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Still traveling on $5-a-day budget, but switch dollars for euros
Back in September of 2005, Adrienne wrote about Leon Logothetis, the ultimate frugal traveler who travels on $5 a day and the kindness of strangers for his show Amazing Adventures of a Nobody. Three and a half years later, he's still at it, but he traded the $5 dollars for 5 euros for his journey from Paris to Moscow.
In this New York Times Q & A article, Logothetis, talks about his experiences and offers tips.
If reading that it's possible to travel on just $5 a day gets you feeling excited and ready to sling on a backpack, consider Logothetis's answer to what you can do on such a modest amount.
"Nothing."
At least you can't without help. Logothetis recounts how he has been given places to stay, been fed and offered rides. He's found Americans particularly generous.
One tip he has for anyone who is relying on others is to not be upset if someone says "no."
Reading about Leon's experiences reminded me of my trip to Mali with a Peace Corps friend. We had very little money and wanted to budget most of our cash for the journey to Timbuktu. One night in Mopti, we slept at a guest house on a sheet covered mattress out on the balcony. Even that cost $1.50 or so, and that was years ago. I remember shining my flashlight of the bathroom, just big enough for the toilet, in order to get the roaches to scurry away. There was a certain thrill from seeing just how little we could spend and how much frugality we could stand. It was kind of fun in a sick sort of way.
The new season of Amazing Adventures of a Nobody airs on Fox Reality Channel starting on January 25.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Blogs, Stories, Mali, Budget Travel, Travel Deals
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Daily Crazy Jan 14th 2009 12:48PM
I'm with you, I can relate to the perverse joy of thrifty travel. I think it is a challenge like any other and if you like challenges, you like challenges. I remember a night spent sleeping on an Indian train in the bit between carriages. If you stretched out too much you straddled the carriages and found that the two halves of your body were moving in different directions. At one point an Indian army private lent us his huge bag to sleep on. That was a cheap night.
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Jamie Rhein Jan 14th 2009 12:57PM
Reading about your train experience reminded me of when I tried to sleep sitting up while perched on my backpack at the end of a train car while heading from Athens back to the ferry for Italy. Awful--but again, a bit awesome. Thanks for sharing.