Amourvictoriaa

Paul's Crib in Den Haag, The Netherlands

Hello Earthlings!

Most of you may know that I am a regular and proud over-user of Couchsurfing. If you're new to this and would like to try a different way of travelling, I suggest you look into couchsurfing! I started using this method of travelling 4 years ago, and no regrets right there.

I know many have asked (and I, myself have this issue) -
When do we courchsurf, and when do we stay in Hostels?

It's a question I always ask myself when I'm planning my trips, so I've decided to be generous and break it down for ya, and go through my actual thought process.

There are quite a number of factors that I'd consider first before deciding where I would stay. Destination, Accommodation cost, my budget, Location, just to name a few.

1. COST
Cost is the primary thing I look at whenever I search for hostels. I’m a self-proclaimed "psycho queen of all cheap", hence, I would usually go for the cheapest options, even if the difference between the next hostel on the list is $2. (Because then, I would think about what I could buy with the $2 I've saved. Yes, that Psycho)

I’m not entirely picky when it comes to accommodations, as I believe it is just a platform for me to shower and rest my head.


2. Location
I don’t fancy staying in hostels or couchsurfing houses that are too far away from City Centre and main attractions. It would be easier to navigate my way around, complete the main tourist attractions and return back to the hostel in time. I tend to also save a lot on transport, as I would prefer to walk.



3. Amenities
Specifically for hostels, since I am paying to sleep, I always would want to stay in a hostel where the
toilets are clean, where they have a kitchen I can cook in (so as to save mooooolah), and bar I can socialize at. More importantly, the hostel must have wifi! It is a must!

This usually isn't a problem for Couchsurf homes, because most of them do live with wifi or cannot live without wifi. However, an issue I've encountered would be the (sometimes) really dirty toilets. They're not hopelessly terrible, but they could do some cleaning. Sadly, no choice, I gotta suck it up, and just bathe in it.

Another thing would do is to wash the toilet floors (thoroughly) before being barefoot in it, or I would wear my slippers into the shower.

Kingsland, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

4. Type 
This goes specifically for couchsurfing.
Ensure you read the profile thoroughly first  because accepting/sending requests, because sometimes you may end up staying with a psychopath or a perv, and i'm sure, You don't want that!

Reading their references is a must!! More positive reviews = Reliable hosts.
Also, try to strike conversations with the hosts randomly, so you can roughly gauge what kind of person they are from their responses.

I've gotten replies like "Ooh baby my D**k is hard just looking at your photos" when I asked about the weather.

LOL

5. Destination
It is a factor because it generally determines the kind of experiences I seek. For
example, If I am in the city of Amsterdam, where it is notoriously known for their havoc parties, legal prostitution and practice of Canabis, I would want to stay in party hostel, because my main goal is to meet new people, have fun and party, in a city that knows how to do so.

(Plus! It's rude to return back to your CS host's home at 3am every night don't you think so?)

Likewise, if I am visiting a city like Berlin or Krakow, where it is rich in history and culture, I would prefer to couchsurf as it gives me a more local and personalized touch.

Bradenburg Gate, Brandenburg Tor

(i)Holocaust Memorial, Memorial for The Murdered Jews of Europe

The Holocaust Memorial, Memorial for the Murdered Jew, is easily one of my favourite spots to go.

Before this was built, it was simply just an empty land in the middle. The Mayor (or whoever) hired Architect Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold to create a center piece, a memorial for the murdered jews in fact, that is different and unique, and that would constantly bring people to it.

Tadah!
This was built.

Initially no one actually understood it, nor do they like it.
Who would ever understand just blocks of concrete on this stretch of land?

Personally, I think this is genius.
When you see this whole stretch of land from the top, all the concrete blocks seem to be almost along the same level. But as you walk into lanes, you realise it get darker, and colder, and you seem to feel a little lost.

My personal take on this particular masterpiece is that, I believe the designer wanted us to understand how the jews felt during the war. In the picture above, the lanes are rather narrow, hence you have to walk in a single row. As it gets darker and colder upon walking further it, you can't help but feel scared, worried, afraid that you'll never see the light.
This, I believe is how the Jews felt at that time.
To know that they're walking in a single file to their death, knowing they'll never see the person in front or behind them ever again.

Genius.

Website
Admission = Free

(ii) Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie or "Checkpoint C" was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin, during the Cold War.

The soldier photographed was the last US Soldier that guarded the checkpoint before the fall of the Berlin Wall, while The Soviet Soldier on the flip side.

