Students often manage to travel long distances on very limited budgets . The secret is to find cheap travel, food and accommodation. In the 1960s, British students did this through hitch-hiking and youth hostelling . It can still be done today, though drivers are much more reluctant to offer lifts to strangers.
Youth hostels are also more expensive as they tend to offer a greater level of comfort.
Hostellers used to carry their own sheet sleeping bags and would expect to sleep in bunk beds , often within large single sex dormitories . A long walk to one of few outside toilets was not uncommon. Today, other possibilities present themselves to people living near one of Britain's international airports . The cost of international rail travel has become prohibitive, but hopping around Europe on charter flights can be done very cheaply. The chief snag is finding reasonably priced accommodation when you arrive at your destination .