Anyone have any experience backpacking through Europe?

[Captain Jin]

Oh I wasn't meaning to label them as Eastern European lol. My bad. Just naming off women I've seen first hand.

[MathiasOfAthens]

I've been contemplating on whether or not to bring my laptop, is it worth the hassle?

Laptops here always come with US and European plugs so check to see if you already have the right plug. If not check with your maker if they can get you the right plug so you dont fry your laptop due to power differences.

[Captain Jin]

I think you'll be fine with different powers. I went all over Europe with my laptops over the years never had any issues.

[Adar]

No you are wrong, nations that use the Euro is always more expensive. Ireland (Euro) is more expensive than the UK (non-Euro). Germany (Euro) is more expensive than Denmark (non-Euro), Slovakia (Euro) is more expensive than Czech Republic (non-Euro), Greece (Euro) is much more expensive than their neighbours (non-Euro).

Note that high cost does not mean wealthy nation.

So let see here now which one am I supposed to be wrong about?

Germany is cheaper than other West-European euro nations: Confirmed true, I've been to Germany, Spain and Italy this year and I know prices are higher in The Netherlands and France compared to Germany.

Eastern Europe cheaper than Western Europe: Confirmed true. I've been to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia in the last 4 years as well as Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy in the previous year.

Eastern Europe is cheaper than Western Europe, theres no arguing about it. Introducing the Euro in Slovakia made it go from a bit cheaper than Poland to a bit more expensive than Poland but it's still not a very expensive nation to visit.

And Boustrophedon is both Belgian and not very serious with his comment. Even a person with a less than average ability for social interaction should be able to notice this from his smiley. And even though it's humerous I've heard similar complaints from Americans and I also know from personal experience that public toilets tend to favor a harsher paper quality than what I prefer to buy.

[Father Jack]

I have generally found that prices in Europe vary depending on what the local average minimum wage is.

So in Belgium the minimum monthly wage for a worker over the age of 21 is €1,472.40 and in the Netherlands (if over the age of 23) €1,446.60 Compare that amount to Spain which is €744.92 per month, Portugal which is €485 per month or in Greece it is €681 per month. In the UK it is about £1200 per month (€1,494.54 or $1,907.76), and it is often expensive here in the UK whereas when I was in Portugal everything was so much cheaper. If you get to Russia then you will be amazed at how cheap it is. I remember when I was in Russia being shocked to learn that the cost of a McDonalds meal was about 1/2 the weekly salary of a Russian on minimum wage.

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

So let see here now which one am I supposed to be wrong about?

Germany is cheaper than other West-European euro nations: Confirmed true, I've been to Germany, Spain and Italy this year and I know prices are higher in The Netherlands and France compared to Germany.

Eastern Europe cheaper than Western Europe: Confirmed true. I've been to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia in the last 4 years as well as Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy in the previous year.

Eastern Europe is cheaper than Western Europe, theres no arguing about it. Introducing the Euro in Slovakia made it go from a bit cheaper than Poland to a bit more expensive than Poland but it's still not a very expensive nation to visit.

And Boustrophedon is both Belgian and not very serious with his comment. Even a person with a less than average ability for social interaction should be able to notice this from his smiley. And even though it's humerous I've heard similar complaints from Americans and I also know from personal experience that public toilets tend to favor a harsher paper quality than what I prefer to buy.

You said non-Euro countries were more expensive, I proved you wrong, talk about hiding away from the truth

[Adar]

You said non-Euro countries were more expensive, I proved you wrong, talk about hiding away from the truth

No I misplaced the "non" and it took me your clarification to notice the difference. With some social skills you would have gotten a compliment and rep for noticing the mistake.

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

You don't have to pay fines in Eastern Europe, if the ticket controllers or police can't get money from you on the spot they are simply to lazy to make a case and will just tell you to bugger off. I never had to pay any fine and I did a lot of offenses haha.

No I misplaced the "non" and it took me your clarification to notice the difference. With some social skills you would have gotten a compliment and rep for noticing the mistake.

Not really, you didn't admitt your mistake until now. And you are really ungrateful, I am just trying to help you foreign tourists to have a good stay.

[Katsumoto]

Let's keep it civil, gents.

[Adar]

Not really, you didn't admitt your mistake until now. And you are really ungrateful, I am just trying to help you foreign tourists to have a good stay.

To a certain extent I appreciate your contribution but you really need to learn some manners. Look at how other people write their posts on this forum and you will see that you will get a lot more positive recognition if you follow their style and try to be polite about things. When you find something that looks wrong to you it is best to clearly state what's wrong and also try to figure out why it is wrong.

So for example a more constructive reply to my initial mistake in this thread would have been "I think you made a mistake where you wrote that non Euro nations are more expensive than Euro nations, it is generally the other way around".

If you do this I am sure that you will find a lot more people being grateful to you.

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

Actually I guess you have a point sorry I could have pointed it out the error in a nicer way, I was just really annoyed at several inaccuracies from different posters when I wrote that yesterday.

[Adar]

Actually I guess you have a point sorry I could have pointed it out the error in a nicer way, I was just really annoyed at several inaccuracies from different posters when I wrote that yesterday.

I am genuinely impressed by you right now and I really don't know what else to say. And I really mean it when I say that I am impressed.

[Aru]

Note that prices vary also within a country, based on number of tourists visiting the place and size of the city.

[AqD]

I never experienced any of that. The worst behavior I saw was from a trio of dunk Scottish dudes.

And the only time I was harassed for being American was in Amsterdam by a guy behind a window in a coffee shop. He didn't like Americans for whatever reason. Skinny dude so I think the window helped his confidence. But I was polite as I normally would be. And his friends who were sitting nearby told me all about his miserable nature after I sat down, bought me a beer.

How did he recognize you as an American from a distance? Do you guys print flag on shirt?

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

How did he recognize you as an American from a distance? Do you guys print flag on shirt?

Americans are really the easiest nationality to spot (well Russians too for their incredible rudeness and weird outfits, Russian tourists are universally hated) or should I say hear them, they are the ones who walk around talking loudly about their personal problems and using superlatives in the middle of the street with an extremely monotone accent.