It has now become a tourist attraction, with actors posing as the US and Soviet Soldiers. There's even a reconstruction of the whole checkpoint, with fake sand bags and what not. OH! You can even get a passport stamp for 5 Euro. But trust me, I don't think you want to have a stamp of a place that's non-existent for decades, on a legal travel document.
Please, Save yourself the trouble of getting into trouble.

(iii) Topography Of Terrors

This is one of the coolest places I've seen, even though I believe that the empty spaces could have been well utilised.
This is an indoor and Outdoor museum.

Honestly, If you're too tired, you shouldn't come here, because there A LOT to read.
Talya and I were really exhausted and we ended up sleeping on one of the benches. But thankfully, I've been there before, so I kinda knew the content of the exhibits.

Part of the untouched Berlin Wall situates directly in front of the indoor museum.
Picture Opportunities!

Definitely a must visit, if you are into learning of the whole process on how Adolf Hitler became the Dictator and how he unleashed his plan to "Purify" Germany.

Admission: FREE.
(They accept Donations)

(iv) Bradenburg Gate

(iv) Gendermenmarkt

Cathedrals, Concert Houses.

(v) The Site of Hitler's Bunker (Führerbunker)

Source: Emilycets.blogspot.com

I didn't take a picture because honestly, It's not that great.
It's really just a carpark.
But that very car park is where Adolf Hitler and his wife committed suicide.
Some say they took poison, some say they shot each other.
To be honest, I don't care.

But yeah, it'll be cool to dig 10metres down into the ground to find the remains of the bunker though.


There's definitely more on the tour, but these are my main highlights.

It's my 2nd time on a New Berlin walking tour by Sandeman, and I must say I really enjoyed the tour this time. My tour guide is Franchezka (sp?) who's originally from Dresden, and honestly, she's one really passionate tour guide. She explains with so much emotions and has so much attachments to each landmark we visit, and she often leaves us with mind boggling questions.
So if you're in Berlin and you do decide to take a Sandeman New Berlin tour, just hope she's your tour guide. You'd learn and feel so much more for her.

Cost of Tour: Depends on how much you tip your tour guide.
Duration: 2.5-3 hours.

2. Explored The City (Ourselves)

Just to clarify if you're wondering why these photos were taken during Winter, well, Talya and I didn't really have enough time to explore Berlin as much as we hoped to.

As I've mentioned earlier, this isn't my first time in Berlin, the first being in 2014 when I decided to travel alone for the first time.

The places with the * are the ones that I explored by myself back in 2014, and I'm just sharing them with you because I think it's worth checking out, and also because I can.

(i) Museum Island *

Well the Name says it all.
There are around 7 Museums on this particular land.
Each building has it's own personal unique architecture.
Definitely worth seeing.

Admission: 5-20 Euro
I'm not too sure about it, but if I'm not wrong there's a Full Day Museum Pass that you can buy for all of them, but trust me, it ain't worth the money.
Unless you're a sucker for museums then yeah sure, go ahead.

(ii) East Side Gallery*

This is one of my favourite sites!
It's basically the remains of part of the Berlin Wall, but instead of completely tearing down, they (whoever is in-charge) decides to invite artists from all over the world and paint this part of the Berlin Wall.
Tadah! The East Side Gallery was born!

There's also one done by a Singaporean Artist which whom the name I can't remember.

Definitely a must visit, plus there's plentiful of photo opportunities.

(iii) Alexanderplatz

Some old photos from my first trip down during Christmas.


Well, If you LOVE to shop
and all you do is SHOP SHOP SHOP no matter what (Get the reference? :p)
Then I suggest you head over to Alexanderplatz.
Seriously though, the shopping there is madness.
PLUS, there's a HUGE Primark Outlet ;)

Knock yourself out.

On Several occassions, there will be pop up bars, stores, food etc etc and you can simply have a beer and chill.

Preetttty cool.

3. Visited a Chocolate House
I don't know if many of you know, I'm a sucker for chocolate.
That's also the reason why I work at Awfully Chocolate.

ALL THAT CHOCOLATE :O

This is my favourite Chocolate house/shop/cafe ever! and I had to revisit it again
Not only are there too many choices of chocolate, but it is generally affordable.
Starting price of a piece of Chocolate candy can start from as cheap as 0.30 Euro.

I'm not kidding.

I remembered the first time I went to this chocolate place, I spent like 70 Euro only on chocolate.
heh.

4. Went to A Concentration Camp

I honestly recommend you visit Sachsenhausen.
There's really a lot to feel, plentiful to learn, and it's definitely worth spending money on.

5. Anti-Pubcrawl-ed

One of the best Experiences ever!
It's my first ever Pub crawl, EVER!

I met this guy, Ben, who was our roommate in our hostel, and he read about this 666 Anti-pub crawl. Now now, before you say no, at least read up on it.

