35] things here of what's important to

[10:37] remember carryon is so worth it okay

[10:41] bring carryon only luggage it doesn't

[10:43] matter how long you are going it's so

[10:45] worth it and also try not to bring a

[10:48] roller carry-on suitcase you will get so

[10:52] so so tired of rolling your suitcase

[10:56] over cobblestones you will wreck the

[10:57] wheels of your suitcase if you do that

[10:59] and you'll be so tired of hearing that

[11:02] clacking noise of your suitcase dragging

[11:03] along behind you on the on the

[11:05] cobblestones you'll just want to pick it

[11:06] up and carry it anyway it's I highly

[11:09] highly recommend going backpacks only I

[11:11] double backpack this so I had my Osprey

[11:14] Fairview 40 so that was a carry-on

[11:16] backpack and then I also had just like

[11:18] my regular school backpack Jan Sport

[11:21] backpack and so I had my 40 L backpack

[11:24] on here and then I would carry my school

[11:26] backpack on my front everybody knows

[11:28] your backpacking that's okay that's kind

[11:30] of part of the fun of it all but

[11:33] backpacking is so much better than

[11:35] having any kind of suitcase I just

[11:38] cannot recommend it enough as far as the

[11:40] actual things you bring with less is

[11:43] more okay you do not need the like 14

[11:47] different dresses that you think you

[11:48] will wear you won't wear them put

[11:51] everything you think you want to bring

[11:52] then take half back okay you don't need

[11:54] that much also packing cubes very

[11:56] important I got most of my packing cubes

[11:58] on Amazon I'm pretty sure and you just

[12:01] have to find ones that kind of lay the

[12:04] best so I had a bigger one for most of

[12:07] everything and then I kind of had a

[12:08] smaller one that was for like shorts and

[12:10] pants and then I had a wider one that I

[12:13] put all my um bras and underwear and

[12:15] socks in but because it was wide

[12:18] everything was flat so packing Cube

[12:19] itself ended up being pretty flat so I

[12:21] could just slide it in the top pocket

[12:23] which is actually a really nice way to

[12:25] have that because the bigger things are

[12:28] the harder they are fit in a backpack so

[12:30] that was actually really smart was to

[12:31] have a flat packing cube with all of

[12:34] that stuff in that I could just slide in

[12:35] wherever I needed it to go and also you

[12:38] will walk probably 20,000 steps every

[12:41] single day bring comfortable shoes you

[12:45] need comfortable shoes I brought my Vans

[12:49] and I brought birken stocks I've walked

[12:52] thousands of miles in my birken stocks

[12:55] okay so whatever you know that you will

[12:57] feel comfortable walking miles in bring

[13:00] that and you only need like two pairs of

[13:02] shoes really now for the actual

[13:04] traveling part I'm actually going to

[13:06] start with currency because obviously

[13:08] most of Europe uses the Euro and very

[13:12] rarely will you need actual cash you can

[13:14] always get some cash beforehand at your

[13:17] local bank which I would recommend

[13:19] because usually those are better

[13:20] exchange rates than if you try to use an

[13:22] ATM in country you probably won't need

[13:25] to use cash very much I would recommend

[13:27] having a credit card which has no

[13:29] foreign transaction fees because then

[13:31] you can also get points on everything

[13:33] you buy and then you don't have to pay

[13:35] for fees for foreign transactions so

[13:38] that is what I did I had the Amazon

[13:40] Prime card which is no transaction fees

[13:42] you can get a little bit beforehand

[13:43] especially if you're going to countries

[13:44] that don't use the euro I'm honestly not

[13:46] sure how many of those are

[13:49] left maybe just more Eastern Europe but

[13:53] I I could be wrong or maybe like

[13:55] Scandinavia like Norway maybe doesn't

[13:58] use the euro I'm not sure I didn't go to

[14:00] Norway so I couldn't tell you that for

[14:02] certain honestly you don't really need

[14:04] to carry much cash at all hosts use

[14:07] hostile world we used it every single

[14:09] time we booked it was amazing always

[14:11] worked it was great basically you just

[14:13] search the city you want to go to and

[14:15] then pick the cheapest one that's also

[14:17] closest to the city center uh because

[14:19] you will spend way less time walking if

[14:21] your hostel is already like right in the

[14:23] city center and that worked out

[14:25] brilliantly for us every single time we

[14:28] also

