Changing the pacing from modern American life to backpacking life has been a bit of a struggle. In my 18 days in Poland, I ended up traveling to six different cities: Warsaw, Torun, Poznan, Wroclaw, Krakow and Zakopane. This breakneck paced may have left me pretty fatigued. Long term trips are now a lifestyle, its no longer travel or vacation.
Its truly hard to stop yourself. You’re on an adventure, a journey of a lifetime so of course you’ll want to make every moment count. Towards the end of my days in Poland, I would book hostels for days longer than any other visitor. This allows me to take my time to see all the sights rather than hurriedly try to see the whole town. Its a part of long term backpacking that is foreign to most of us, and something that must be learned.
I’m still learning.
My next stop is Czech Republic, specifically Olomouc. A sleepy college town in the eastern side of the Czech Republic. It’ll be good to take a few days to relax and slow my pace down further.
Olomouc Old Town
A Balanced Budget of Poland
I’d say I lived a pretty balanced life while traveling through Poland. Cutting corners on areas that mattered less to me and splurging when there was a worthwhile occasion. This budget will give you a good idea on how much you expect to spend a while traveling around in Poland. As usual, you can spend more if you’d like to be more carefree, or slim down if budget is a larger concern.
Let’s look at the cost breakdown from my trip.
| Category | Cost |
| Alcohol | $59.97 |
| Entertainment | $36.96 |
| Food | $255.38 |
| Living | $31.65 |
| Lodging | $257.74 |
| Travel | $56.22 |
| Grand Total | $697.93 |
Table 1. I’m an engineer, I love data.
The entertainment category includes anything from entry tickets to guided tour costs. Its hard to save more money on this category since many worthwhile attractions will have an entry fee of some sort. You will greatly limit the country’s attractions you are able to experience.
You can always watch a Polish game of American football for free
Travel includes public transport taken around town as well as the transport to go between cities. Bus or train tickets in a city will usually run from $0.50 – $1.00. There were a few occasions where the ticket machine are broken so you just get a free ride. The Bolt Bus equivalent, Polski Bus, will rarely run more $8 from city to city.
As far as food goes, there are plenty of savings that can be found if you cook at home more often which I neglected to do. The reason is that the cheap eats around town are already so affordable and cooking would have more marginal savings than in other countries. I also found it worth it to splurge on nicer meals from time to time as wonderful, high quality meals are so cost effective in Poland.
| Category | Cost |
| Alcohol | $3.33 |
| Entertainment | $2.05 |
| Food | $14.18 |
| Living | $1.75 |
| Lodging | $14.32 |
| Travel | $3.12 |
| Grand Total | $38.77 |
Table 2. Day to Day Costs in Poland
Over the course of 18 days, I spent less than $40 a day. And people say traveling is expensive! It costs more to rent a one bedroom apartment in Seattle for a month. You can see I was relatively casual with my budget with 8.6% of my budget spent on alcohol. Cutting out that discretionary spending would bring the day to day expenses down to $35 a day.
Fun statistics:
- Only cooked two meals.
- Ate roughly 55 pierogis
- Traveled roughly 678 miles by Polish buses.
I need to relax more
Until next time.