Cost of a 3-month trip to Europe

Ten days have passed since I finished my longest to date European tour and as always, being outside of Russia was a delight.

As previously mentioned in the post on my travel expenses for a 10-day trip in 4 European countries, I split my expenses into the following categories:

accommodation – this includes the rent that I had for my room in Berlin plus expenses for Couchsurfing (zero), the best travel experience in the world

food – all things grocery

entertainment – umbrella term for a lot of things and could include: movie tickets, coffee&cake or alcohol at cafés and bars, entrance fees, any street food I might leave on – basically any purchase that in a perfect cost-saving world I could do without

transport 1 – airport buses, intercity buses, intercity railway tickets and any single- or multi-trip tickets in any of the destinations I’ve been to (transportation prices in Europe are just too unfair!)

transport 2 – monthly tickets in Berlin

airfare – flight tickets

IT – USB Wireless, SIM-card, emergency laptop adapter…

clothes – it used to be the major spending category, however in the recent months I have found myself to start thinking material possessions like clothing are exuberant and not as important as my travel experiences (although it doesn’t mean I wear shabby clothes, I just don’t shop for the sake of shopping)

other – anything that couldn’t fit into the above category, might include things like shampoo, toothpaste, books, presents, etc.

And without further ado, here’s how much was spent on this 85-day trip (in EUR):

Day 82-85: Berlin: The End

Well, not really. The end of this trip. It’s not my last time there, so this goodbye thing is just temporary.

I do not like going back home, so the end of every trip, however short or long is marked by me being upset and remembering just how uncool I feel back home. These last days were not an exception, however I mostly could get a grip of myself and only did some minor pining and had just one really bad day.

Other than that, I had a full week of going out every night and enjoying myself.

Bernardo and myself hung out a lot together on those days and the saddest day I had mentioned above later turned into a fun night when we drank Polish and German vodka on Alexanderplatz for several hours and then went to Kaffee Burger (that didn’t last long though) and I’m not even a vodka drinker at all. Bernardo didn’t remember much next afternoon when he rolled out of bed, so I enjoyed reminding him just what/where/when exactly he/we did. It was fun!

We also went to a Couchsurfing meeting together where the people were a nice bunch – as per always.

I didn’t really have a bucket list for the end of my trip in terms of what I had to see/do before I leave, but I did go back to most of the places I like in Berlin and eat some of the food that I liked. Except peanut better. Oddly enough, Berlin made me fall in love with peanut butter which I had the urge to constantly consume during my first 1.5 months there and then I stopped cold turkey because it was just too much.

I can’t say Berlin made me fall in love with beer, but it’s a huge progress that I went from detesting it and calling it names to drinking it every (other) night.

As you may well know, Berlin has a great night life. There are places to go every single day of the week, a party that feels like it’s hand-tailored personally for you and joints to go to before and after your crazy time at the club. Also, places like Berghain offer literally non-stop parties on weekends. If it’s something you’re into, go there and see for yourself. Apparently, the club is a Berlin landmark now and somehow gets money from the state, so it might be worth a visit. Apparently, they have good DJs, too.

Berlin is well-known for its numerous museums and if you only have time for a couple, I would recommend stopping by the following two:

Topography of Terror

and
Berlinische Galerie

I suggest you skip Guggenheim, or you risk being heavily disappointed. I know we were. Of course you also always hear only the good things about the Pergamon Museum, but I never had a burning desire to visit it, so… I didn’t. :)

Sigh.

I had a great time in Berlin. Lived in a vegan WG, started drinking beer, took a couple of terrific trips, started to cook, fell in love with traveling and Couchsurfing even more, met some great people and realized being location independent might be the way to go.

Day 69-77: Eternal memory or ..?

Eternal memory or who has advice on how to remember it all?

This blog will be a good reminder of what I was doing while living in Berlin and traveling, but how can I make my brain remember every single minute of this journey ? I’ve met some great people, I’ve done some cool stuff, experienced some awesome things, hung out in some mindblowing places, barhopped like crazy every once in a while and had a good time overall. And how can I guarantee that I remember every single interesting conversation that I had or every interesting thing that I saw? I sort of don’t want to let go of anything I’ve done so far.

