The Price of Experience
Cash is king, as they say. Below is the ledger of experience, with negatives for losing money or having paid too much for something when a cheaper alternative is available, or some stupid activity that can be quantified in money terms, and positives for free stuff, cheaper stuff, and finding money. This one will be updated as further events warrant.
Negative
- Deciding not to to take my purpose-purchased tent and backpack: $550 NZD
- Wardrobe worries: losing € 55 EUR in Dubai
Positive
- Despite being inept at weighing my own luggage and turning up to the airport 8kgs over, having the excess baggage charges waived (as much as $20/kg over?): $160 NZD
- Scoring a free continental breakfast due my own ignorance (and quick-talking skills): NZD $50
The Equation
- Realising how stupid with money some people get when overseas and/or by themselves: priceless.
posted by Matt at 7:16 PM
9 Comments:
Matthew:
You have just got to London - please stop blogging!
You have so much to see and do - go and do it!
;)
Be wary of people taunting you with promises of a 'cheap' laundry washing service (a mate of the person on the front desk of an Italian backpackers).
€50 later....!
Granted it was for nearly two 70L backpacks worth of clothes, but if you can do it yourself (we couldn't), DO IT! Going to self-service laundromats may be time-consuming (take a book), but it saves you a HEAP!
€50 goes a long way when you're backpacking. Could have wandered around for another 2 or three days at best! =( You only learn from mistakes (or the mistakes of others!)
Haha some worthy advice! Out of interest though, how much would you recommend for a budget per day travelling through Germany (trying to stay at youth hostels etc)?
I haven't had that much experience travelling through Germany to be honest. I have stayed in Berlin for a week though - it rocked!
I can't rememember if this works in Germany (it works in Italy and France), but invest in getting an STA youth travel card (that is if you're 25 and under - I don't know if you are!). It will help save 1/3 off rail travel when presented. Its one of the few internationally recognised youth cards out there.
Berlin has a great hostel called the Generator. Cheap as chips (although maybe not with the World Cup on!), clean to boot and has free breakfast, a bar douwnstairs and reasonably priced internet terminals. Also it is a pickup point for the free NewBerlin walking tour, which is excellent! Not very central, but has a direct tram service to Potszdamerplatz.
My guess for a budget travelling around Germany would range anywhere from €25-€35 a day, but add at least another €10 onto that with World Cup prices for food etc. Then add on trains/buses everywhere too.
Definitely check out the Lonely Planet website. This has more a more concrete idea of what a typical budget would be. Plus it has lots of other handy tips for the rogue backpacker. =)
I'm going to be in Munchen myself on the 10th/11th of June. Making my way down to Füssen from there and then through Austria, Czech Rep. and home(!?) to London.
Good luck Matt!
Thanks for the tips! Hopefully we'll bump into each other in Geneva, at the moment I'll be on the accommodation only package until more tickets come through (fingers crossed!). As you can probably see, Munich is my first stop and I'll be there for a week, probably while you are!
And always remember: Nutella and breadsticks are your friend.
=)
If you haven't already come across them, two websites that will help you out with regards to train travel.
www.seat61.co.uk
This has handy tips and links to european countries train service webistes.
www.bahn.de
This is the timetable bible (and comes in English also!). Trust ze Germans to come up with something as efficient as this. Plug in a start and finish anywhere in europe and it will tell you how to get there. It only gives the prices for trips within Germany though.
Thanks for that - I've had seat61.com highly recommended to me, and it is pretty good. I've actually got a draft post sitting somewhere waiting to be posted once I have actually done a bit of research and got some info together. Ze alte Deutsch-reading skills come in handy over at bahn.de :D
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