[14:29] mostly only booked hostil like a few

[14:32] nights ahead we really didn't plan that

[14:35] much in advance you can get your first

[14:38] few nights hostel before you get there

[14:41] or even your second City or your second

[14:44] country's hostels before you leave but

[14:47] honestly after that you don't really

[14:48] need to because there will almost always

[14:50] be open spots unless you're going in the

[14:52] peak of Summer then you might want to

[14:54] try to book them a little bit more in

[14:56] advance but there was always a available

[14:59] spots also keep track of holidays in

[15:02] certain countries because our friend who

[15:05] came with us to Prague they had this

[15:08] witch burning holiday something that was

[15:12] going on in Prague the weekend we were

[15:14] there and we luckily were staying the

[15:17] night before but our friend was staying

[15:18] the next night and every single room and

[15:22] every single hostel and hotel in the

[15:24] entire city was booked every single one

[15:27] so you should be cautious of if there's

[15:30] going to be holidays in the places

[15:32] you're going to that might need you to

[15:36] rethink how you're going to plan hosts

[15:38] or maybe you want to go to that City a

[15:41] few days later so you miss that holiday

[15:44] most hostels also have different types

[15:46] of rooms available so usually there's

[15:48] like a mixed dorm option and then rooms

[15:51] that have only men or only women larger

[15:53] dorms with more people in them will also

[15:55] typically be cheaper than dorms with

[15:57] only a few people but really depends on

[15:59] what kind of environment you want and

[16:02] also what kind of hostel some of them

[16:03] only have certain options some of them

[16:05] don't have mixed options every hostel is

[16:07] different also private rooms definitely

[16:09] the most expensive options but if you're

[16:11] kind of feeling a little burnt out and

[16:13] you want some time not around people

[16:16] then I would recommend booking a private

[16:18] room just so that you can have a chance

[16:20] to be alone for a few days I would also

[16:23] recommend trying to find a hostel that

[16:25] has some kind of included breakfast some

[16:28] are are literally just like bread and

[16:30] jam and some are definitely more of like

[16:32] a full continental breakfast kind of

[16:34] thing sometimes they're for free and

[16:36] sometimes you have to pay like a couple

[16:38] Euros to get it but it's just one more

[16:40] meal that you don't have to find on your

[16:42] own so I would highly recommend doing

[16:44] that as far as public transportation

[16:46] goes use it use public transportation

[16:49] okay I can't recommend it enough getting

[16:52] taxis or Ubers depending on the country

[16:54] will be so much more expensive and time

[16:56] consuming because roads are not NE

[16:58] necessarily built solely for car travel

[17:01] like in the US however I will say in

[17:04] Poland I got like five or six taxis and

[17:07] Ubers for a total of $25 we found out

[17:09] they were so cheap and we were like

[17:11] we're just going to use it definitely

[17:12] look but use public transportation you

[17:15] can buy a day pass or a multi-day pass

[17:17] depending on how long you're going to be

[17:19] in the city but use it when walking

[17:22] would be too far most of the time you

[17:24] can just walk everything in European

[17:27] cities are pretty close together and

[17:29] only taxi and Uber when public

[17:30] transportation won't get you within

[17:32] walking distance of the attraction you

[17:34] want to see there are way more taxis and

[17:37] uers in like the central part of the

[17:38] city so if you're trying to see

[17:39] something that's kind of outside the

[17:41] city and trains and public

[17:42] transportation won't get you within

[17:44] walking distance of it just get the Uber

[17:47] from the bigger city because if you get

[17:49] a train as far out as you can you're

[17:51] much less likely to have an abundance of

[17:53] Ubers there available this is on a

[17:55] different trip actually but me and my

[17:56] friend Ashley we were doing a Belgium

[17:59] and Amsterdam trip and we wanted to see

[18:02] something that was like outside Brussels

[18:05] and so we just got an Uber from Brussels

[18:07] all the way there because it was way

[18:10] easier than getting a train out or

[18:12] getting a public transportation out and

[18:14] then trying to walk or find an Uber and

[18:16] also there are plenty of taxis at the

[18:19] big attraction so coming back is not

