It depends what you really want.Winston wrote: ↑July 26th, 2020, 2:17 pmBut Yohan and Hypermak,
Just because you guys suck at budget travel doesn't mean others are too. There are many books and guides on how to travel Europe on a shoestring or budget for instance. How do you explain that? Some examples below.
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Like I said, I stayed with hosts from Couchsurfing and Hospitality Club, so I spent even less. How do you explain that? There are always choices and alternatives to spending lots of money, as long as you're not stupid right? I speak from experience too.
First of all, the question is about if you want to relocate to another country for a better life and stay there for years - or if you are only abroad for a short trip as a tourist.
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About myself, as a tourist, I have never been a backpacker and of course not a begpacker - I always prefer to save up some money and to stay in reasonable hotels without sharing a bathroom/restroom with other unknown people.
Regardless if alone or with family, regardless if in Japan or somewhere abroad.
I also prefer to eat in a clean restaurant with some service and not somewhere near to a market or local busstation taking out something from foodstalls served to me in a plastic bag.
Simply said, my vacation should be nice and troublefree. I am willing to pay for comfort.
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To relocate is a totally different matter - it's for long-term and you cannot avoid to rent a room. Of course in Europe you can rent a shared room in a suburb among immigrants in a basement. But I am not into such a kind of lifestyle.
Rent is not cheap in the cities in Western Europe and if you really think you can live in a nice apartment and spend totally only USD 1500,- monthly for room, food, utilities etc. then you have not been in the Western part of Europe for longtime.
Same is of course also true here in Japan, this is not a cheap place.
I am owner of my condominium unit in Japan, a bit outside of a smaller city (population only about 700.000 people) without international significance - but housing tax, maintenance fees, garage for my car, utilities etc. are about USD 800,- per month. If you rent about the same property near to my place, it will be at least USD 1800,- per month and add fees for real estate broker, guarantee money and so on before you can move in.
In Tokyo expect to pay much more... not under USD 4000,-. And it's not only about Tokyo - check out London, Paris, Rome, etc. or any other major city in Western Europe.
I also noticed that USA is anything else but a cheap place - in case you look for good accommodation in the larger cities, I don't think, it's for free....