Hello!
I just turned 21 and I don't want to waste my life, lol. I want to get away from my family and have been dying to experience Europe for a while. I had this idea that I would backpack Europe for a year. But having no permanent / semi-permanent residence for a whole year seems like a lot of things could go wrong, I would likely be out of Wi-Fi for unexpectedly long amounts of time (which would be critical to continue working in the US), and be an overall stressful experience for me. I overthink everything so I am worried I am just talking myself out of something that would end up being so rewarding.
I want to explore basically all of Europe. I feel that bouncing from hostel to hostel with a tiny backpack, 3 outfits, and my laptop would be too unstable and stressful for me to truly enjoy my time? I was looking into monthly Airbnbs and thinking about doing for example: a month in France and day trips around the country for the time I stayed there, then a month in Italy, month in Hungary, etc. But day trips would get expensive.
I have been researching for a long time but feel I am still naive on the subject. Not really sure what to do and super open to advice! What is the best way to backpack Europe over a long period of time? Thanks so much!!
To add on to what others said regarding the Schengen Zone. Since you are an american you may visit the Nordic countries (denmark, iceland, sweden, Finland and Norway) for a combined total of 90 days after staying elsewhere in the Schengen area for 90 days through the nordic bilateral agreement. You will still after your nordic stay need to exit the schengen area for 90 days before re entering. (I just did this myself)