[18:21] that hard either and I say this

[18:24] cautiously and I don't recommend it but

[18:27] in northern Europe Denmark and Germany

[18:30] especially you may be able to use public

[18:32] transportation without ever buying a

[18:35] ticket there's not a lot of checks in

[18:38] place like you don't have to buy a

[18:39] ticket and then like scan the ticket in

[18:40] order to get through France that's very

[18:42] heavy you have to go through like six

[18:43] different Securities before you can get

[18:45] on a train but northern Europe They

[18:47] Don't Really check so much so I'm not

[18:50] saying I recommend it or you should do

[18:53] it but just it's more feasible southern

[18:56] Europe they will check every single time

[18:57] you won't be able to get through there

[18:59] will be security northern Europe it

[19:01] might be feasible but I don't recommend

[19:02] it just so you know trams are also

[19:04] trickier than Subways or underground

[19:08] public transportation sometimes you have

[19:10] to buy a ticket after you bored instead

[19:12] of before and there are people who will

[19:14] make you pay a big fine if they catch

[19:17] you on a tram and you have not bought a

[19:18] ticket yet that happened to us in

[19:20] Budapest and we had to pay like a $36

[19:23] fine even though we had literally just

[19:26] gotten on the tram so also keep keep

[19:29] that in mind that above ground public

[19:31] transportation is way more riskier I

[19:34] would say than Subways or underground

[19:36] transportation in terms of figuring out

[19:40] how to pay for them when it's not clear

[19:42] as far as excursions or getting to

[19:44] tourist destinations or museums stuff

[19:48] like that there are some days when we

[19:50] would roll into a country and have no

[19:52] idea what we were doing not a clue

[19:54] hadn't planned anything we hadn't even

[19:56] looked anything up but we knew we wanted

[19:58] to go to the city use Google Maps you

[20:00] can search a city and then search

[20:03] attractions and so they'll all pop up

[20:05] and then so you can look at all the

[20:06] different attractions save any that

[20:08] you're interested in even remotely

[20:10] interested into a Google Maps list so

[20:13] that later when you're going back and

[20:15] looking at oh what should we do in the

[20:16] city today you have a map of like how

[20:19] far apart all the different attractions

[20:20] are so you can like say oh there's like

[20:22] four different things we want to do and

[20:24] they're on this side of the city let's

[20:25] go over there hit all those so we don't

[20:27] have to walk back and fourth across the

[20:29] city a bunch of times it worked very

[20:32] well for us every single time I've ever

[20:34] used that method it's worked really well

[20:36] keep in mind that if there are certain

[20:38] things that you want to hit like an

[20:41] Frank house that are going to be really

[20:42] busy make sure to get those booked ahead

[20:46] of time those tickets booked ahead of

[20:47] time as early as you know when and where

[20:50] you're going to be there because it

[20:53] really sucks to miss an opportunity to

[20:55] do something cuz you're only there for a

[20:57] couple days and the tickets are booked

[20:59] for those few days so make sure that if

[21:02] there is a bigger attraction that you

[21:03] want to see get those booked as soon as

[21:06] you know when you're going to be in that

[21:08] place you can also use apps like get

[21:10] your guide to book more of a tour of

[21:13] something and some of them are really

[21:15] nice and helpful and not too expensive

[21:17] but on the whole I would say it's

[21:20] probably much cheaper to do whatever

[21:24] that t was planning to do on your own it

[21:27] totally depends some of them are are

[21:28] offering more of an experience that you

[21:30] can't do on your own I would say try and

[21:33] do it on your own try to plan it on your

[21:35] own first and then if you're like n this

[21:37] is too complicated the transportation

[21:40] from one place to the next because it's

[21:42] so

[21:43] rural then I would say use get your

[21:45] guide or some other app like that try to

[21:47] figure it out on your own first if

[21:49] you're trying to save money food is a

[21:51] big one very important do not go out for

[21:54] every meal it's so expensive if you have

[21:56] a massive budget go for it that sounds

[21:59] fantastic but most people are probably

[22:01] not backpacking Europe I'm not on a

[22:04] budget again try to get hostels that

