Pros

- sampling assorted culinary delicacies of various nations eg. chocolates crepes, currywurst etc.
- being able to justify spending €30 on a Viennese concert ticket in the name of cultural enlightenment but not €3.50 on lunch (or is this a con?)
- consuming copius amounts of beer, coffee and other dubious substances in the name of research, eg. when in Munich/Paris/Amsterdam
- the fact that sleeping in dorms and living out of a backpack for months on end makes you appreciate coming home, even if it’s only to a home away from home in the form of a shoebox with a falling down roof.

Cons

- sharing dorms with assorted teeth gnashers, grinders, snorers and other people with severe adenoid problems, or Swedes with ultra-liberated views on nudity.
- cold hostel showers and 25-bed dorms
- wearing the same jeans everyday for three months
- when large chunks of your heels start falling off after spending weeks on end walking 12 hours per day.
- getting stuck on in a bus/train/tram carriage for prolonged journeys with assorted freaks, including self-proclaimed Mormon prophets, obese neighbours, randoms with rank BO, Americans, etc.
- never being able to pack light/finally figuring out how to pack light and then realising you’ve got nothing but jeans and sneakers to wear to that fancy opera/ballet/symphony.