It’s hard to believe that next month’s backpacking Europe budget for Free is finally happening. If you’ve been following along since I started posting these updates, you’ll know that there have certainly been a lot of changes. Most recently, a trip that was supposed to be 39 days has been stripped down to 32 because of the Ukraine conflict and me choosing to leave my job for this trip. But, I have to say I’m really proud of how this trip is rounding out.

When I started this project my main goals were to teach other people how easy it is to travel hack and to take my husband to Europe for one month for as close to free as possible. And I think, with only a couple weeks left, I’ve achieved both of those. So now, leaving on April 10th, I thought it would be a good idea to show you how much I expect one month in Europe to cost.

Final Costs and Estimates

Accommodations

A couple months ago I wrote extensively about how much my hotels cost for the trip. Those original projections included the portion in Ukraine and an additional evening in Krakow and Rome. Since then just a couple things have changed. It goes without saying but we aren’t going to Ukraine. Additionally, we’re now having discussions about cancelling our time in Poland, too. Poland has become a huge humanitarian crisis as well as a military front for most of NATO troops. It just seems like it’s not the right time. We’ll likely spend those days in Rome and fly directly to Prague. Unfortunately, we’ll be out the money on our Ryanair flights.

Points Redeemed: 325,000 (IHG, Chase to Hyatt, Chase PYB and Hilton)

Cash Rates Paid: $625

Airfare

About half my airfare expenses are paid with points and the other cash rates. Europe is pretty inexpensive to fly which makes airline point redemptions not always the best. Over half the flight cash costs were for a flight from Budapest to Dubrovnik. It’s slightly off season, so there weren’t many flights offered. It was still cheaper to choose to pay cash than use points though. Overall, $680 for two people and ten flights is a great deal. That’s $34 per person per flight.

Points Redeemed: 109,000 (all Chase Ultimate Rewards and transfers)

Cash Rates Paid: $680

Food and Drink

I plan to budget $60 a day for food and drink for two (with one day eating on an airplane, so no food budget required). With most of the countries were visiting having cheap food options, I think this is more than enough to budget for the trip. We’ll likely have a light breakfast pastry or fruit, share a lunch and eat a nicer dinner. Seven nights of the trip we’ll be staying at Airbnbs and might cook some meals, too. I think this estimate is higher than what we’ll pay, but I like having some flexibility for a couple nicer meals and drinks throughout the trip.

Total Estimate: $1,800

Things to Do

I’ll be doing a lot of research this month on free and cheaper things to do while in Europe. We’ll likely splurge on a couple tours but will mostly stick to budget and free entertainment options. To be transparent, I do plan to reach out to a couple tour companies about writing features in exchange for a free experience. This will help me build out more content from the trip while keeping my costs down. I don’t know how successful this will be, but all of the “Europe for Free” content will still be a part of the budget determined before departure. Between food and drink this puts us at $100 per day to spend.

Total Estimate: $1,300

Transportation

Between Prague, Vienna and Budapest we’ll be taking the train. Additionally, there will be other public transportation purchases. I plan to utilize public transportation for almost all our transport to keep this cost as low as possible. If any areas I think I’ve under estimated, it might be this one.

Total Estimate: $600

Other

I don’t know what other expenses might come up on the trip other than a couple small souvenirs (we like to buy art). We do have a couple pre-departure expenses though. Largely this is someone dog sitting, dog boarding and travel insurance.

Total Estimate: $700

Other Updates

Transparency

Something I’ve been very passionate about during this project is transparency. On every trip I always share my real numbers. For Europe for Free, I want to share all my numbers so that someone can understand how I did it – what I did right, what I could improve and, frankly, what I did wrong. Through this transparency I hope that someone else can go to Europe for one month, too. Plus, they’d likely be able to do it better than I did because I certainly have learned a lot of things I could have improved on.

With that said, I plan to update you on how I’m doing with my budgets weekly.

Ukraine Crisis

I never thought a trip to Europe would be questionable because of an invasion… but here we are. We cancelled our plans to Ukraine many months ago but actually seeing things unfold has been heartbreaking. We’re likely cancelling our Krakow portion of the trip, too. Lately it’s been hard to think about the excitement of this long awaited trip because of the recent tragedy unfolding in Ukraine. It’s not stopping our trip but it’s certainly transforming my mindset surrounding it. I’ve been so amazed by the outpouring of support around the world for the people of Ukraine and I know that there’s little I can do except send money, call my representatives and stay updated.

We have decided that if things deescalate by next summer (which, I know is questionable), we’ll be taking a separate trip to Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics. This trip will help boost the Ukrainian economy post-war and I’ll get to return to a place that has meant so much to my love for travel.

C-word Requirements

I’m staying up-to-date with current requirements for each of the countries we are visiting. Europe, fortunately, is starting to open up to tourists with less requirements than before. As a boosted person, this means that at the time of writing this almost every country we’re traveling to does not require any additional testing or quarantine requirements. And only Italy, Poland and Turkey have testing requirements for entry. And, I suspect by April Italy might remove the resting requirement for boosted Americans like most of Western Europe.

Now, these new Omicron variants could cause us to test positive while abroad. Which would be the absolutely worst and largely ruin the trip! We plan to basically quarantine before leaving and continue to try to stay as healthy as possible by eating outside most of the time and avoiding crowded spaces. We will bring additional tests to check ourselves before the formal tests in the required countries. Fortunately, the required testing countries are at the beginning and end of the trip. This will help us travel freely between countries for almost three weeks before needing to test again.

Packing List

It’s been almost five years since I’ve been on a backpacking Europe budget trip longer than 12 days. And I’ve forgotten everything! I’ve been purchasing some new clothes and shoes that I think will be better for the trip conditions and space in Cotopaxi Allpa 35L bag. I plan to share a reel about everything I’m bringing next month. For now here are a couple of my must-have items:

• Teva sandals. I’ve had a pair for the past six years I’ve loved… to much. It was time for a new pair!
• Eddie Bauer travel jumpsuit. No wrinkles and easy to pack makes it one of the best new items in my wardrobe.
• Allbird sneakers. I’ve had a paid of runners for years. I absolutely love them but they aren’t as fashionable as these Wool Pipers are. I’ve been wearing them now to break them in for the trip.
• Athleta leggings. If you’d ever been to Europe, you know Europeans do not wear leggings. But I wanted a new pair for hiking and some quick errand trips and these are supposed to be the best.
• LL Bean Anorak. I bought this in the fall and absolutely love it. It’s lightweight and water and wind resistant. You are layer it with warmer layers or just as a light coat.
• Everlane jeans. I absolutely love Everlane jeans, so I bought a second pair for the trip.

Explore on. -K