[22:06] have breakfast it's one more meal you

[22:07] don't have to find or you can get coffee

[22:09] in a pastry at a bakery lots of bakeries

[22:12] everywhere in Europe and usually they're

[22:14] not expensive so that's a good one to

[22:17] use we actually carried around a mini

[22:19] grocery bag like it was this little

[22:22] grocery bag and we kept restocking it

[22:25] with bread cheese and meat usually like

[22:28] salami or something like that and that

[22:30] was our lunch every day that was our

[22:32] lunch we would just have a picnic lunch

[22:34] and we would just go to grocery store

[22:35] and refill those things up we also would

[22:37] get like carrots or some kind of

[22:39] vegetable that was easy just so that we

[22:41] could have some nutrition you know

[22:43] because that's also important to

[22:45] remember that you actually do need to

[22:47] feed your body at least decently to make

[22:50] sure that you can keep up the pace of

[22:52] backpacking so make sure to actually get

[22:55] some nutritious food in there yeah we

[22:57] just refilled that at a grocery store

[22:59] every time and we just carry that little

[23:00] brown bag around with us and you save a

[23:02] lot of money that way so that was

[23:03] breakfast at hostels picnic lunches out

[23:07] wherever we were and then we usually

[23:10] went out for dinner I would say if you

[23:12] want to experience a local Cuisine or

[23:14] you have a little bit of a looser budget

[23:16] not even that much because again we were

[23:18] only putting on one meal and that wasn't

[23:20] like an expensive meal either we weren't

[23:22] going to the expensive restaurants we

[23:24] weren't getting appetizers or anything

[23:25] like that right pretty much just an

[23:28] entree maybe a drink or two that's what

[23:30] I would recommend because then you

[23:31] experience more of the local Cuisine

[23:33] then you can also get more of like a

[23:35] fulfilling meal however if you're on a

[23:37] really tight budget or you're going for

[23:39] a long period of time then I would say

[23:42] you can also go pick up some food at a

[23:45] grocery store and then make it at your

[23:47] hostel pretty much all hostels have some

[23:49] kind of kitchen with basic kitchen

[23:52] utensils or microwave or something like

[23:55] that get some basic groceries make your

[23:57] dinner at the hostel have have leftovers

[23:59] or you can go out to eat one night but

[24:01] have leftovers and have those leftovers

[24:03] the next night cuz you can put your

[24:05] stuff marked in a tupperware in the

[24:08] hostle fridge and then you can have that

[24:10] for your next night as far as souvenirs

[24:12] go you can check in my either budget

[24:14] video or my souvenirs video but I mostly

[24:19] bought postcards and pins for my

[24:21] backpack while I was backpacking cuz you

[24:23] don't have a lot of space when you're

[24:25] backpacking to buy big souvenirs I did

[24:27] ahead of time leave Extra Space when I

[24:30] was packing my backpacks so that I could

[24:33] buy a sweatshirt I bought a sweatshirt

[24:35] in Venice or I actually bought hiking

[24:37] boots in Iceland which are the shoes I

[24:39] ended up wearing home and I just stuffed

[24:41] my extra pair of shoes in my backpack

[24:43] but because I had that extra bit of

[24:45] space I was able to do that make sure

[24:47] you have a little extra space in your

[24:49] backpack doesn't have to be a lot

[24:51] especially if you're someone you know

[24:52] who are going to want to buy souvenirs

[24:54] because most of my souvenirs were

[24:55] postcards they're really easy to pack

[24:57] they're flat I just slid them in my

[24:59] laptop sleeve so that they would stay

[25:01] flat and yeah it was pretty easy that's

[25:04] what most of my souvenirs were making

[25:06] friends also depends on whether you're

[25:07] alone or you're backpacking with

[25:09] somebody obviously if you're backpacking

[25:11] with a friend already you don't

[25:13] necessarily may feel the need to

[25:15] actively make friends as much however we

[25:18] still made friends we still got to

[25:20] talking to people who are in your hostel

[25:22] room you can go eat breakfast with

[25:24] somebody in your hostel most hostels

[25:26] also have events planned planed during

[25:28] the evenings so go to those just hang

[25:31] out in the uh Lounge common space area

[25:34] and strike up a conversation with

[25:35] someone you can talk to the people who

[25:37] are in your dorm room and just say hey

[25:40] what are you doing tomorrow do you want

