If You're Gonna Jump, Stretch First!

I couldn't find a movie clip.
This is the best picture I could find.

In preparation for The Jump, I'm doing all the leg stretching in the world to be well prepared.  Cramping up before propelling myself off the cliff would be a bad start, especially if I don't jump high and far enough to clear that dead tree jutting 5 feet below the edge of the cliff.  Worst case scenario, I freak out and turn my jump into a cart-wheel and end up dangling in the cliff brush like Marshal in Forgetting Sarah Marshal.

Eastern Europe, here I come!

Aaah cheap, beautiful Eastern Europe; where all the food, drinks, lodging and entertainment can be acquired for a few pennies!  For those of you under 25, the movie Euro-trip might come to mind.

Now I know enough about Eastern Europe (and am a rational human being) to know that a few US coins will not get you personal concierges, lodging at a 5 star hotel and VIP service at posh nightclubs in Bratislava  .  EE is significantly cheaper than her Western European twin but by how much?  If I was to travel the eastern side of the gorgeous continent, an estimate of travel costs was necessary.  For this I looked to my fellow bloggers out there for guidance.

Travelling in the backpacks of giants

By far the three best resources for calculating trip expenses of an adventurous, experience through the former Soviet bloc were Nomadic Matt, Lonely Planet and Nomadic Mike.  Below is a quick run of each source and the relevant information found on their site.

Nomadic Mike 

A quick Google search for "cost of traveling Eastern Europe" found me this excellent blog!  Nomadic Mike is a serial nomad whose goal is to inspire others to travel and show people it is possible to travel first class on a budget.  If his superbly built blog and amazing articles aren't enough to believe him, just read one of the many articles written on him by major media companies.

Nomadic Mike offers guides, shares experiences and offers first class advice on traveling.  I used his post "The Cost of Travelling Far Eastern Europe" and similar ones to calculate my travel costs through EE.  He does a wonderful job of breaking down the costs and then totaling them up for you.  His fondness for sushi drives up the price of his estimates.  Travel while not on a sushi kick and your costs should be fewer.

Using his estimates I should spend roughly $40 a day for food, lodging and other expenses.

Naughty Nomad

Naughty Nomad is exactly that, a very naughty nomad.  A self-described globetrotting, border jumping, drug smuggling, adrenaline-seeking, international debaucher (his words, not mine), this Scottish adventurer lives to travel the world on the fast - and near lethal - lane.  Naughty Nomad, aka Mark Zolo, keeps a blog replete with his adventures, travel routes, experiences and advice to other travelers.  Oriented towards a younger male audience looking for sex, drugs and fun, he focuses on advice and experiences to create an adrenaline-pumping site that rivals most action packed sports.  That is not to say there isn't any non-hooking up and getting high advice.

Naughty Nomad has a quick facts sheet for each city he has pillaged.  At the top of each city guide is an average cost section.  The average cost of beer, bed, bud, board and other are listed.  Very useful to estimate costs!  His Top 5 Destinations in the Balkans post inspired me to visit Belgrade, Skopje, Sarajevo, Hvar Island and a tour of Montenegro.

By his estimates, I should expect to doll out around €45 a day or USD 58.75 a day if using today's conversion rate.  And I overestimated my expenses.  Not a bad price to pay to enjoy life in new and exciting places!

Lonely Planet

While not a blog, Lonely Planet is the absolute authority on globetrotting. Suffice it to say you can find pretty much the answer to any budget or backpacking travel question ever asked in our modern age!  Lonely Planet has published several guide books.  I suggest looking at them if only to see the stunning pictures and read the comprehensive country tips!  Seriously, take a look at Lonely Planet.  Their forum section is almost as informational as the site itself.

Using Lonely Planet I estimated my expenses to run at $40 a day in EE.

Not so cheap after all

I guess travelling to Eastern Europe isn't as cheap as the movies would have us believe.  Cheaper than Western Europe?  Definitely! Staying at an ok hostel alone will cost at least 25 euros a night and food is crazy expensive there!

Roughly having an estimate of my expenses is great!  I definitely feel my legs stretching out.  I know what I am looking at (cost wise) and can plan ahead for it!  

Stretching has just begun, but I can already feel my legs loosening up.