Back then it was even more! ;-)

Part of this affordable "life on the road" concept might also be the fact that gas prices in the US are about 2.5x as cheap as they are in Europe.

(this is always a fun conversion: https://www.google.com/search?q=1.70+euro+per+liter+in+dolla... not sure if that's the most recent gas price here, but it should be about right. This gives $8.36/gallon, and a quick google for gas prices in New York tells me they pay $3.60/gallon)

And combined with the exorbitant rent those guys pay.

I've talked to a New Yorker visiting Ljubljana, he was extremely excited about getting a flat for 1700eur/month because that was about half his NYC rent. It was probably one of the ten most expensive flats you can get in Ljubljana. And we have exorbitant rent prices compared to the rest of my home country.

So yeah, I can easily see how an american would think living on the road is super cheap compared to staying home.

New York City is the single most expensive place to live on the continent. It hardly affects how "an American" would think anything.

Hah, my luxurious studio apartment in Greece (new, fully furnished/decorated, good area, next to the sea) is 400 euros/month.

hi, can you elaborate a bit on this? is that countryside seaside or some major city? would love to try Greece. Going to Bulgaria for the next 3mo atm.

It's Thessaloniki, the second largest city. Countryside will run you around 150/200 euros/month. I'm not sure how much seaside will run you, but they get expensive in the summer.