>>1851875>My initial plan is to travel eastward generally speaking, and maybe veer south-eastward to avoid the colder weather up north.That´s a great plan. Bosnia i Herzegovina, serbia and albania are totally underrated and you can go to mediterranean sea in case it gets awefully cold.
also: serbia has many orthodox monasteries. romania has so too. also greece and "northern macedonia"
poland and ukraine are not so great in winter, slovakia with highlight mountains "high tatra" is out of range in winter without proper gear. same is carpathians in romania.
when you still around in spring, ukraine and poland is great.
but for winter, stay between danube and mediterranean.
>learning as you goyou got the right mindset for this. maybe check with your health insurance if you stay very long time.
for money, since you life off your savings: bakery shops in germany and austria will give you breakfast for free (like one pretzel) when you ask nicely and shop isn´t crowded. in eastern europe you are good with 500€/month. you can get much cheaper if you want to, but every now and then have hostel room in a city, nice hot cup of soup in restaurant, all this...
visa only required for russia and belarus. everything else accessible.
people in slovakia, czech, romania and estonia are mostly able to speak english. since your french, if you speak italian or spanish this helps you big time with gypsies.
ukraine and moldova are not into languages. it´s tricky.
Anon, you gonna have time of your life. no way you still depressed after eastern europe. you´ll find out that this area is colourful and bright in every aspect.
Security advise: don´t get into cars stopping near you claiming to be "cab driver". but don´t worry taking offered rides by regular cars (thise rides will be offered).
sometimes gypsies ask "you have money?" followed by "where you sleep tonight?" well, don´t be an asshole, give them one euro and don´t be a retard telling where you go next