budget travel

Backpacker in Spain …

backpacker in barcelona

Looking for a backpacker who traveled to Spain? That would be me! I am US citizen who flew/bussed it/ hitchhiked and camped around Spain! it was a lot of fun! I visited the cities of Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Madrid, El Medano, Tenerife in the Canary islands and a few others on my backpacker tour of Spain…

My overview of Spain: Spain is a very safe country and very well organized. The weather is also warm and more on the moderate or temperate side, so its great for backpackers in Spain! I have a backpack, the Pacsafe EXP 45 which is a carry-on size medium backpack that i used on Ryanair. It also fits my small 2 person tent, the Naturehike Cloud up. I’ll be doing a separate post on that tent, but it is very compact and weighs only 3.6 lbs. It was small enough to carry around the country of Spain as a backpacker in Spain. See more info below about my trip.

An American in Barcelona

Accommodations and Price: I started my trip by flying from a second home base in Albania to Barcelona Spain via Wizzair. The cost was very cheap with my backpack it was only $30. I then took a city but from the airport in Barcelona to central BCX where i walked to my youth hostel, The Loft Hostel in Barcelona. The Loft was a standard hostel with beds covered by curtains. The price of the hostel is moderate, about $15 to $25 usd or about $13 to $18 euro. They also have a courtyard where you can sit outside and enjoy the moderate weather and a kitchen where you can cook your own food to save money. I usually bought a potato that cost less than 1 euro and also bananas for 20 euro cents. There is a store where you can buy cheap packaged foods in Barcelona, its called Coaliment…

Sites: Barcelona is a fabulous town with a lot of panache, let me tell you. Above you can see my photo of the fantastic church, Familia Sagrada, which is a church designed by the architect Gaudi. The architecture is one of my favorite things about being a backpacker in Barcelona. The second is the parks, you can check out the most famous Parc de la Ciutadella. Make sure to check out the fountain at the center of the park.

About 2 miles away from the park you can take a city bus for a cheap price of under 2 euros to the beach! The beach is close and pretty nice. It has benches, and some buildings, playgrounds, swingsets, and plenty of sand! The temp is also pretty good for December. i even took a swim as it was around 60 to 65 F, other people were swimming in wetsuits.

Make sure to check out my packing list for backpackers in Spain in the site here!

Here’s a video on Youtube, A walking tour that filmed of the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona, which is something else let me tell you! Its very narrow medieval looking street and buildings with no cars, and some interesting looking boutiques! Enjoy the tour here on Youtube.

Decathlon Ultralight and lightweight items shopping! Packing Advice for onebagging it!

Hey traveling guys and girls! Today i’ll detail a few items i just bought today and why. Decathlon is one of my favorite discount lightweight travel and outdoor stores that is mostly in Europe, southeast Asia, and north Africa! i am not even sure if they have a store in the USA, but know that there is one in Belgrade, Serbia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Marrakech, Morocco, and Madrid, Spain because i visited all of these stores!

Here are a few things i bought today that i really like… number one is Quechua polyester/cotton blend short sleeve shirt that is very breathable for summer an exercising. The temps over here in Marrakech are getting a bit warm at 80F during the afternoon and i must say this shirt is really breathable and lightweight. It came in at 3.5 ounces for a men’s size large. They carry several variety and the price is reasonable at 59 MAD or roughly 5.9 euros. You can find these here at Morocco’s Decathlon website. The store is located about 4 miles north of central Marrakech accessible by the #37 bus or using a taxi or horse drawn carriage.

Item #2 i bought for today’s trip to Decathlon is this, a men’s eyeglasses case that is lightweight. I actually saw this at the store in Madrid and had planned to purchase this at a date, the weight is only 43 grams or 1.5 oz. my other eyeglasses case weighs 2.5 oz, so the savings is a bit, but if you are a full-time traveler and solo vagabond, the savings is worth it. ill be discarding my original case.

Quechua lightweight eye case

The next lightweight/ultralight item i bought is a foldable spork, spoon-fork combo that i can use to eat while im away from my kitchen. Many times ive stayed in hotel rooms without a kitchen and traveling in a city far from home, i can use the foldable spoon to eat food i buy at the grocery store. The spoon weighs about .4oz or 11 grams so plenty small enough to fit inside my backpack along with a few other tools.