Europe is More Expensive to Travel in the Winter

Europe is difficult to travel in the winter. Europe is a difficult continent to travel in the cold.

Cold = shelter
Shelter = money

Europe is too expensive to travel in if you must pay for accommodation every night.

I am doing a quick overland journey through Eastern Europe to Turkey and the Middle East. I do not wish to stay in any one place for more than a couple of days.

When previously traveling in Europe I would pick up an old bicycle, some improptu camping gear, and away I would go. If I wanted to stay in a city I would trade webpages on Hobohideout.com for free accommodation.

I cannot do this for this round of traveling. My tactics must be different: it is cold outside and my girlfriend in pregnant. In point, there are not many times that we are going to sleep outside in the cold.

So we are sucking it up and paying the price. The Balkan states seem to be a little less expensive than Hungary. Most places in the world are cheaper to travel in than Hungary.

We are trying to arrange Couchsurfing hosts, but are not having much success.Out of at least three dozen requests that Chaya and I sent out we did not get a single acceptable invitation. I do not know why this is. Craig fromTravelvice.com just traveled through this region and found a Couchsurfing host every night. For more than 150 straight nights Craig found a Couchsurfing host to take on himself, his girlfriend, and their infant! Chaya and I cannot find a single host to take us on for a single night.

Maybe Craig and Tatiana are a little prettier than us.

Oh well, you get the face you deserve.

I received a letter from a reader who met me in New York City in September prior to a big journey around the world with little money. She began her travels in Western Europe and quickly became discouraged at how difficult it is to travel on this continent with little money. She eventually returned to the USA disheartened after a month of travels.

She should feel no shame.

Vagabonding in Europe is hard.

Europe is expensive.

In the Balkans with my head barely above the water.

Tramping to Turkey to find some work, to find a place to make camp for a few weeks.

Follow the birds! Go south for the winter to preserve travel funds!