I've graduated highschool and I'm really just looking to explore the world or something. I've always liked the ig aesthetic of eastern europe, (drab, depressing, cold) and i've always wanted to travel there and spend some time there. too bad I don't really know where i'd go. me 10 years ago would of said probably russia or ukraine but that's cause I was obsessed with stalker and metro at the time, cant really travel there nowadays anyway.I don't really have a budget right now but preferably something on the cheaper side. maybe around like $2000AUD? I'm not sure desu cause i've never traveled anywhere before, but I'm not really saving for anything other then this.Like I said my interests are just the whole feeling and vibe I guess, I think eastern europe is a genuinely beautiful part of the world and I'd love to experience it at least once. I don't mind the drab. dreary. depressing nature it has and actually think that's the best part. i would like to go somewhere colder though, not freezing but a nice change from the usual aussie summers I've been dealing with, also I'd like to finally put some use on the M65 jacket I bought ages ago.I don't really have much knowledge on the local language other then english, I can probably start teaching myself the basics when I know where I'm going.any help is appreciated!
>>2864435Just go to Moldova and take a trip to Transnistria. However do it in winter, because otherwise sun and green vegetation will make it much less depressing.You can still experience commie blocks in any other post-commie country in Europe, but these became more expensive since they joined EU and they're doing everything to erase commie vibes - they erased commie monuments, painted commie blocks with some colors (picrel) or just took care of public spaces like lawns, broadwalks and roads (which transformed their vibe into something else). Your funds is like a monthly salary in most of these countries, but considering you'll spend it in hotels, restaurants and museums, it will keep you afloat for maybe a week or two.You can actually still enter Russia or Belarus and there's huge chance you won't be detained if you won't do something retarded. Chances of you surviving your trip to western Ukraine is also similar to surviving any other European country.Just keep in mind every mentioned country is transforming rapidly into something else, so if you want your Eastern Europe experience the sooner the better.
>>2864435The aesthetic that you dig is best enjoyed from afar.
>>2864440yeah OK, Moldova looks pretty nice in winter, i might consider it. good for them for ig erasing all the commie, a shame i might not get to see it but oh well. western Ukraine might be my best bet, that or Poland but I'm unsure. just to be safe I might bump my budget to 3-4 grand Australian.
>>2864443really? how come
>>2864445Because it looks somehow aesthetic on well manicured pictures, but in reality it's just depressing, and not in a cute way. It's also just very boring, there is nothing to do or see in those neighborhoods except poor people with drug and alcohol problems. If you want to see historic communist buildings but with some level of comfort go visit East Germany.
>>2864444>or Poland but I'm unsurePoland became touristy lately with developed infrastructure and stuff, so it'll be easy mode in comparison to Moldova and Ukraine.Closest thing to Eastern Europe experience I can think of is probably city of Łódź. I can recommend Hotel Mazowiecki - when I was there in late 2019 it felt post-commie as fuck (except that personel wasn't rude and each room had it's own bathroom, instead of bathroom being shared for entire floor). I don't know if they did some renovation since then, but it's still one of the cheapest options this close to city's center.
>>2864448i dont mind the depressing nature>>2864449yeah I'll check it out! also considering probably serbia, bulgaria, romania and maybe belgrade, not sure tho but they all look like the place i'd like to travel
>>2864435That's gone unless you specifically seek out Norilsk or some other place renowned as a godforsaken shithole. Most commieblock neighborhoods are now painted over in pastel colors. There's ads, murals and modern architecture filling the gaps. Ugly still, but not what you're looking for.Also, there's really nothing uniquely Eastern European about those. You're an Aussie, go to fucking Beijing if you really want grey commieblocks in a snowless winter. Cheaper, closer and look exactly the same to the point you'd confuse them in photos.
>>2864445>>2864448Commie blocks were literally designed to make people feel like shit. Not just only because they were mass produced, but their brutalist form was purposely chosen to remind individuals, that they're just tiny insects who are nothing in comparison to the masses that are backing communist system. That is literally it.It's one thing to go for a week to City 17 to experience the vibe, but whenever someone who lives in Eastern Europe claims he likes commie blocks and all that brutalist aesthetics, you can be sure there's sociapathic personality behind it.No wonder even after 4 decades, post-commie countries still have most suicides in Europe.
>>2864451>serbia, bulgaria, romania and maybe belgradeBalkan vibes are something else in comparison to northern post-commie countries. If you go there in late fall to early spring, it should be close enough I guess.
>>2864454really? i was recommended them cause people said they where similar... maybe i should stick with poland or maybe moldova...
>>2864455>moldova
>>2864449I was there 2 and 3 years ago. The outside still looks grim, but the inside has been modernised, so the post-communist feeling is mostly gone. If you want some genuine experiencd, i would rather look for hotels in smaller towns, some of those places haven't been touched since the 80s because of the rural decline. The other option is to look for some airbnbs in the blocks. Check widzew wschód, teofilów or retkinia for 70s-80s designs, or bałuty/stary widzew for 50s-60s
>>2864455Ex-Yogoslavia countries (Serbia, Croatia etc.) never even were part of soviet bloc, so even their commie blocks hit different as they weren't imposed by soviet city planners. Together with Bulgaria they're half way between post-commie vibes and mediterranean vibes (similar to what you experience in Greece or even e.g. Naples)Romania is closest of the bunch, but then, next to it is Moldova - that is literally ex-soviet version of Romania, with population that partially is still maintaining its commie legacy (as oppose to Balts, Poles, Czechs or even Romanians - who are actively erasing it from their existence). For ultimate Eastern Europe vibes choice seems obvious.However if it's your first rodeo, I'd still start with Poland or Romania, just like you go to Thailand before going to Cambodia or Myanmar.
If you want some real Soviet immersion take the Soviet era overnight train from Bucharest to Chisinau then take a packed marshrutka to Transnistria, these places are all proper shitholes like you're imagining, although some people would disagree about Bucharest
You bascially want to travel backwards in time, what you want is similar to wanting to see the 90s United States. Its simply not really a thing. You can go to Transnistria (if they let you in) , but its more like a town sized Soviet Union museum than an actual country. Other than that, Russia maintains many of its Soviet monument and can absolutely be travelled to even in the current situation, but otherwise they are also developing their country and have moved on.Your best bet for the true depression vibe are probably russina former Gulag towns in bumfuck nowhere. But there really will be nothing elses there besiodes dilapitated commieblocks and Krokodil addcits with nothing better to do than stab the weird foreigner and redistribute his travel purse into their collectivized ciggies and booze fund.
