Bogenhofen: Thrifty Traveling

  I should be sleeping right now, but I've been thinking about it and I realized I've never talked about my school experience here in Bogi. For all you guys know, I might not be going to class at all. I also realized that I have never talked about my experience living and traveling in Europe from a practical and financial perspective. So I want to talk about them both, starting with traveling. :) 

   For context, 1 euro is worth about 1.75 dollars. So everything is just a bit more expensive in Europe.
 
  Well, obviously I've been traveling a lot. It seems like I'm in a new country every month. So the question is, how has it not broken my bank? Traveling in Europe is actually pretty cheap. Since I came here with the intent of seeing and doing as much as possible, I'm willing to drop money on new opportunities and experiences, but that doesn't mean I don't like to be thrifty. But it's not hard. A huge blessing is that quite a few of my trips have been included in my tuition, funded by my youth group, or supported by generous individuals. For example, my trip to Vienna, and the two times I stayed in the Austrian Alps. Other than that, all of my trips have been out of my own pocket and yet, I still have reserves for a few more trips this year! How?? I'll put it into perspective; to visit a neighboring country over the weekend, it might cost about 20-30 dollars to purchase a train ticket, maybe nine bucks for a bus (For something a little farther, it could be 60-200 dollars for a round trip flight). After that, it's just a matter of finding a place to stay. There are a lot of cheap Airbnbs near the city centers. With a group of about three or four people, this could cost between 40-80 dollars a night. Being close to the city center means you don't have to pay for metro or bus tickets, and most Airbnb's have kitchens which means you can cook your own meals. This is what I've been doing. With all this in mind, a trip to Slovakia for four days (Which I am currently planning) will cost me about $112, not including food.

   That's already really cheap! But there are even more ways to be smart about spending. When I'm out exploring the city, I don't eat at many restaurants. It's simply too expensive and too hard to find worthwhile food. Usually, I supp at McDonalds and Burger King or munch on fruits and other filling snacks. It's cheaper, and the quality of fast food is a lot better in Europe. Instead of eating out, I explore traditional cuisine through bakeries, street food, and other small, less expensive food items. But honestly, I'm not much of a foodie, so it's really not that important to me to try everything. Even so, I usually allow myself one "nice" meal for each trip. 

For souvenirs, postcards are about a dollar each and they tend to be one of the most accessible and non-tacky things you can find. Also, checking out local thrift stores has allowed me to find unique quality clothing and accessories that I will actually wear for a lot less money. 

For activities/sightseeing, I am of the mindset that these are generally worth spending money on, but as I've traveled I've come to learn what things will be worth money, and how much they will be worth. For example, if you're really impressed by a building on the outside, usually you become curious to know what is inside, but generally, it's not worth the twelve dollars you'll pay. The rule of thumb is don't go inside unless there's actually something of note like art or a museum, or you really really really want to see it. Especially if it's a church. If a church isn't free, don't go in it, because there is probably an identical one you can go to just down the street. Museums are almost always worth the money, but there are a lot of discounts in Europe that you shouldn't miss out on. Sometimes you can get a discounted pass that lets you into multiple sites for reduced prices. If not, students get discounts, citizens of the EU get discounts (or people with visas if the docent doesn't look closely) and students with certain majors like history, art, architecture, or archaeology, can often get in for free. In Rome, I spent no more than 8 dollars to visit two museums and four world-renowned historical sites when it should have cost me upwards of 80 dollars.

If you need inner-city transportation there are a few things to keep in mind; most cities have 24-72 hour passes that get you onto all busses, metros, and trains for 10-30 bucks. This is a lot cheaper than paying for each individually. Otherwise, buying everyone's tickets with one purchase will reduce the price. Lastly, there are student discounts and reduced prices for youth which includes anyone under the age of 21.

Also, here are some pro-transportation tips for the riskier people. Most busses have a little kiosk inside that you use to pay so you can just… not do it (The only time I didn’t pay for a bus was in Naples because I was too afraid to pull out my wallet). If you're really smart and really fast you can hop trains. If you see the ticket master coming, or know that they will be making rounds soon (Their rounds follow some general patterns), just get off the train at the next stop and jump on the next train headed towards your destination. If that doesn’t suit you, you can simply get off the train before the ticket master reaches you, and then enter again into a car that was already checked (this one is a bit riskier, as the ticket master may notice you as they return to the engine.) (No, I have never attempted any of these methods, I’ve only thought about them.) 

    I also save as much money as possible while I'm at school and I'm lucky enough to go to a school that provides almost everything I need. They provide me with three meals a day which are included in my tuition and not put on a meal plan, sheets, towels, cleaning supplies, and weekly car rides into town. I try to eat at the cafeteria for every meal and I only go to get groceries when I absolutely need something. The food here isn't always great, so I do eat a lot of snacks, but thankfully my family has sent me quite a few snacks and I've been gnawing through those. However, I don't deprive myself of modern comforts either. Sometimes, I buy little things for the room, like a kettle, a laundry basket, or a cheap throw blanket for my bed, because I want to feel as comfortable and safe as possible while I am far away from home. 

   I'm not a meister when it comes to budgeting and saving money. In fact, I don't really budget at all (I mean that in the strictest sense of the word), mainly because money is a resource and I don't want to view it as something I'm not allowed to use. This would turn the entire experience of traveling into something stressful and punishing. And it would be just as wasteful to come to Europe and let my savings sit in my bank account as it would be to blow them all on a Gucci bag. I just try and use self-control and rationality. And honestly, so far it's worked. There have been a few hiccups, and I had one trip cost more than it should have, but I'm learning from my mistakes! My ability to experience so many things is not all by my own doing either. God and others have stepped in in many miraculous ways to help me financially with my schooling, which has allowed me to use my savings to explore Europe.