Thanks for all of this! My roommate actually recommended volunteering for festivals, which I wouldn't mind at all because I've done so in the past. It's fun and you still get to experience the action and meet new people. Plus I'm sure, since im working a restaurant job, I'll be working doing a few of them on the weekends.

I'm just going to go with the flow with nature stuff, see what's around/available/affordable when I get there. I have good hiking shoes and basic stuff for that, plus a bike, but other than that I can only bring with me what I can bring on the plane. Trust me, I wish I could bring a car more than anything because it would make my life 100x easier at this point (plus save on plane tickets!) but it's not possible. I'm hoping that I'll make friends along the way who are down to go places, or maybe tag along with my roommates if they are going food shopping out of town or something.

If I do buy groceries in town, I'm mostly just going to buy staples (bread, pasta, eggs, etc) and try to make as many things as I can with that. I know sometimes at restaurants they'll give you a free or discounted meal when you work, plus I'm working at a place owned by the ski resort so I get some deals for that as well. Have you ever been to the farmers market? How are prices there?

I have a plan to live frugally, but I know when I get there there's definitely going to be temptations and unexpected costs. I'm going to just try my best to make a budget and keep track, because if I'm really spending way over my means and not making enough, I'll have to leave early which is no beuno