Nan Goldin, whose exhibition I visited recently at the Berlinische Galerie says she was taking so many pictures of people and events because she was obsessed with remembering everything and not losing people (funnily enough, she also adds that these photos now remind her how

much she lost...). If I want to remember every precious moment of the good times in my life, I have to carry a notepad for writing things down, voice recorder for some pleasant conversations, camera for all the beautiful things, have a Google Calendar to track all the meet-ups and events (actually I do/have all that, except for the recorder), but if I devote so much time to tracking my experiences, there will be no actual experiences.

Day 43-44: Porto: pastéis de nata, catfish and rock

A few words about Porto, Portugal:

It is charming, cheap and warm. It’s also pretty, charismatic and a little bit village-like. And if you ever wondered if you should stop by and if it’s actually worth it, the answer is a resounding yes!

Portuguese did not sound similar to Spanish to me. It was more like a mix of Polish, Turkish and Armenian.

The city itself has a fantastic old town; the distances are not long, but there are a lot of hills, so you might consider wearing really comfortable tennis shoes or something along those lines.

Pastry is divine in Porto. It melts on your tongue and makes you look up to the sky in delight. I defy anyone who does not try pastéis de nata (it originally comes from Lisbon, but can be found anywhere in Portugal). Of course every restaurant will also offer you their musing on the topic of catfish, just as will any supermarket.

Day 39-42: Barcelona: English speakers, La Rambla, sunglasses and sleeping on the bench

I arrived in Barcelona after 4 hours of sleep in Paris (boy, am I always sleep-deprived or what?) and a slight hangover… after having half a bottle of moderately expensive French wine? That sounds weird to me as well, but maybe it was just something in the air.

In Paris I had my first Ryanair flight delay (by about 30 minutes only) as well as a carry-on size check. Luckily, I was somehow overlooked in the queue and safely got away with carrying my huge DSL in my hands (or rather… stuffed into my winter coat), but having to hide it was far from pleasant.

My little “project” of not reading anything on any destination backfired a little bit as I landed in Barcelona and wanted to go to the center with train only, even though bus was right out there and seemed like a good option. So I had to walk a long way to the train and finally hop on it at the last minute (not without some confusion with the ticket machine beforehand). I knew the airport is not far from the city itself and I saw people massively exiting the train at several stops, but I only realized that Barcelona had been left behind as the train entered some fields... I had to exist in the middle of nowhere and take the train back to town. Which brings me to my next point.

Berlin Special: Berlinale!

It’s hardly a secret to anyone who knows me even a little bit that I am a film buff. I do love movies, screenplays, cinematography, good dialogue, the film-watching experience, the way I anticipate a release I think might be good, reading Roger Ebert’s reviews, the credits rolling. I can go on about movies forever and have a thing for actors and actresses (although that might change soon due to my red carpet experience described below - shock, horror!).

As my plan about coming to Berlin was set in stone, I immediately realized I’ll be around for Berlinale as well and the thought of that made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Now that it is ongoing, I realize it’s different than I expected, in both good and not so good ways. However, it still is a pleasure to witness all of it.

It all started with the Red Carpet. I’d only been once to a festival opening before and that was in Sochi, Russia. I traveled there specifically to see Catherine Deneuve. I saw her. And sat in a row right behind her. Trust me, it was worth the two sleepless nights, the fight with my mother and the 35C-heat dehydration. The red carpet itself was alright if you are interested in Russian celebrities (cross me out). Now, you would think Berlinale would by far surpass Faces of Love (that’s the corny name of the film festival in Sochi), however I can’t say I was delighted. Far from it, in fact.

