Biking: Not Always A Cheap Ride

The original reason we decided to bike around Europe was to save money. We figured the main costs would be plane tickets, food, and entertainment which would all be minimal. We planned to camp and couch surf along the way to reduce housing costs. Both of us have tried out couch surfing in the States, having had several people stay on our couches for a couple nights at a time, and while you are technically letting total strangers stay in your house, there is a lot of opportunity to check them out before they arrive in order for you to get a "good feeling" about them or not. Essentially, we were trying to Frugal Traveler it up.


However, let me just say now, loud and clear, the upfront cost is sooo not that cheap. There is all the travel gear to purchase:

Tent, compactable sleeping bag, sleeping pad, bike, saddlebags, headlight

backlight, travel towel, bike shorts (big old diaper), etc, etc

Luckily Kat's brother-in-law and my friend , Jen, have let us borrow most of the camping/biking gear, so we didn't have to dole out a ton.

Then there's the problem of transporting the bike overseas. From all the bike blogs that we read, it seemed that between shipping it and taking it with you on the plane, the plane option was the best. Apparently lots of people have had issues with the bikes taking three months to get to their destination, or showing up all battered, and also being rather expensive to ship. So, to the plane it is. We found that it was $80 per leg of your journey to stow a bike below (haha! rhyming!). Although when Kat went to the airport Delta had instated a flat bike fee of $300. Seriously. Kill me now.

Plus, since we've become overly ambitious in our travels, there is still the additional stowing fee per each flight we're going on...hahaha, our frugal planning frame of mind got whacked out somewhere along the way.

So, in conclusion, I'm still totally stoked about our trip, and I welcome the physical exhaustion we will inevitably experience in the coming months. However, I wouldn't recommend choosing to bike around solely based on trying to save money.

Oh! The bikes we're taking...

This is mine. Conner and his brother built it for me! We got a mountain bike frame from the pawn shop and then turned it into a hybrid (thinner tires, lowered handlebars). I don't know if it shows up that well, but I have a girl seat. It's amazing! There's a hole in the center of the bike seat so all the pressure is on your bones and is sooo much more comfortable for riding.

This is the type of bike, a Cross Check, that Kat has. Apparently they are the best touring bikes out there.