They bring you to the weirdest but the most unique bars ever.
Like literally, from the outside it looks pretty shit, rundown, dirty, but once you go in, it's a completely different world.
Some that we went to includes a Ping Pong Bar (You actually get to play Ping Pong), a Goth Horror Rock Bar, and a Absinth Bar (!!!)
Pretty cool ayee.
And because the group is pretty small (Less than 15 people) we all got along pretty well and stuck to each other the whole night.
What a fun bunch!
Miss you guys already!

Cost Of Anti-Pubcrawl: 15 Euro

6. Had Doner Kebab

It's basically the most common and affordable Turkish food.
Talya says the best one she has was from Berlin.

Source: Andberlin.com

Cost of Doner: 5-8 Euro

7. Went to Charlie's Beach

Just a mere 200 Metres away from Checkpoint Charlie, comes Charlie's Beach.
Plentiful of food trucks, Bars, and seats for you to chill and soak up the sun.

8. Took A Photo

Now Now, I know what you are thinking.
Really Vic?? Really??

Well, 2 years ago, when I went to Berlin the first time, I completely regretted not taking one of these photo strips.
There's no way I was going to miss the opportunity again!
It's only 2 Euro for 4 shots, and takes about a good 5 minutes to print out.

Strongly recommend you to take this.
Plus, it makes your room wall/Diary pretty rad.

9. Got Drunk and Made A Ton Of Random Friends

Well, that's the highlight of each city - to meet a bunch of different unique people.
and get drunk altogether.



Couch surfing has quite a number of public events and bar meet ups.
They are completely free, there's not admission charges.
All you have to do is just indicate that you're attending, find the bar, show up and make a ton of new friends.

If you're looking for lively place to party then I suggest you head over to the Capital of Germany!
They have one of the dopest clubs and music.
A club I can recommend you to go is definitely Berghain. It's also one of the most famous clubs in the world. But apparently, It's quite hard to get in, but you can always try your luck!

Another would be Matrix. They play a mixture of EDM, Hip hop and Old school pop.
My kind of shit! :)

If you have anymore recommendations to places you can go, things to do, clubs to go, feel free and voice it out!
Would love to know more and sharing is care :)

-

Back to the Calculators!

Length of stay: 4 Day, 3 nights

Cost of Accomodation: 16 Euro for 2 nights (We camped out on the last)

Food & Transport: Average 5 euros/ day

Party & Drinks: 15 euros (Anti-pubcrawl)

Sightseeing: 18 Euros (Concentration Camp)

So I got inspired to do this post after I read this article by a Traveller from Smart Local (read here).

I'm a pretty competitive person, I love a new challenge, and after reading articles from various different travellers, local and non-local, my friend and I embarked on a European Trip for 50 days, and ended up spending a mere S$2.3K on everything! (Food, Accommo, Drinks, Transport, Shopping), beating most of the travellers who wrote their articles :D

In your face! :P

One of the segments that I'm really very proud of is Accommodation!
I'm extremely proud and (very) shocked to how we've spent less than S$100 on accommodation in Europe, where the exchange rate is almost twice compared to Singapore's.

Yes, less than S$100 :D


So now how did we do it?


1. Couchsurfing!!!!!
This site is a life saviour!
It's basically a platform for like-minded travellers to meet locals in the countries they are planning to visit, and if you're lucky enough, the locals can offer you a place to crash for the night or nightS. It's a really wonderful opportunity to learn to live like a local and to explore and learn different cultures and practices from a more personal point of view.

and, the best part of it all, and not to be hypocritical, you get to save money in the process.

BUT,
you have to remember that people are opening their homes to you. The least you can do is so some respect to them and to show that you are grateful for their hospitality.
Do something nice for them!
Like cook a meal, or bring them out shopping, or bring a souvenir from the country you are from.
Anything small and thoughtful is better than nothing.

But I have to warn you, this is only for bold, open minded travellers or for those who are seeking a totally different way of travelling.
If you are not comfortable hanging out with a stranger than I suggest you stick to airbnb or hotels, because the host may not be someone they've described themselves to be in their profile.

Also, another bad side to it, I cannot guarantee that you wil have a host in every single city.
You have to sent requests at least a month prior to secure yourselves or you'll get stranded.
We are truly super fortunate to have angels who could host us last minute.

