I'm a 24 year old single female planning a Europe travel, working holiday trip for the beginning of August 2010. With my current knowledge and information, i have come to realise that the historical parts are of interest to me, though i have more of an interest to travel, and explore the outdoors and adventures sides of europe touching basic and relevant more tourist sites on the way. my plan is to fly into Madrid Spain, and traveling in a clock wise circle covering and zig zagging through France, England, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and Greece.
4. I will be traveling on a tight budget hostels, cooking and shopping at supermarkets on a budget of about 20,000 i do plan on doing some work during this time? is this a reasonable sum to be able to play a little with?
20,000 what? AU$, € (Euro), GB£ - just 3 of the currencies you could be referring to.
Sorry yes that is in Australian dollars
Thanks Monique.
1. That's roughly one month per country you list. You'll have to be on the move constantly, so better forget about working
2. Just a lot of attention, most of which probably unwanted. Then again, European males are not overly persistent (not even the Italians and Spaniards, contrary to popular belief). You should be fine
3. If you ask me, you're crazy to visit Europe for its nature when you have easy access to the outdoors of Australia and NZ. Better check out the much more interesting cultural heritage. Besides, given your current itinerary you'll hardly have time to wander out into the wild
4. Very roughly, you'll need a budget of €60-75 pppd approx for western Europe, not including transportation. For eastern Europe it's less, but some destinations (in particular Prague) are as expensive as the west
Before you embark on everything, I think you should look into the visa issue first. Unless you have an European citizenship, you'll be hard push to be able to stay for a whole year in the EU/Schengen zone and to legally work as well. I am unfamiliar with all the immigation rules (that's constantly revised) so perhaps another TPer would be able to advise more one this.
Re your other questions:
1. Unless you choose to be based in only one city per country, you'll be on the road constantly and travelling to see different parts of the countries. It's going to be difficult to squeeze in any time for work too, especially if you don't have a work visa (unless you'll be working for cash "under the table") and you don't speak the language. Looking for a job takes time too, and is not really the best way for you to spend your precious time in Europe.
2. It's pretty safe to travel as a single female although in certain countries more than others (eg Italy, Greece) the men will try to chat you up. Just rebuked them gently and firmly, need not get annoyed or anything, they will go away. Normal common sense applies of course - avoid going in quiet alleys by yourself, stay where it's busy especially early morning and after dark etc.
3. There are plenty of great walks in the different countries, but if you're on your own, there's always safety concern over it. E.g. the walk of Cinque Terre is relatively busy and you should find other travellers on the same trail quite easily, but for other more remote walks, you should perhaps look for walking tours and go with them instead. I disagree with bentivogli to avoid these altogether. While the outdoors of Oz are amazing, Europe has great features of their own too.
4. Staying at hostels and doing your own cooking, you'll be looking at expenses of around €50-€60 per day on average. One way you could reduce some of the expenses is by checking out options on Couchsurfing, although as a single female that's not highly recommended. If you know someone, or your friends know someone, who wouldn't mind you crashing their couch for a couple of days at a time, that should help with some savings too. In Paris, you could "tumbleweed" at Shakespeare & Co. when in return for accommodation, you volunteer a few hours in the shop and read a few books in the mean time.
5. Photography in Europe is more likely to be concentrated on the details of urban living, and in the history, culture and architecture. For landscape, you'll need to be away from the urban areas and they are not always easily accessible when you don't have your own transportation (e.g. a car). Go to a major bookshop near you and have a look at the selection of coffee table books they have on photography in Europe. That should give you some idea of what you can expect, and if you see anything of interest, you could always take note and perhaps include that in your itinerary.
Firstly Thank you so much for the useful information,
Im now in the process of tackling this trip in a little more do able way, cutting down a few countries and focus closer on a set few... Has anyone any suggestions given my above suggestions and interests???
Spain, France, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece???
With the working situations, i don't intent to work a whole lot in the first place, it was more to live in the culture and experience it for real not just a holiday environment. So doing a little more research i think this would be best done with the volunteering experiences?
Has anyone any info in regards to an Australian working websites or an Australian that has done this themselves?
Please im here to take on board all this advice, and work with it, so im grateful for the comments and hope to get some more useful info to follow
Regards,
Monique
So doing a little more research i think this would be best done with the volunteering experiences?
Yep, look at HelpX and WWOOF. Food and board in exchange for work. Which country to go - base it on where you get a placement. It is a good way to really get in touch with a country and its people, plus you have a chance to pick up a bit of the language if you commit to a longer placement.
If you only speak English it can also make sense to think what you want to do later in life - and whether knowing another language really well won't be helpful somehow. Maybe you are interested in taking language lessons? THis can also be a solution to the visa problem - with a visa that allows you stay for 6months plus in order to take language lessons you'll have one problem less.
Hey Guys, First time posting something on a travel forum,
But the info you have all given is so useful, I just wanted to say thanks!
I'm heading over to London on the at the end of August, a 20yr old, female, travelling alone. Wanting to get off the beaten track a bit...
So the info you've given is so helpful, Thanks.
Good luck when your over there Monstar13!
Hi thier I am a single female who consistenly travels alone. I would say to you its not so much about the countries you choose but the expierences you have. I have found myself really enjoying one particular place and staying longer then planned and thats perfectly ok. In fact its better then ok. Also keep in mind to plan on the Schwegan zone(sp). You can only spend 90 days out of 180 days at a time in the Schwegan zone. Check out Eastern Europe its cheaper and also when your traveling look at the European bus system "Eurolines". Also check out Turkey you can stay thier 90 out of 180 days. The UK is separate from mainland europe so they have a separate 90 out of 180 day system. Your Australian so check to see if that makes a difference for mainland europe. So please keep that in mind. Happy travels and I recommend taking it slow and easy and focus on having fun where your at and getting the most out of it. Dont push push push or you might miss whats around you on your travels
Adri
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