Slow travel in a (sort of) post covid world. Anyone doing it?

[2Birds1Stone]

Poland is really fun for outdoorsy people and very inexpensive. A separate bilateral agreement between the USA allows for USA citizens to stay an additional 90 days after they have used their previous 90 Schengen days, you just have to leave Schengen and then enter and exit Poland through a non-Schengen country. Keep in mind that this also prevent the clock from starting on non-Schengen time for purposes of resetting for another 90 days in those countries.

We're slow traveling! Right now living with roommates in FL but heading to Europe at the end of March or early April. We're going to spend 6 months in Europe and then figure out whether SE Asia makes sense next Nov/Dec or if we're going to try to get to Hawaii before returning to FL.

No apartment, no storage unit, just all of our worldly possessions in a 20 year old minivan :) Cost so far has been ~$110/day all in for two people, after 6.5 weeks.

[jim555]

Buy a camper van in the UK and live in a van down by the EU river.

[daverobev]

Buy a camper van in the UK and live in a van down by the EU river.

I never understood how people do that - buy a car and tax, insure it in a country they aren't from.

If you buy a car in the UK you have to register it to an address in the UK! So how do you get round that? Friend's address I suppose, but isn't that risky for the friend...

[chrisgermany]

You might want to check our servas.org. It is like an older version of couchsurfing or airbnb, with some ideas like peacebuilding through friendship. We have met and stayed with great people through it.
Enjoy your trip!

[amyj05]

PTF

[mindysimmons]

https://www.youtube.com/@BrianandCarrie/videos

Not sure if this YouTube channel is of any interest to you (Americans travelling slowly on a budget - started in Europe, now in Thailand). I have watched a few of their videos and found them quite handy.

[merryt]

We sold all our stuff in Oct 2021 and have been doing the slow travel thing. Well, sorta sold our stuff, our "horde box", as your sister put it, is at the in-laws. Just like you, we do 1 personal item each (some budget airlines call it a carry-on). If we are taking a train or bus between locations sometimes we take a grocery bag full of our expensive food from spot to spot. I mostly agree you can get everything where ever you go. I have been a coward about ordering stuff online and having it ship to where I am staying, so I normally go into shops and get something that is good enough or slightly overpriced. It is way easier traveling light, and in our opinion, the downside of having to wash your clothes in the shower or sink is worth it.

We are currently in Malta, which according to Nomadlist is "Too Expensive"[1]. The speed you travel REALLY affects cost. If you are getting monthly rentals and cooking most meals yourself, it is very reasonable. Malta is 10-20% CHEAPER than Denver in our experience with both places.

Let us know how your Euro Rail pass works out. Curious about your experience and its cost efficiency!

We had to get covid tests between Mexico and USA, but in Europe, it seems like we just show our vaccination card and are good to go. YMMV

I might be setting myself up for sadness, but I don't do the money belt thing, I do a wallet in my front pocket. I assume my wallet will get pickpocketed, so I keep it light on cash and don't put all my credit cards in it. From a pragmatic worst-case, someone could hold me up and gun/knifepoint on a travel day and take my wallet AND backpack. If someone is going through that effort I assume they are going to ask to see my undershirt money belt.

[1] - https://nomadlist.com/sliema

[merryt]

Wow Malta! Never been but seems really cool and interesting. But it DOES look more expensive than I would have thought but doable on my flexible budget. Do you guys have a flat there or do an airbnb?

We got this place on airbnb, 1bedroom, washing machine, full kitchen, ~950 for a month. Sure it is more expensive than Puebla Mexico, or Turkey, buuuuut its cheaper than Denver and has no annual commitment. Most grocery store prices are comparable to or cheaper than our last stopover in Denver. Malta is VERY easy as a foreigner, English is one of the national languages, so nearly all the signage is in English, and all the shops/restaurants speak English.

Im pretty sure that Eurail Pass doesn't cover a ferry route to Malta though but probably gets you close. I have used a 2 month Eurail Pass years ago when I first FIREd and for me it was well worth it. I generally used it for more long distance travel but it was nice to be able to hop on and hop off on a whim. Covered many long and short ferry routes to which tend to be expensive. I'm hoping my rail pass experience this time will be similar. Now it's on downloaded on your phone for easy access.

Nice! Looking at "Bestsellers" it seems really solid if you want to move around a bunch https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/bestseller-10-days ... Maybe we will need to be bold and travel more frequently. Maybe it is because I am still decompressing from work, but I live pretty close to pre-fire life, just in other countries, daily urban walks, hiking in nature a few times a week, plenty of time to go to the market, or just binge watch tv if it's raining a ton. Hopefully, after more time to reset, I will be more excited about seeing 10 places in 10 days. We also struggle with the price per night difference between 1-day rental vs 1-month rental.

[jim555]

Malta used to be a British Protectorate so it does have English as the official language.