BootsnAll Travel Community

I have a trip in mind and as I do not plan, but hit the ground running like a loose cannon. I seek words of wisdom from the knowledgable worn at heels fraternity. I fly in to Istanbul from the great southern land in one weeks time and will travel overnight to Sofia from where my journey begins. my budget as I am away 6 months is a paltry $40 per day. bearing in mind I pay $3000 just to get here from OZ
I would go by train to Belgrade and then down to the coast of croatia Split.Hvar.ect.then Slovenia to Poland and possibly return via Ukraine (depending on visa hassle. then ferry from yalta to Istanbul. My concerns are Visas and budgetry restraints with most countries now in the EU any advise and recomendations will be much apreciated.

my advice would be to cut your vacation down to maybe 3 months and have fun, or borrow some more money.

Is this $40 dollars or euro's either way i think you will struggle, even on £40 a day you'll struggle.

It may be advisable to take a tent. campsites are only 3.5-5 euro's a night possibly much cheaper the further east

check out riga-latvia and tallin-estonia two relatively new european countries but still very cheap. Lithuania will also be cheap up that way.

the croation and montenegran coast line can be very expensive, spend more time in bosnia herzegovina as you'll save a packet

budapest Hungary and prague should be musts as well.

Ljubljana in slovenia is still pretty cheap (went last summer), make sure you make a side step to lake bled, one of the prettiest places in the whole of europe

I should ask which european countries are left where I could get by on $40 a day? it seems even in some cheap places where the average wage might be $150 amonth they charge 15-30 euros for a bed in a hostel .this may sound cheap to a European but with the oz dollar hardly worth more than half a euro I pay nearly double -------pherhaps I should retreat to Bangladesh?

I would highly recommend couchsurfing.com to cut dowm on lodging costs and to get some rich cultural experiences

also, at many of those train stations, there will be trying to get you to stay at their house/hotel/...whatever lodging. Huge opportunities for negotiating here, play one against the other.

as for meals, if I were in your situation, I would probably get some sort of portable stove (MSR whisperlite would be a good choice - fuel widely available) and then stock up on ramen - couchsurfing hosts will often feed you a meal or two - street food is usually cheap, and I've never gotten sick from anything fried - and sometimes street food is negotiable.


All in all though, I think if I were on that sort of budget that I'd go east from Istanbul rather than west. However, putting yourself in the sort of situation where you'll be flat broke most of the time will likely yield the best stories.

$40 a day, easy. That is plenty.
There are places in Europe where the average person lives off of less than $1 a day. Namely Moldova. Obviously a bit of cleverness and you could live off of just a bit more than that. The most expensive thing will be getting around. There are lots of regular discount bus lines, and then some internet based ones. Check out cheapbus.wikispaces.com for some of them. Also don't be afraid to hitchhike or car pool. This is pretty common in countries like Romania and is very safe if you find others to go with. Also check out the budget airlines like wizzair, skyeurope and blue-air web. For Aussies it may be different, but for Americans there is no visa required for Moldova and Ukraine. Boarders were relatively painless. They are both amazing countries and they are cheap. Some places like Moldova and Ukraine it may be hard to find true budget accommodation, but that is where Couchsurfing and asking people for help come in handy. Really If traveling through the Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova I would budget $25 a day plus transport costs. So just don't move about too, too often and you'll be fine.

I would estimate this to be the order most expensive to least:
Slovenia
Croatia
Hungry
Romania
Bulgaria
Montenegro
Turkey (eastern)
Ukraine
Bosnia
Moldova

You'll have to not go out to eat except local fast food which is awesome most of these places. You will be able to spot a Fornetti happy oven from far far away. Ummm... Also big nights out should definitely happen but maybe once a week. Find some nice people (couchsurfing hosts, other travelers...) Grab a two liter of beer at the store for $1, then go find a nice park to sit in. Or a bottle of wine if you are in Hungry or Moldova. Moldovan wine is orgasmicly good, yet cheap.

If I were you I would go Istanbul, Sofia, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary or Serbia, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Turkey.

Then again I traveled a couple weeks for $10 a day in the UK. We all manage if we want to go.

My own take on this might not be welcome but I would feel guilty for living off the generosity of people who are poor so I could have a cheap subsidized romp.
At $AU40 someone is going to be covering for you. while it it is fun to think of places like Moldova being immune to the laws of international trade costs, it is not true. There are pensioners there living on $50/month but the own their apartment/cottage, have medical and transportation subsidizes, grow their own food and get help from relatives and generally have very poor lifestyles. Anything not grown locally is imported and costs what it does in other countries plus import duties which can be high in Moldova and FSU countries.
If you have a skill that locals can use, what about working your way around those regions. No, you can't except much but at least you will be less dependent on people subsidizing your trip, people who are doing it solely because their culture stresses generosity to guests.
Why would someone from a rich country not have enough to pay their own way in a poor country?

I don't think that anybody here suggested sponging off local hospitality: that is generally frowned upon. (However, if you should find yourself in a situation of being a guest, remember to bring a present in return and leave as soon as possible. Or pretend that you've already eaten when the food comes out, or whatever).

Bringing a tent sounds like a good idea. I've travelled around the Mediterranean cheaply that way, and you can prepare food bought cheaply from shops and markets (Don't miss the amazing produce you can find at local markets!)

I wouldn't negotiate the price of streetfood--never seen it done--but it might be commonplace if you buy in bulk at market stalls. It depends on the local culture. In any case: gauge what the locals pay and aim to pay at least that. Km6xz has a point: people on very low income live at the subsistence level. As for hostel beds: the owners are liable to taxes, licence fees and capital expenses to meet safety regulations etc. so they can't afford to charge much less (but there is some room for negotiation with people looking for guests, although I wouldn't push it too much). You can usually find much cheaper accommodation if you share with somebody.

Above all, it may be better to spend a little less time in more expensive locations but enjoy yourself more