Who said traveling to Europe is expensive?

I guess a lot of you will agree :) Yes? Yes!

Air tickets, hotel, train tickets and of course shopping, will surely cause havoc in your entire savings. But who would want to miss shopping in Europe? Not me! :)) However, due to budget constraints, I guess I would have to think twice, thrice or a million times before even thinking of touching my wallet. It will cause me a lot of stress for sure. (Please pray for me that I will come out alive from every shops and boutiques that will catch my fancy.)

So we've been planning our upcoming trip. And how did I survived?

First, we booked our air tickets way way advance like 7 months before our scheduled trip. This is very helpful if you are planning to visit the place during the summer season. I tell you, price could really increase sky rocket high.

Second, we plot out our itinerary (if you are visiting other cities). This took me quite awhile to decide because I want to visit the whole place, as in the whole continent. Of course, I am aware that I can't do that in a 3 week trip. So the decision whether to visit this place or that place was really tough. Finally we decided on three major countries. Plotting your itinerary will help you find the right and cheapest transportation and number of days you are staying in a place. I know how convenient travelling by train in Europe but actually it also helps you to save money and time if you travel by plane. There are a lot of budget airlines in Spain, Italy and France. And they're all way cheaper than those train tickets :D

Third, we booked our accommodation through the cheapest hostels we can find. Hostelbookers was such a sigh of relief while searching for a place to stay. This website is very efficient and complete. In just a few clicks, they can show you different cheap hostels complete with reviews and maps. We booked a dorm type room shared with 4 people for only 17euros per head. Quite a deal, isn't it? I mean we are going on August and its a peak season because it is summer. 

Next on our list is booking the train tickets. I know its such a boohoo that we haven't booked this yet. You may ask my sister why :D I just hope we can still find a cheap deal because really the prices are unbelievable :( This is certainly on the books of stupid mistakes. Anyhoo, no choice for now but to wait.

I don't know if you find these information relevant but I hope in one way or another it does make sense to you. I've always considered myself a budget traveller. Any place I visit, I try to book the cheapest tickets and hostels. And I won't mind sleeping in the airport alone just so I can save a one night hotel accommodation :D I guess, I might be doing this in Barcelona. Wish me luck!