Digital Nomads

One piece of advice is skip Greece. The Internet is dial up slow and was infuriating to work with.

I’m backpacking a few places in Europe currently. I’ve got nothing but a backpack, 3 outfits and a change of shoes with my work stuff it’s very rewarding and I’m the same type of overthinker ! I’ve got most things planned out but I am taking some things as they come because you can’t plan every second of Europe, it’s not possible. I haven’t even booked transportation to some of the countries yet lol because trains over here are east to book a few days prior or day of. It’s a lot less stressful thank you think I promise…though I think maybe you ought to start with a month or few instead of a year.

Have you done much overseas travel or travel to Europe? If not, if suggest starting with smaller trips to get the hang of it, see how you like it, etc. You will need to see if your income will allow you to travel through Europe, staying in air bnbs, paying for train/ bus travel, phone plans, groceries in each place, insurance, etc, especially if you want to spend time in Scotland and Ireland. They can be very expensive.

Do what we do. Book month long airbnbs. Stay 90 days in Schengen, 90 days out, and od the damn thing.

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)

Imo get a taste of it all first.

Get a nice backpack to travel with and only take what you need. Check out the r/onebag subreddit .

Get a youth Eurail pass. You can get it up to 3 months. It allows you to travel all across Europe by train.

Stay in hostels and join group events and excursions.

This is not recommended if you're working, but you'll be able to cover a good chunk of Europe in 3 months if you're diligent about it. Then you can slow down and go back to places you enjoy later. Getting monthly AirBnB is probably the cheapest unless you're working in a hostel for room and board.

Edit: Also be very considerate of the Schengen Zone visa and what countries that counts in and doesn't.

Rent a flat for a month at a time to use as a home base and take day trips/weekend trips on off days. Been doing this for the last year and it has worked out great. My only word of advice would be to just do it and try not to plan too far in advance. Be flexible because you never know how things may change. If you’re considering the Balkans to reset your Schengen time, I would very highly recommend checking out Bosnia. Sarajevo is an incredible city and it’s very cheap. Centrally located as well so it’s easy to travel to other parts of the country. I rented a room there for a month for about $400 USD and meals were typically under $15 for a full meal and a beer or two. The food there is great too. Let me know if you have any other questions or need recommendations for the Balkans, I spent 3 months there in Albania, Montenegro, and Bosnia this year.

First step is just saving as much money as possible, getting a remote job that you can hold consistently as a 21 is extremely difficult. This my strategy, I work my butt off while I still live with my parents so I save most of my paychecks and then I use that money for travel around the US and Europe. Also make sure you are used to traveling around where you live so you can get a feel for being in the road for long stretches of time.