Berlin Film Festival opened in the evening of February 10 this year. Earlier the same day I was reading an interview with the project manager who is in charge of the Red Carpet at Berlinale, apparently he has been doing this job for 20 years and he’s never had any faux pas or bad experiences in his position. Maybe it was his first time, I don’t know, but I was mightily disappointed with the organization: my biggest complaint was the long pauses between arriving celebrities (and “celebrities”), sometimes breaks reached almost 10 minutes. And if you think that the Red Carpet ceremony normally spans 60-90 minutes, it’s already too much. It was a bit boring, too. There’s nothing interesting in watching people in evening dresses strike poses for 15 minutes to a crowd of photographers, really. I wouldn’t have thought it, but now that I saw it and it just happens so that it made me want to yawn.

Day 37-38: Paris, is it really the city of love?

The first time around I stopped by at Paris back in 2007 and the impression of the city was not great. It was a sunny day in October, it was warm, trees had a beautiful color to their leafage and yet it didn’t work for me. It was too dirty and too much-ado-about-nothing. This trip, however, was on a cold winter weekend and the trees weren’t colorful, it was only partially sunny and yet I had a fantastic time and I believe I was able to get the city’s vibe. Because this time I involuntarily was able to get over the fact that it’s “Paris, the city of love” and just discover it for myself without looking back at this stereotype. In other words, the weather/season doesn't matter much in the end, plus winter has less tourists flocking to typically touristic places.

Also, I must say I like this two-days-per-city thing that I had going on, I was 4 days in Barcelona and it was somehow too long for me, to be honest. While during 2 days I do extensive sightseeing and walking around and I can freely cover everything I want without going somewhere where I feel I don’t have to go, but do because I’m staying longer than necessary.

I took a flight from Oslo where the night before I’d met my friend with whom I couchsurfed in Stockholm which resulted in me having exactly one hour of sleep at night and leaving for the airport bus at 4.40am. The good thing was that the flight wasn’t full and I had a chance to lie down and take a series of short naps.

Cheap flights or is traveling expensive?

I do love calculating expenses and it makes me inexplicably happy if I eventually end up spending less than originally budgeted. When I go over my budget even a little bit, not so much.

I think it’s essential for successful travel to keep track of expenses. Because the less you spend on one trip, the more trips you’ll be able to have as a long-term result. At least that’s a philosophy that has been working fairly well for me.

I divide my travel and expat life expenses into several categories, namely:

accommodation – typically the lowest of all when traveling as I mostly use Couchsurfing. I couldn’t praise it more, it doesn’t cost you anything AND you meet the most amazing, generous and evolved people AND you are able to share some great experiences with them

food – this includes my trips to the supermarket and all things grocery

entertainment – this is an umbrella term for a lot of things and could include: movie tickets, coffee&cake at a café, entrance fees and the like

transport – all expenses for transport excluding airfare, typically the category that brings me metaphorical headache as I find most means of public transport severely overpriced

airfare – flight tickets

IT– all things computer and cell phone related, like hours spent at Internet cafes and money spent on text messages

clothes – it used to be the major spending category, however in the recent months I have found myself to start thinking material possessions like clothing are exuberant and not as important as my travel experiences (although it doesn’t mean I wear shabby clothes, I just don’t shop for the sake of shopping)

other – anything that couldn’t fit into the above category, might include things like shampoo, toothpaste, books, etc.

And now the breakdown for my 10-day trip to Norway, France, Spain and Portugal in EUR:

accommodation 0

food 54,44

entertainment 6,25

transport 92,25

airfare 114 (previously thought to be 93EUR, but I used a calculator this time around…)

IT 3

clothes 28

other 5,6

Which brings the grand total to 303,54EUR.

Now, I actually think it could have been lower, but I mentioned this some to a couple of friends and they were amazed at the cost. Just a couple of comments:

I feel it's worth mentioning that out of this sum, I spent 70EUR on my first day in Oslo (including return bus transfer from the airport for 29 EUR) on nearly nothing, be careful with this place, it's a destination for oil tycoons.