List of Cities I've couchsurfed and the awesome hosts:

Amsterdam, The Netherlands






Ronald: (Sadly I couldn't find his profile)


Cybele:
Cybele was actually my very first couchsurfer when I started solo travelling back in 2014. She's the reason why I continued to grow my love for travelling and she constantly gave me a positive outlook on life.
This time, I didn't get to stay with her but I managed to visit her for awhile to relive old times together :)

Gutersloh, Germany


Christine:
Christine actually stayed in my place for 10 nights, and I thought, why not pay a visit :)


Dortmund, Germany




Christian:
He is by far one the most amazing hosts I've ever had the opportunity to be hosted by. and he was our angel in disguise! He accepted us last minute, and gave us so many opportunities like letting us experience the Dortmund game, and a bbq with his friends :)
He's super understanding and accommodating and very open to everything. I'm truly so honoured to have met him,

Prague, Czech Republic






Jakub and his 6 boys.
Jakub was one of the highlights of my Prague trip! He's intensely funny and don't get me started with his housemates! He lives with 6 of his bestfriends, each of them have their own individual creative personality. There was a guy that looks like Avicii, and putting him and the a pic of Avicii side by side, boy! they were like twins!
There's not a night where Talya and I were not drunk or high from _!
Really, if you need a host in Prague, he's the one to turn to.

Vienna, Austria
Thomas
Very considered and friendly guy! He's immensely obsessed and intrigue by the universe and physics, and even has the periodic table for curtains! We learnt alot from him about the universe and sciences and walking out, I felt a ton smarter! :p We got along very well and ended up smoking shit on the roof top!


Budapest, Hungary



Akos
We went to Europe on a pree bad timing for most of the Europeans because most of them were studying for their finals and doing their thesis. One of them was Akos. He was pree tied up with school assignments and work, but he still took the effort and time to host us, and sat down with us every night to talk about how our day went, despite the fact that it was really evident that he was so exhausted. Overall, a truly pleasant guy, and someone you should definitely meet!


Munich, Germany



Andreas
Our Munich lifesaver!!
We were stranded for a good 14 hours in Munich because we had no host! and hostels were a little too expensive for us, but this angel, pops out of nowhere and offers his place that's situated in the most beautiful suburban neighbourhood! He was sick throughout our stay during the weekend so we couldn't really hang out. Instead we brought some berries and fruits to him and chilled over a nice horror movie! One of the special moments - Just chillin over a horror movie.

Groningen, The Netherlands

Wouter
What can I say? He's my bestfriend and he's obliged to help me out :p Haha totes kidding, If you need a cool dude to hang out with in Groningen, he's definitely someone to go to!


2. Hostels in the super cheap cities
You gotta be smart with your money!
If you know certain things are more pricier than usual, then duh! Don't spend on it!
In our case, we REFUSED to spent any money on Hostels UNLESS, it was the last resort.

Berlin, Germany - Singer 109


Berlin is not exactly that expensive, nor is it THAT cheap, but we managed to score a deal in an 8-bedded room for only 8 Euro!
Not too bad aye?
And we got to meet this guy called Ben, who introduced us to this interesting concept, "Anti-Pubcrawl", and ended up going together and meeting ammaaaaaaaaazing characters along the way!


Budapest, Hungary - The Hive

Initially, before Akos opened his place to us, we were stranded as well, but managed to score a deal in  a hostel, in Budapest, called 'The Hive', for only $5 Euro!
One of the best decisions ever!
The first night we partied with drunk brits! :D


Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Hans Brinker Hostel
We were there for Kingsday!
We were to supposedly stay with our Ronald but he had other plans, hence, we indirectly were stood up, and completely stranded! We still has friends in Amsterdam, but they were too busy to help us out (rolls Eyes).
It was not until our last night in Amsterdam, did we get a place to stay in.
A bed costs 30 euro!!!!!!!!!!! RIDICULOUS!
So we decided to sneak one of us in and split the cost of the bed. Hence, we ended up paying 15 Euro for (half) the bed :/
But it was alright, our roommates were pree awesome and alright with it!


3. Crashed into Hostels
Note: This is up to your own risk!!!

As i mentioned earlier, in Amsterdam, we were stranded for a good 4 nights.
However, we had angels who didn't mind crashing into their room, and I think we would have been completely messed up if it wasn't for them.
Here's to you!



-

Now to the calculators:
Couchsurfing  + Hostels + Sneaking in
= 0 + 28 + 0
= 28 Euro
= SGD 41.98
= SGD 42

So yes, that is how we spent less that SGD 100 on accommodation.
Pree awesome ayeee?
* Pats on my shoulder *

If you have any questions to how Couchsurfing works, or if you need any recommendations to where to go, what to see or eat, feel free to drop me an email :)

Other than that, thanks for taking you time to read this post, and well, I hope you've enjoyed reading, as much as we have (not) enjoyed being stranded :p.

P.s. I don't care about your opinions.