Photo: Veronika Goryanskaya
Couchsurfing
I usually plan my trip in advance and use couchsurfing. This is such a guest network, whose members help each other by providing an accommodation. Here I can find someone who will share my interests and with whom I can have a great time. In addition, this person will be able to share interesting places that are worth visiting. For me this way much more interesting than just renting some kind of accommodation or staying at a hotel.
To take advantage of this online service, you must first fill out your profile: write briefly about yourself, your interests and views, tell you what places you have already visited, add photos and be sure to get 1 review. You can get it by going to a meeting of couchsurfers in your city. To do this, you need to select the “Meeting” tab on the site and the name of the city. These people gather in shopping centers, cafes and just chat, play different games, plan joint trips. Before the meeting, I always check the pages of those with whom I go for a walk, look through photos, reviews. But in general, there is very little negative in couchsurfing, 95% of users are fun and interesting people with whom you can have a great time, make friends and also get personal reviews.
You can also write to your friends from other cities, send a request for accommodation and ask for a comment. The more reviews, the better, at least 4-5, so that the people you have to deal with in different countries trust you.
Couchsurfing is a great opportunity, but this is only a maximum of three to four days for acquaintance and general development. But if you want to live in the country for two weeks or a month, then you need to look for housing. You can ask for help of the couchsurfer or look by yourself. Once I needed to find accommodation in Portugal. I filed my ad in a special student group "Lisbon Apartments". But the fact is that I needed an inexpensive room not in the capital itself, but in a nearby small town that tourists do not often visit and where the standard of living is lower. I hadn't found anything suitable for the price and location, so I decided to look at the city directly. I approached people right on the street and, with the help of an online translator, asked if they had rooms to rent. And it worked! One guy took me to his friend, a Brazilian surfer, who had a very beautiful home. I lived there for more than a month, made friends with the owner, he gave me a surfboard. In addition his friends musicians visited a lot and we had a lot of fun. Sometimes spontaneous decisions can really produce surprising results.
Online support for the traveler
If you like to plan a trip in advance and want to be more confident in your program of staying in a particular country or city, you can use a variety of online services. In addition to the already mentioned couchsurfing, you can use special groups on Facebook. There are Russian-speaking groups in many European cities, for example, Ukrainians in Portugal, Russians in Portugal. There is also a group for travelers in which they share their experiences and various lifehacks. There you can learn a lot of useful things, as well as find a company for a trip. There are many opportunities for students, for example, the Ukrainian group Studentkauch. In general, there are a lot of people who love traveling, and they are happy to help both beginners and experienced travelers. It is very easy to find such support on the web.
Do not forget about personal preparation. Of course, for traveller knowledge of languages is of particular importance. I remember how we once went with a girlfriend to Norway. We settled with one couchsurfer, a very cool musician, a photographer. He was a great fun guy, but I could not communicate with him, because I knew only a few words in English. That very day I began to learn a language. It turned out that there are very convenient video tutorials on Youtube. So I learned English and communicated with people in different parts of Europe in the future without any problems.
Ways to save when traveling
If during the trip I want to be alone, and not constantly communicate with someone, then I rent a room in a hotel or hostel if I need to save money. In many European countries hostels are cheap, in Malta and Portugal they are very cheap.For example, I lived in a hostel In Malta for 10 euros, and this price included breakfast and the ability to use the pool. But in the Netherlands and Norway hostels are expensive.
To explore the city or some country, you can rent a car with friends. Usually it is cheaper than public transport. In Cyprus, for example, we rented a car for 10 euros per day. And we not only drove in it, but also spent the night.
Photo: Veronika Goryanskaya
Another way to save money while traveling is hitchhiking, and I often do that. It is not necessary to have labels for this, as shown in the movies. It is enough to choose the right place to stop, as well as adequate clothing. On the one hand, it must be bright so that you can be seen on the side of the road. On the other hand, clothing should show that you are traveling, and not voting on the road for another purpose. You can also demonstrate a backpack, then there will be no doubt in your intentions. But most importantly - do not forget to smile. There have even been cases with me that people not only drove, but also invited me to stay and fed me.
At the same time, hitchhiking can be quite lengthy and tedious. And in order for you to like the country, you need to prepare a little: to be in a good mood and well-being. Because, for example, if the leg hurts, you don’t want anything, nothing pleases you. This can completely spoil the impression of a country or city. I've been to Barcelona only 2 times. For the first time it seemed to me just a fairy tale. This is an incredibly beautiful city, my friend and I were there on the skateboard in the park all day and we were delighted. But the next time when I came to Barcelona with a friend, we were tired, the weather was bad, the dirt everywhere and the same city seemed just awful, very different impressions. Therefore, to get acquainted you need to be ready.
Air travel in Europe
If you want to quickly and cheaply travel around Europe, the best way is by plane. You can make a flight for 4-5 euros! It is cheaper than the train. And such a price does not mean that the plane will fall apart in the air, just tickets can really cost that much. There are low-cost companies that earn money by flying very often over short distances. In Asia, for 5 euros you will not fly, but in Europe - quite real. We will leave the link to Veronica’s YouTube channel, where in one of the videos she tells where and how to buy tickets for 2 € below.
To buy a cheap ticket, you need to go to the site aggregator. It has all the airlines, and you can sort the tickets from cheap to expensive. For example, I want to fly to Italy in April. I choose a range of days or the whole of April, then a country, city, one way I want to fly or both. The system will sort the cheapest tickets. Then I go to the site of the company that suits me, and buy a ticket, because there it will be cheaper. That is, I use the aggregator only for searching. There are still groups in the Telegraph, where different sales come every day. For example: The “Veter duyet”, “Tripmydream”, “Tikets.ua”. Also note that flights are cheaper from Monday to Thursday, and on weekends and during holidays, tickets usually cost more.
When boarding a plane, you need to load a backpack and put on big things: jeans, sweater, hoodie, hat, scarf. Laptop and camera can be picked up. Once I even put crocs in my jacket pockets, went through control, and then attached them back to my backpack. On most airlines, a backpack and a women's handbag are allowed to take with you on a plane. Ryanair, Wizz Air make it possible to check in for free, but it is better to clarify this at a particular airport.
Food, for example, cookies, candy bars, can be taken on board. But you can not carry the liquid in packages greater than 100 milliliters and a total volume of 1 liter. Pay attention to this when you transport the cream, toothpaste, deodorant. Some airports require that liquids in hand luggage be carried in a transparent cosmetic bag or in a special zip package. It can be found for free at the airport or shop. All these are lifehacks that will be useful to everyone.
Photo: Veronika Goryanskaya
Openness and freedom
Personally for me, when going on any trip, it is important to have only a passport, money and a telephone with me. Everything else is not important, everything can be bought or found. Money is better to change to local, then it will be possible to buy fresh produce on the market. I have installed applications on my phone that will always come in handy on the road: WhatsApp, Booking, Airbnb, CouchSurfing, airline applications, as well as a variety of maps that can be used offline. By the way, if you book accommodation on booking.com, then you will receive an email with a referral link. You can share it with friends and get some interest for it, also a way to save money.
If people are worried that something might happen to them while traveling, it is better to buy insurance. It is inexpensive, but will be calmer. I need a sports insurance for surfing or snowboarding, it costs more. In general, it all depends on the person and his attitude. The main thing in the journey is to be open and enjoy freedom, and then everything will definitely work out for the best.
You can learn more about Veronica and her work here.:
Facebook Вероника Горянская
YouTube Veronika Gorianska
Instagram @ver.gor
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