[25:41] to go do something together it's can be

[25:43] scary and I'm an introvert honestly so

[25:46] doing that

[25:48] definitely takes more effort for me than

[25:51] it might take other people but if I can

[25:55] make friends while backpacking in hostil

[25:58] then you can do it because that is

[26:00] something that's definitely harder for

[26:01] me to do you don't have to make friends

[26:03] and do something with you can you can do

[26:05] everything alone if you want to but it's

[26:07] also a really cool way to make new

[26:09] friends and meet people and have

[26:11] different experiences because somebody

[26:13] you meet might be doing something that

[26:14] you hadn't even thought of that you

[26:17] should do and you're like wow that

[26:18] sounds amazing let's go do that can I

[26:20] join you and that starts a whole

[26:21] friendship so it just depends on how you

[26:24] want your backpacking experience to be

[26:26] last but not least my biggest tip that I

[26:30] actually learned from semester at C

[26:32] which was right before I backpacked be

[26:36] flexible be flexible with everything you

[26:39] do be flexible because things will not

[26:43] go according to plan that's just that's

[26:45] just the reality of travel especially

[26:47] but also backpacking random things will

[26:49] happen trains will get delayed hoses

[26:51] won't work out the museum you wanted to

[26:54] see will be closed on the one day you're

[26:56] available you'll be stranded at an

[26:57] abandoned train station in the middle of

[27:00] the night which happened more times than

[27:02] you would care to believe okay it it

[27:05] happens a lot and that's okay it

[27:08] honestly depends just on your attitude

[27:10] if you laugh along with it and just

[27:13] laugh at how unbelievably terrible your

[27:16] luck is and you laugh instead of cry the

[27:19] situation is so much better and so much

[27:21] funnier so things will happen but on the

[27:23] other hand things will just randomly

[27:25] work out the day you decide to go to

[27:27] them Muse will be the one day they have

[27:29] free entry or you'll somehow be grouped

[27:31] in with a school group and be given a

[27:33] free ticket that also happened to us in

[27:35] Poland or the hostel will have such a

[27:37] good breakfast that you will be able to

[27:39] make some sandwiches for lunch that

[27:41] happened to us in Denmark it just

[27:43] depends um how you treat everything your

[27:46] attitude about everything changes the

[27:48] perspective of everything and everyone

[27:50] around you so if you go in with a

[27:53] light-hearted attitude and think wow

[27:55] that sucked well that's

[27:58] hilarious everything is so much more

[28:00] enjoyable and obviously it's not

[28:03] possible to be happy all the time when

[28:04] traveling especially when you're

[28:05] traveling for a long periods of times

[28:07] things will eventually run off a cliff

[28:10] right things will eventually just get

[28:13] bad something bad will happen something

[28:15] will happen at a home that you're sad

[28:16] you have to miss a situation will happen

[28:19] with people or just with what you were

[28:20] trying to do and it won't work out and

[28:22] that'll suck it's kind of inevitable but

[28:25] you kind of have to learn to roll with

[28:26] the punches otherwise it's not not going

[28:28] to be as much of an enjoyable trip that

[28:30] is truly my biggest tip that I can give

[28:32] you things will won't work out but on

[28:34] the other hand things will surprisingly

[28:37] work out roll with the punches be

[28:39] flexible that's everything I have if I

[28:41] think of anything or if any of you have

[28:43] any questions or things I didn't mention

[28:47] and things I should talk about leave me

[28:49] a comment down below because I might

[28:51] make a second video If there are a whole

[28:53] bunch of other things that I didn't

[28:55] think of cuz I think this video is

[28:57] already probably going to be pretty long

[28:59] even though I know I've been talking

[29:01] very fast so leave a comment if you have

[29:04] any questions or anything else I should

[29:06] mention or bring up or if you have any

[29:08] other backpacking video ideas that I

[29:10] should do just let me know because I'm

[29:12] always interested in other video ideas

[29:14] that you guys want to hear thank you so

[29:15] much for watching make sure to like And

[29:17] subscribe because that helps me out and

[29:20] helps me to be able to make more of

[29:21] these videos for you guys and I'll see

[29:24] you in the next one

[29:28] [Music]