How to travel cheap?

Well, as the scriptures say "Europe is a big city"- where would you want to go?
Can't say much about train travel, but there's nothing cheap or minimal about western European trains in my experience (UK, France, Italy, Germany). Some won't even take the bike so be careful.
>How safe is camping and sleeping "wild"?
Very easy and safe. Especially if you camp late and pack up early. Avoid big cities though, it will make everything more difficult and less enjoyable for a traveler on bike- wild camping not as comfy, way too much traffic, lack of scenery etc. If you want to travel some by train, then it's a matter of balance, especially if you want to do some sightseeing in cities.
>What are some things I definitely should take with myself?
Sleeping bag, puncture repair kit and a book.
>What about hygiene?
I'm also curious about this. Washing myself and clothes in lakes or rivers isn't always possible or acceptable.

This might not be what you have in mind when you want to do a European trip, but eastern countries like Slovakia are probably the best. Not too many people, accessible nature, decent roads and amazing nature. Lot cheaper too. Hmm, France is good too. Less populated parts are very relaxing and groceries are cheap.

>>1292788
Thanks for the answers. Well, perfectly I would love to go to some Mediterranean countries, I've always loved this region, possibly Croatia or Slovenia, I live in northern Poland though, so it's quite a distance, that's why I thought about cutting part of the three with a train. Polish trains usually have no issues with bringing trains on board for small extra payment, at least long distance ones, so I've figured it's the same in other European countries, although I might be wrong.

>>1292788
>>1292796
Oh, and I was heavily considering French countryside as well. Do you have any experience with travelling there?

>>1292796
meant bringing bikes obviously. And trip, not three

>>1292796
Jedno ważne pytanie Anonie before we go further with the advice: just how much is "minimal budget" to you?
I'm not too fond of bikes so I can't really give you any certain info, but I honestly doubt taking yours on a train ride would really save you money. Trains generally aren't that much of a deal anymore when you have Wizzair and Ryanair flying from every major Polish city for peanuts. Maybe if you're inflexible with dates and need to leave during high season when the fares are steep.

Using European trains without tickets. There are tricks. I am not good at it. But did it several times.

>>1292833
A bit less than 2000zł(Less than 500€)
I do realise that trains are not usually the cheapest option, but they would allow me to save money indirectly, by making the journey a good few days shorter(days on which I would have to pay for food and maybe sleeping). The bike would be very useful, because I don't really plan on staying in one place, and well, I like cycling. Correct me if I'm wrong, but taking bicycles as plane luggage is rather problematic, isn't it?

>>1292853
With 2000 PLN you can easily do two weeks in the Balkans without a bike or having to camp in the wild. Hell, you could do France or Italy as well if you're stingy enough. It really all boils down to personal preference at this point. And yeah, taking a bike on a plane will be costly, anywhere between 150-300 zł one way, depending on the carrier.
Sort by price on booking.com and hotels.com, check on the hostel's page too if it won't be cheaper to book directly. Take a look at AirBnB as well, you can often get better quality for less. Camping's fine too if the weather's good. Probably only really worth it in the wild though, room prices have gone down so much over the years that campsites aren't that much cheaper. Might be worth it once in a while to take a shower maybe.
For flights, check Wizzair's and Ryanair's site. Rule of thumb - booking well in advance, weekday flights and out of season is much, much cheaper. Long haul - skyscanner, momondo or if you want to be a tough guy, ITA Matrix. Fly4free.pl and loter.pl are pretty cool if you're fine going wherever and whenever and it's being cheap that matters the most.
Canned food is an overkill. It's hard to find groceries cheaper than in Poland, but you won't overpay that much abroad. Maybe I'd consider packing a shitton of kabanosy when visiting Scandinavia, but it's pretty pointless in the Mediterranean. Especially since their veggies and fruits are fantastic with all the sun.
That leaves transport, so the bike issue. Buses are usually the better choice in the East, while trains are superior in the West. Search for various country-wide or regional passes if you decide to take them, they can save you a lot of money. If you do go with the bike, calculate the cost of the train vs plane and perhaps consider buying a shitty one once you get there and selling it when you're leaving. Not sure if it's worth the effort for just two weeks though. Your ass probably won't appreciate a 100km/day on a bad bike either.

>>1292900
This sounds like a very solid set of advice, thanks a lot, especially for the sites names, looking at it now the prices are indeed not as high as I thought they would be, I was sure that a one way plane ticket would cost me at least 500PLN, while now I can see that I can easily find offers for less than half of that. Will have quite a lot to reconsider.

>>1292900
2 THOUSANT?
you'll live like a goddamn king, with any kind of transpotr you want.

Now if you want it * cheap*:

hitchhiking + dumpster diving/fruit trees/ learning to buy chep stuff in a shop (so basically, learning some /ck/ing tricks of how to make the cheap food tasty) + a tent.

Thus you spend 0 cash.

You can take a good shower at any gas station - they'll either have a toilet for the disabled - locked, with a sink and all thesoap you need
or just a regular one (take a bottle of water and as much soapas needed, close in there, bath)
Of course there are also lakes/rivers.

I can only give advice on clothing.

Wear synthetic moisture-wicking clothing. To name a few brands, something like Nike Dri-Fit, or Under Armour. Pretty much every major athletic brand makes clothing of this kind. Another bonus is that should you wash them, they dry VERY quickly.

Avoid cotton; just about any outdoorsman looks down on cotton because it can work against you. It absorbs moisture, which can weigh you down, and maybe even kill you with hypothermia.

As for washing clothes, get a washing bag. Scrubba is the most popular, but ridiculously overpriced. You can easily do this with a generic drybag for about $3. Use whatever detergent you like, but try to go for the most natural kind. You can find all sorts of tutorials on YouTube.

>>1293346
To clarify, 2000pln is an absolute maximum of what I can gather and it will probably actually be a few hundred less. And I would still like to save as much of it as possible. Thanks for advice, I guess I'll visit /ck/ for help.
>>1293383
Thank you a lot as well, that's very helpful, especially that now that I've looked closer into my options I'm leaning more towards lots of foot travel and hiking. I have experience with long distance walking, but not with routes lasting longer than a day or two.

>>1293429
in this case, cooking your own food seems like a perfect option indeed. Grains, rice, onions, carrots and some spices and you're set.
Nettles can substitute potatoes and tea.
Mushrooms can be found anywhere, but use the goddamn mushroom atlas before putting them inside your mouth.

It's wise to have a beer on you, in case of an encounter with some locals (especially far away in the mountains). They usually don't have beer and will be happy to exchange it for some cheese or something. Or just nice time spent together.

And remember that all you really need is a metal cup and maybe a metal pan. Gas bottles and alike are just heavy nuisances. You can make fire on your own, with wood and a lighter. It tastes better and don't hurt your back.
powodzonka

>>1293429
>pln
what the hell is pln?

>>1293544
polish currency
ffs, it's pretty obvious if you read the thread or have the basci abilities of communicating with google