The Dangers of Fast Food

Our first weekend in the Czech Republic was spent in the picturesque bohemian town of Loket, where we scored a bargain of a room by walking around their Old Town door knocking. A faded cardboard zimmer frei sign in a window led to 3 days overlooking the river in a quaint and dusty penziony, like something out of a 1950's film. It was owned by a chain-smoking old woman who didn't speak a word of English, but would bring us her delicious home made cakes and sickly-sweet fruit teas daily.

Upon returning to Prague we quickly scanned the internet for a cheap hostel, settling on one a bit further out from the centre: the fabulous Sir Toby's. I'd stayed there once in 2009 and loved their underground bar and all-you-can-eat buffet breakfasts (and I'm not talking about mere cornflakes and toast either - they had that, in addition to muesli and yoghurt and juice and chopped fruit and bacon and eggs and pancakes…) So I was happy to discover that they were still one of the cheaper options, particularly if you opted for one of the bigger dorms.

But we'd arrived late and after dumping our bags I was desperate for something to eat. So we immediately headed out, grabbing one of the hostel's custom-made maps that showed where to eat in the area.

The Decision to Head East

After flying into Munich from Australia (thanks to a vastly cheaper flight with Air China), we were initially planning to hightail it straight to Budapest in Hungary before moving east into Romania and Bulgaria. This was because:

a) We found the cost of accommodation in Munich is quite high compared to neighbouring countries, with dorm beds starting at $30AUD/night (although we'd secured a great deal on a double room for our first night via airbnb);

b) We would be returning to Germany at a later date (to visit friends in Berlin) and wanted to reach the Black Sea coast for some summertime fun, as it would be considerably cheaper than the Mediterranean (even in the high season). 

However upon arriving at the Hauptbahnhof we learnt that recent flooding in Europe meant that trains between Germany and Hungary weren't running that day. So we joined a queue of panic-stricken travellers trying to get refunds and find alternative routes, until it was finally our turn.

Forewarned is Forearmed

Well we're actually 3.5 months into our trip now - which is generally how long it takes me to completely disconnect, so I can simply while away the hours lying around reading a book. Which is precisely what I've been doing the last few days. I wake up with the sun and enjoy a light breakfast (instead of hitting the alarm multiple times and dragging myself out of bed), then my day is spent swimming, reading, listening to music... with little else. No matter how much I snooze in a hammock or doze on a sun lounge throughout the day, I'm still exhausted by bed time and can sleep uninterrupted throughout the night. My mind slows completely, my imagination is ignited - with no anxiety or endless 'To Do' lists running through my head.

This is what makes all the hard work saving and planning for a trip worthwhile. But it takes time for this feeling to set in - and that is what makes travel different from holidaying. Not that holidays aren't relaxing, or great fun. Of course they are. But for one thing, they're generally shorter - which means inevitably you return to the reality of home or work sooner. And in these days of smartphones and free wifi, many people remain 'connected' for the duration of their holiday, so it's harder to obtain the sense of peace I described earlier. 

Glass Half Full

In my previous entry I talked about frugal living and some of the measures we took to save for this trip. I just want to clarify that most of our cost saving measures involved changes to our lifestyle, as there was little we could do about fixed expenses like rent and bills (we already kept those as low as we possibly could). And obviously we didn't have a mortgage and didn't have any children - so any lifestyle modifications we made only impacted on ourselves.

I do understand that many people feel they're already doing it tough - be it because of unemployment, or because they're studying, or because they're raising a family - and so there's little room for saving when they're just trying to make ends meet. However for many of us, there's possibly a few areas where changes can be made to save money. And the only point I want to make is that instead of being daunted by the challenge of saving money (and forfeiting your goals), try and be inspired by it. Because frugal living can actually be liberating and rewarding...