Russia is not really close to Hungary and Czech, how do you plan it in terms of transport?

My guess is that you’re only talking to people who have done nothing more exotic than get drunk in Mexico.

I deal with those folks every day; I call ‘em my coworkers. Usually they (patriotically?) think I should see more of the US first. My stock answer is along the lines of:

"While I’m young and healthy, I want to travel far and wide. When I’m older, my health might not be so good, and then I’ll stick closer to home. A bad case of Delhi belly at 60 might kill me!"

Those are the people I have drifted away from.

Or they are totally sick of all my great, crazy stories! I totally rule!

Remember, these are people who have never had, or successfully fought off the inclanation to adventure, there is no way they can understand why you might want to do that.

Or they are afraid of doing that, and encourage others to be the same as them.

Watch Friends, wear Gap sweaters, drink Starbucks Coffee and go to Mexico and stay at a resort.

Plan your trip, drop random bits of information around them like "I’m going to Maribor in Slovenia, locals call it Mafiabor because there are so many gangsters… that sounds cool!" whether you have any desire to or not. They should shut up about Mexico after hearing stuff like that.

Go for 6 weeks if you can.

Czech Rep. and Hungary aren’t side by side, so definitely go to Slovakia in the middle, Bratislava is one of my favourite cities, and highly underrated. With 6 weeks, you could see parts of Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, etc. The list goes on and the world is your oyster.

Geddadogupya.

I was planning to just travel through Slovakia, I might stay but unsure yet. I am also going to the coast of Croatia w/my cousin who’s Hungarian so I don’t have a whole lot of time to check Bratislava out.

To Russia, I was thinking a plane ticket or possibly train, depending on time.

People telling you where to go, huh?

Well, you could try telling them where to go… I’m thinking of a place that’s nice and toasty year round and is ruled by a guy with a pitchfork…

Just kidding.

Go have a great time, and take lots of pictures and amass lots of stories to make everyone jealous.

That’s got to be a long ass train ride.

Andrew?

Just in case you were worried, you should have no trouble getting drunk in any of the places you mentioned. Reasonably cheaply, too!

Different people have different tastes in travel- those who like to get wasted in mexico, those who like to sleep on a hawaiian beach all day, those who want to climb everest, etc. Just deal with them- 20 bucks says they havent been within a thousand miles of eastern europe in their life anyway.

Train to Russia from either Czech or Hungary would take a couple days with stopovers and probably train changes. Plus transit visas for Ukraine and Belarus recieved in advance, not on the border.

For trains to Russia, try to check www.timetable.tsi.ru

But almost surely plane will be not so much more expensive. Moscow-Budapest round trip is ~$200 by plane now.

As a European, Mexico sounds a lot more exotic to me than Hungary or the Czech Republic. And while noone would find it strange if I said I was going to Hungary and Czech, I can imagine some people would wonder if it was safe if I said I was gonna travel to Mexico on my own. Maybe you can tell that to people telling you where to go, though it`s probably better to just ignore them.

I agree with sickboy that you must go to Slovakia, it is one of my favourite countries in Europe. And I think it would be much more worthwhile to just stick to Central Europe and travel there longer than to go through all the effort involved in getting at least 1 visa (and Russian visas aren`t the easiest to get hold of either) if youn could only spend 2 weeks in Russia at most anyway.

for us los americanos, mexico is about as exotic is cincinnati.

quote:
I am planning an Eastern European itinerary and people are driving me MAD because they think it’s a stupid idea and I should go get drunk in Mexico for a week. Do you deal with these people?

Little do they know the adventure you‘ll have in Europe. Besides, these people don’t really go to Mexico. They go to American colonies that happen to be located on Mexican soil. They know their way around Cancun but have no idea what "Teotihuacan" means.

quote:
Would it be unreasonable to add Moscow to this list and add another 2 weeks? I really can’t afford to go there more than once within the next 10 years!

Try finding a flight from Czech/Hungary if you have the time. You’ll find Moscow rewarding, and there shouyld be no shortage of flights from Praque and Budapest to Moscow.

quote:

Little do they know the adventure you‘ll have in Europe. Besides, these people don’t really go to Mexico. They go to American colonies that happen to be located on Mexican soil. They know their way around Cancun but have no idea what "Teotihuacan" means.

Exactly. Mexico is one of my favorite countries, and I’ve been there three times so far but I avoid Cancun like the plague.

It’s plenty exotic – try walking to the top of a Mayan temple and then tell me that it feels just like Cincinatti.

I think you should just tell anyone who calls you stupid for wanting to travel E. Europe to Fuck off! Of course Mexico IS a good vacation spot but it’s YOUR life and you should make the most of it!!
Moscow isn’t unreasonable w/2 extra weeks by any means HOWEVER you MAy want to consider other, more easily traveled areas and possibly get more for your effort. If you go to Moscow you will DEFFINATLY need a visa and it is more expensive than a lot of other places around there. You might like Poland too. I’m sure you’ll have fun…..ignore the ignorant sheep and do whatever you want

go to kraków

Well, first of all, there’s nothing wrong with traveling to Mexico. It’s my favorite country anywhere in the world, but I’ve never been to Cancun or on a package tour or stayed in a beachfront resort hotel. I did, however, stay in a cabana on the beach for $5/night, take the subway all over Mexico City, buy street food from the comeodores, ride a chicken bus for 8 hours seated next to an old woman with a big bag of chiles on her lap, and ride another bus for 9 hours next to a real Mexican cowboy, machete and all. Mexico is great, but it can be even better if you become more adventurous. Put a little planning into it, go backpacker style, learn the language, and try the local foods.

That said, if you live in the US or Canada, go to Eastern Europe. My experience of Hungary and Czech is, sadly, limited to just Budapest and Prague…but I’d love to return and am glad that you want to devote two weeks to each. IMHO, that sounds about right for a thorough exploration of the big cities and a small town here and there. You probably know many people who’ve been to Mexico, but how many people do you personally know who have been to Hungary and/or the Czech Republic?

I haven’t been to Russia but my gut tells me that would make for an even greater adventure.

I don’t usually deal with those people (Assuming that the ‘get drunk in Mexico for a week’ is a description uttered by someone talking about a ‘typical’ vacation including partying in a tourist spot with buckets of alcohol).

It’s best just to smile and nod and be non-judgmental about their ideas of vacation, but remain vehement about your own decisions…you’re not alone!

Besides, just surf the web and find places like eurotrip and you’ll see just how many people think like you. Lots!

I’m gonna tell you where to go… but in Eastern Europe though! In Hungary, go to a place called Eger if you get the chance. Track down ‘The Valley of the Beautiful Women’. If you like wine, you’ll be in heaven! Mark my words… Eger will be overrun by backpackers within 5 years!