Thi august I ended my co-op term two weeks in advance to squeeze in a trip to Europe with two of my buddies. We planned it to be a 12 day trip, going from Paris -> Vienna -> Salzburg -> Innsbruck -> Munich. I spent ~$2500 for the entire trip(not bad for 12 days!). Definitely not the best financial move objectively speaking, but I think the experience was well worth it. The plan was to go to places where we could hike a decent amount. Looking back at it, that wasn't a great plan since we were usually on 5-6 hours of sleep + walking around all day, so we had a bunch of blisters by the time hiking was near.
Culture
The culture I saw in europe was very interesting and unfamiliar. To summarize it in a sentence, I could really feel the "work to live" culture of these places, rather than the "live to work" culture that is prevalent in the US and Canada. That kind of life style seems much more enjoyable and healthier. At the same time, I do question which one is better from a economic standpoint. In 2008, US had been roughly the same footing as the eurozone countries in terms of GDP size, as the US GDP is now nearly double the eurozones. US did recover better from the 08' crisis, but the culture undoubtedly contributed to its recovery and growth.
Paris
They call paris the city of love, but that is honestly a bs statement from what I saw. Maybe it's because we were 3 broke college students traveling on a student budget, or because we didn't explore Paris as much. But during that little time we did stay, it wasn't so pretty. A bunch of homeless people, garbage everywhere, jam packed trains, pick pocketing, etc. There also was police everywhere holding assault rifles, prob because of the past terrorist attacks. I may have just overhyped it too much in my mind. Safe to say I won't be going back anytime soon.
Vienna
Instead, Vienna perfectly embodied/encapsulated (which word would be better to use here?) what I expected Paris to be like. The beautiful architecture, the little local bakeries and shops, the markets, the cleanliness, the bike friendly city design, the culture, the safety(incredibly safe!), the nightlife of the city, the food I am not sure since we only ate from SPAR the entire four days that we were there(Austrian convenience store chain with everything, very cheap unlike restaurant prices). But out of all the great experiences that came along vienna, my absolute favourite were the cafes. Not the massive, expensive ones with a whole bunch of tourists, but rather the small local ones you encounter while walking in and around the streets. They meshed so well with the vibe and beauty of the city. A lot of them turn into bar cafes at night.
When I go back, I would like to go with a little more freedom. Freedom to slowly enjoy the city and relax in instead of rushing through everything, and to be more financially available as I feel like it would be a whole new experience if money weren't a setback. Eating, drinking, chilling. I also realized that a place like Vienna is better to go with a partner than with friends. After all, vienna was the real paris. But then I guess I wont be going to vienna anytime soon.
They say that the best part about having money is not all the things you can buy, but rather the freedom of not having to think about money.
Owning a little book cafe/bar in vienna wouldn't be so bad.