naomiruth

hi everyone, this is my first post on the site, i found it just earlier today when i was discussing my travelling ambitions with a friend.. anyway i apologize if i posted this in the wrong place.

so basically i am a 20 year old student living in Los Angeles studying Graphic Design, and i graduate in march '07. i have never been out of the United States, and upon graduating it is my plan/dream/hope to at that time spend about a month travelling Europe (and i would, of course, like to do this for as little money as possible). i intend to book a roundtrip flight to London from LA, spend a minimal time in England, and then take the chunnel to France. after that, i don't really have any clue what i'm going to do until my return flight out of London. here are the main cities i would ideally be able to visit:

Paris
Madrid
Rome
Prague
Amsterdam

and here is where my many questions start flowing...

is it possible to spend a decent amount of time in each of those cities in just a month? if i were to narrow it down, which ones should i eliminate from my itenerary? if i were to book a roundtrip flight from LA to London right now for march, it would only cost apprx. $550; but eurail passes are what seem to be so expensive -- $634 for a month long pass? is there a cheaper way? also i've been reading that it's wise to factor on spending about $20 a day on food and $20 a day on hostels, but that seems unrealistically cheap. can it be done?

i have about 6 months to plan this trip, but i would like to purchase the plane ticket to London as soon as possible to ensure that i get a good fare. so basically i need to get my ass in gear and start planning this trip out! since this is my first time to travel Europe i am very excited/curious/anxious/clueless and therefore any answers or additional help would be EXTREMELY appreciated!!! i thank you all profusely in advance.

hoping you are all in good health,
naomi