Backpacking through Europe

     As I'm sure you have all heard me say many times before, last summer I visited Germany for a month and fell in love with it. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I am planning another trip to Europe this summer. I want to go on a 31 day backpacking trip through all of Europe. The trip would start out with me flying into London. Since backpacking is all about being free and doing what you want, I do not really have a set plan for what I will be doing. I do, however, have a basic outline of the cities I want to visit. They include: London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Venice, Rome, Monaco, Barcelona and Madrid. I have mapped it out and if I travel to each of these cities in that order I will have essentially made one big loop around Europe. This will also allow me to fly out of a major airport back to Chicago on my last day- Madrid. While I am in Europe I will be traveling city to city using trains. The train system over there is much different than ours and, if I may say so myself, much better. I would purchase what they call a "EuroRail Flexi Saver Pass." This pass is good for 15 full days of unlimited travel within a 2 month period. It cost roughly $800.00 and is good for 2-5 people. Therefore, the more people you have the less the train cost. I plan on staying in hostels when not traveling. Hostel's are a great way to meet new people and, contrary to popular belief, are nothing like what you see in movies; in fact there more like motels. However, while I am in Berlin I plan on staying with friends since I have a lot of them there. This will ultimately save me some money, while at the same time allowing me to catch-up with old friends. All in all, I am really looking forward to this trip. I estimate that after the expenses are added up (plane/train tickets, hostels, food/necessities, gear, souvenirs, etc...), the trip could cost anywhere between $2500.00-$4500.00. It all depends on what type of deals I can get on tickets and how much money I spend when I am over there. Nevertheless, I plan on doing this kind of thing the rest of my life (hopefully every summer) and in 2014 my friend Kurt and I are planning on backpacking through Brazil, then going to the World Cup since they will be hosting it. Anyways thanks for reading!

-Jake