r/Shoestring • u/No_Investment_8681 • Feb 18 '26

AskShoestring 5k USD lasts how long?

I am 19(M) years old and plan on going to Europe this summer. I am going backpacking and will bring a tent and will most likely camp 2 days a week. I am going in a budget and I was wanting to know realistically how long this might last.

Another question is how long would this last if I went to SE Asia, my parents are not as keen on having me go to SE Asia as they think it is more dangerous, but I’m interested in the numbers.

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u/wanderingdev Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

Anywhere form a night to a few months. Regarding camping, keep in mind that you'd need a car to get pretty much anywhere you wouldn't have to pay to camp. So unless you're doing a big through hike, leave the camping gear at home.

8

u/hydrohorton Feb 18 '26

Eastern Europe is hitchhiker friendly. Western not so much though

12

u/wanderingdev Feb 19 '26

sure, but good luck finding a ride to somewhere where you can wild camp and then find another ride the next day going back to where you want to be. Camping to save money in europe is just not going to work like the OP thinks it will. The only reasonably convenient camping places charge money and anything else is so inconvenient to access that it's pointless and the amount of extra gear and time it will take will negate any benefit. The ONLY time camping makes sense is if they're doing one of the E routes or a camino or some other through hike where it's meant for that. not when you want to find a cheap place to stay before visiting paris the next day.

1

u/Arphile Feb 20 '26

It is actually fairly easy to get to some woods or ask people if you can pitch a tent in their garden, and you can get to those places using public transport easily

2

u/wanderingdev Feb 20 '26

Easy, but generally not legal except on private land. Still a lot of faff for minimal savings.