Paigehunterr

Hey everyone, so I'm thinking of heading over to Europe June 2017.
Here is a rough guideline of to what I am wanting to do. As i am a female and will be travelling solo, I was thinking of going over and firstly starting off on a Contiki. Just to get the layout of the land, meet some people, build confidence then once the tour is over start to back pack around Europe. Basically I am just after a rundown on things i will need, and what to do and how to prepare myself. As i am wanting to work and travel to help earn money along the way, will i need to apply for a working Visa? and if so how will i go about attaining this.
For anyone who has done something like this before, If you could help out it would be greatly appreciated. How long did you go for, how much money did you save before heading over? What are the cheapest ways to travel and how to help stick to a daily budget. There is a huge long list of things i could sit here and ask, but hopefully i make sense and you can all help me out. As mentioned above, i was thinking of heading over in June 2017, and i do not have a deadline to how long i am travelling for. I know i could go and research all this, but it would be alot easier if i had a guideline so i knew what i had to do, and what had to be done.
Thanksss!!

quokka

>As i am wanting to work and travel to help earn money along the way, will i need to apply for a working Visa?

Obviously yes. Whether you are eligible for a w&t visa depends on your citizenship, which you did not mention. (For Americans, for example, this kind of visa does not exist.) A w&t visa is, by the way, valid only for one country, not for the whole EU or the whole of Europe.

Again, depending on your nationality, read a bit about the keyword "Schengen" and the 90 out of 180 days rule, which might drastically influence your plans.

These are the very very basics that you have to check out first of all.

nukesafe

Though I am sure we would like to help you in planning your trip, I would suggest that many/most of the folks on this Forum are not into the back packing scene. However, when you have done a bit more research I am sure we will be able to answer more focused questions.

I might suggest that the Thorn Tree forum, which is more slanted to your planned style of travel would be more fruitful at the moment for you. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/welcome

You do not tell us your nationality, but I can say that unless you have EU residency it is almost impossible to obtain permission to work while in the EU, or stay for more than 90 days.

janisj

What nationality are you?

That can make a difference.

But if you are American for instance >> As i am wanting to work and travel to help earn money along the way, will i need to apply for a working Visa? and if so how will i go about attaining this. <<

Yes you would need a visa and unfortunately from what you posted there is no chance you would qualify.

marvelousmouse

I actually have never done it, but I know some hostels have a work trade program. You work for a few hours a day, get free lodging, and then have the rest of the time to explore. You'd still need money, obviously, but not as much. Also, from what I've seen, they prefer time commitments which means you'd be limited to day trips and you might not be top pick if you are American (the posts I have seen have been for 6 months which exceeds the maximum allotment of time).

Further problem...if you don't have sufficient funds to support yourself to begin with, they could turn you away. If you are from certain countries, you have to produce proof of funds to get a visa to begin with. (The amounts are weird and ridiculously small, but do exist, at least in some countries).

In terms of budget, you just need to figure out how much your main expenses will be. Look up hostels, figure out what you're willing to live with in terms of number of roommates. I usually aim for about 40 USD a night because I tend to like smaller rooms and boutique hostels. I also always stay in all female dorms which sometimes cost a bit more. But on average expect a dorm bed to cost around 20-30, and a private room to cost 50-100 (the price of the latter depends on what city you are in, and in some places, like Germany, you can get a hotel room for less than a private hostel room).

So: add up all of your lodging. Adjust for the length of trip you can afford. Then look at transportation costs. Less moves mean seeing more and it also means less expense, generally. If you jump all over the place, it'll cost more than, say, sticking to a few adjacent countries.

In terms of sticking to your budget..I don't really get that question. I mean, you have a budget at home, right? You know how much you spend on food, for instance. Food is my biggest expense, probably. I mean, if I go hog wild, that's about 90 a day- in 30 days, that's 2700. Compare that to lodging...1200, lol. So it's all about what you can live on, and whether you eat out. So I know if I cut booze and eat out once a day, I can save about half. If I can carry a thermos, I'll be disinclined to buy coffee or snack as much, which might cut 10 dollars or so. I don't buy souvenirs much any more- my friends that do tend to spend a lot more money on travel.

There are a lot of travel in the cheap guide books, such as Rick Steves Europe through the back door. I know some folks here don't like him but I think he's useful in terms of basic information. He also tends to travel cheaper than I do so he can give you a good baseline budget to start from. So I'd start with a basic guide like that, and it'll give you an idea of how much you need.

Then look at activities. What do you need money for? Personally, I'd skip the contiki tour. It'll cost you money that it sounds like you just don't have. Someone here has suggested in another thread that you can build skills and confidence by going somewhere like London first. No language difficulty, so easier to figure out other stuff. Move on to the countries you are more nervous about afterwards.

Lastly- emergencies. If you are sick do you have enough money to burrow down and stay a few days somewhere? If you sprain your ankle, will you have money to take taxis instead of walk? (I got injured on a trip once, badly enough that I could not even walk between subway stops. 4 days of taxis added up to a horrible sum, but it was spend the money or cut my trip short). Prepare for the worst. Don't assume that because you are healthy nothing will happen- when you go on long trips you can get run down, and hostels are like schools- there's a good chance one of your roommates will end up being a plague carrying rat.

I'd imagine that you are a student and that's why you are traveling in summer. Do you have some idea of where you will fly into and how much that will cost? Because summer is high season and flights can be expensive- you may have to shorten your trip or push it back a year so you can save money. (I'm sure that's not what you want to hear, but in my case at least, the plane ticket cost usually dictates where/when I'm going- otherwise I'd have to travel a lot less frequently).

Hopefully that's somewhat helpful. Good luck!

quokka

Some countries have mutual Work&Travel visa schemes for under 31 year olds that allow staying in the country in question for one year and work. That's what I was referring to. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, for example, have them with a couple of European states. The USA have none, though.

Blueeyedcod

If you are Australian and under 28, you can get a 12 month visa to work in the UK - you need to have proof of $5000 in savings and make your appointment at the consulate a long way ahead of time.
You can also work in Italy and other countries in Europe if you are under 28 years old.

janisj

That's why we need to know your nationality - if you are from OZ (or a handful of other countries), great. Otherwise they are mostly giving you false hope.