Eldest_oab and pal are planning a summer of travelling and biking.

Where to look to help with cheaper accomodation? Even hostels are getting pricey now.

They are looking at two bits of a trip – start in South(ish) Western USA and travel up to Canada, including Whistler (natch). They are too young to hire cars, so this will be rooms & hostels, with a few camps perhaps although with a posh bike in tow camps are not that appealing. Possibly a month trip.

Second bit of the trip is Europe – They’ve got somewhere in Morzine, but will be doing Italy, Slovenia and more for three months. Buying a car *might* be an option, as will some camping, but it will be easier and likely cheaper (insurance for two 18yr olds…) to train and room it.

Hostels are pretty cheap in the more remote parts of Europe so are the Airbnbs. Other options would be Couchsurfing which is free, get the app. Young lads? Tinder?

In the USA, camping in state or national parks is by far the best way. It’s often beautiful camping if you get a lake or woods (can be bleak in prarie land) and it’s cheap and awesome.

Why can they not camp if they have bikes? Crime is unlikely in those locations IMO. Remember that the US is highly segregated and only middle class people camp in state parks (well, that’s how it appears to me, I mean I’ve stayed in loads of these places and would not worry about bikes if locked up).

Camping by a lake with a fire is preferable to a shitty motel room, really.

US/Canada are they bikepacking or using public transport / hitch hiking between cities with bikes? Off the tourist trail motels are cheap but in cities can be rough but that’s what you get for cheap. I would camp, BLM in west US and National and State Forests usually allow free dispersed camping and have affordable campsites with facilities. Also agree airbnb and couch surfing, lots of socially liberal along west coast. If they are doing National and State Parks look at America the Beautiful pass. Cities have a massive homeless problem so finding cheap and safe is hard, hence good hostels are more expensive.

Europe airbnb unfortunately, also go direct to guest houses. Avoid the tourist trail and go early summer and it’ll be cheap. Assuming hols in June and they want to do some US great outdoors, do Europe first then US. Some road passes don’t open til July.

Is warmshowers still going?

I’d imagine they don’t want to camp to limit the amount of shit they have to take?

How about looking at local facebook groups wherever they’re going, and asking on there? Or tripadvisor forum for those areas?.