114EUR is the price of 7 flights with Ryanair, I actually took 6 of them, because the first two I bought back in December were Berlin-Oslo and Oslo-Berlin, but I didn’t take the latter one as I eventually moved to Paris from the Norwegian capital. I do believe it’s an amazing price. That being said, Ryanair is controversial, Michael O’Leary, the CEO, is as well, the environmental policy seems good to me, I don’t necessarily agree with O’Leary on the fact that the global warming doesn’t exist, but he has interesting opinions and a sense of humor. He’s probably impossible as a boss/partner though.

But back to my expenses. Transportation is the one category that I feel discontent about, of course most of that money is the airport transfers and that’s the price you pay for Ryanair’s cheap flights, what I could suggest though is that the EU lowers its insane prices on subway/bus/tram.

But overall, I think it's an okay amount of money spent on a trip covering 4 cities in 4 different countries.

Day 22-24: Stockholm and its pretty people

My trip to Stockholm started with an early flight with Ryanair, an airline that I think has the best pilots. Not that my opinion is even remotely close to being expert on the subject, but it however feels like with Ryanair I have the smoothest take offs and landings.

That said, for obvious reasons Ryanair always chooses airports in the middle of nowhere and Sweden is no exception, we landed in Skavsta. Up until the moment when we finally steered over to the arrival gate, it seemed we landed in the woods far away from civilization. Literally just trees and snow, this is probably what real Russia looks like as well (and I come from the non-real Russia). The airport is about 80 minutes away by bus from Stockholm’s central station.

I guess you know you’re in Sweden when you see a pretty female blonde truck driver racing with your airport shuttle bus. Although apparently it’s still not 100% equality even there, I’m sure Sweden is ahead of most countries on the matter.

I did most of my walking around on the first day and some on the second day, covering Gamla Stan, Drottningsgatan (harbor for shopaholics) and the area around the City Hall. I didn’t expect it to be quite so charming. The pastel colors of Gamla Stan looked rather lovely surrounded by snow even though the pictures don’t relay that very well, I think. It also got interesting when it was time for lunch and I was looking around for a place to have a bite at, I ended up buying sushi/rolls at a supermarket and it wasn’t cheap, I have to say.

• Things I find worth reporting are:
• prepare yourself for an overload of beautiful people (nowhere else have I seen so many pretty and handsome faces)
• don’t go there until you’re ready to cash out (although apparently I am about to find out that Olso, Norway is even more expensive)
• a beer in a bar won’t be cheaper than 5-6EUR (in Berlin it starts at 1.5EUR)
• most Swedes do have a fashion sense and are pretty showy off about it
• much to my amazement, they do love their ABBA and go INSANE when they hear it in a nightclub

The highlight of my stay, however, was my Couchsurfing host who is by now one of the most incredible people I have ever met. He is a Dutch guy who lived in Amsterdam for a while but then decided to relocate to Stockholm which seems to be his favorite place on earth. So flying between Olso where he works and Stockholm where he resides is what he does every week (I can only be envious of that, of course.

A few words about him: incredibly generous; showed me around queer places and we tried to look for uh, interesting people to hang out with but in the end had to entertain ourselves which was also the best possible outcome; fantastic sense of humor (I just typed that out as sex of humor… wonder why?!) that coupled with mine allowed us to establish a quick set of running gags and have a blast in each others company.

We explored the queer scene together (I remember Roxy in SoFo and... that other place with 3 dance floors), R cooked pizza for me, we ate tiramisu out of the package, ate smoked reindeer from the fridge in a supermarket, tried some kind of rare Belgian beer that looked like champagne to me (only couple with kriek for me, of course) and had an all around mind-blowing time together. Sunday was a quiet pajama day with lots of Nutella sandwiches and lying around.

It was so good that it made me think we were either family or friends since many years and who knows if couchsurfing will ever be as good again (I guess I’ll find out this one soon though). It’s not out of question that R and I will meet up in Olso if he’s there at the time and later he’ll come visit me in Berlin.

Those were three awesome days and nights and R couldn’t have been a better host and conversation partner to me. Looking forward to seeing what our next meeting will be like. Location is not important.