supery00n

I can't seem to find a travel buddy this summer, so I might have to go alone. It will be my first time outside the country, so I'm pretty excited. I'm the kind of guy who likes to explore, I'm not really too much of a stereotypical tourist, and I don't need to follow an itinerary. Is it feasible to travel alone and meet people your age and just go places together...or is that an invitation to a boring time/nobody to talk to? I'm an 18 year old guy who is attending ucla next year and I want to have lots of fun this summer abroad;..somewhere. Please help/talk about your experiences, thanks!

P.S. I need to travel on a budget, food being the exception!

Mandolive

I don't like following an itinerary either. What's your budget exactly?
I'm planning on taking a roadtrip this summer if a couple friends are up for it.
But if you really want to go abroad, first state your $ituation

supery00n

$3000 in like 2 weeeks

lethargytm

3k? us dollar is dirt cheap, i hope youre going to canada and even then canadian money is worth more than the US's (sad i know). youre going to need more than that buddy.

BronxBombers7

Is the 3k before or after your airfare?

supery00n

before...................(10 char limit)

redwingshockey

my friend just did 4 weeks in europe for 4400$ so i think you'll be all set...her flight to london was around 700$ and she went to paris, florence, venice, rome, athens, and the greek islands -- her and our other friend booked hostels ahead of time and stayed in a couple of cheap hotels and spent their days exloporing the cities

leah377

go RIGHT NOW and do a ton of research on airline flights..that's gonna be like a third of your money. $3000 isn't very much if you haven't yet factored in airfare and you wanna travel europe, where the dollar is worth like..nothing.

Easy

Stop with the Anti-American slander. The dollar is not worth nothing... I heard some Europeans use it as tissues and toilet paper.

leah377

also it's cheaper than actual wallpaper..

colormehappy

^haha.

You'll probably be staying in hostels, which to me sounds like the more fun and adventurous way to go. You might be able to save some money by avoiding the big tourist cities (Paris, London, Rome). You can always go back when you're older and have more money. Check out this article

USATODAY.com - Ten underpriced and on-the-rise European cities

While you might struggle more with the language barriers since not everyone will be accustomed to European tourists, you're more likely to have an authentic look at other cultures.

RacinReaver

For $3000 you could do one heck of a tour of the US if you wanted to. I drove across the country and visited a ton of amazing national parks for under $1000 last summer.

colormehappy

Yeah you could check out Glacier National Park before it melts. Then zip through Canada to one of the provinces where the drinking age is 18. For that whole "foreign experience" thing.

Russell7

Canadian culture is pretty much the same as America (been to the states many times, going again in August). I've met a lot of disappointed Americans thinking that it would be any different here than down there, but it isn't. We just have colder weather and we're a bit less obese. And I guess we do have some different laws. And bars/clubs are boring as hell. I don't know why so many people go to them.

colormehappy

I was sort of kidding about the whole Canada thing. I wouldn't expect it to be much different, though if you do head to Europe, supery00n, you might want to put the Canadian maple leaf on your backpack. Apparently you will be treated much better if people think you are Canadian and not American.