mattdesl

Yes -- hostels are cheap especially if you go through Eastern Europe. Stay away from some of the more expensive cities and you should be fine. Grab a travel book as it will help out a lot regarding hostels, restaurants, bars, trips, etc.

Also make sure to make it to Budapest.

Key is looking for someone else with a backpack to ask them where they are staying.

Dude, the least you could do is buy a travel book. Or use free WiFi (McDonalds, Starbucks, etc) and a site like HostelWorld.com to look for and book hostels.

I was almost homeless in Paris, as everything was booked by the time I got there. Though it worked out well; I ran into a friend and stayed in her mansion in Versailles. But after that I made sure to book hostels before reaching a major tourist city.

Can't speak for OP, but the people I met at hostels when solo traveling were really friendly, nice, and fun to hang out with. Some of them were hard partiers, others were quiet and shy.