Traveling on a Budget
Traveling is a hobby that everyone loves and desires. Also traveling around the world exploring some of the most scenic destinations is a dream come true for a large number of people. However, many individuals have the same sad story of not having the right or sufficient budget for making expensive trips. Therefore, eventually, they need to cancel their travel plans. Who says that it is difficult to travel on a low budget? Of course, you can. There are only a few changes that you need to make in your plans and schedules and budget-friendly traveling would work for you. Making the right plans and being fully prepared beforehand are things that will make it easier for you to travel the world on a budget.
Have a Look into Hostels and Hotels
This is something that is very important. It is necessary for you to pay attention to this significant aspect of traveling the world. Try surfing the internet and finding some of the best and the most profitable deals. Always keep in mind that renting a whole apartment would sometimes turn out to be more affordable than renting two or three rooms in a posh hotel. If you have friends and family in the area, staying with them would be a nice idea. This would help you in saving on accommodation costs.
But, if you have them all back home then hostels and hotels would serve as the standard option. There are some hostels that tend to be slightly fishy and thus you must do proper research beforehand. Always go for the most reputable chains if you want to have a comfortable stay. If you want to share accommodation with strangers, you can easily get a good deal and at the same time you might even meet some of the most fascinating individuals.
Airline Tickets
If you have several travel destinations to cover then getting the round the world airline ticket by way of an airline alliance would be the right method for you. This will make it easier for you to travel instead of purchasing individual airline tickets for different locations. This is one procedure that will also help you in saving a lot of money. Besides this, there are various other ways of earning free flights if you are really interested in traveling different destinations. The best thing that you can do is sign up for some travel credit cards. These will help you in collecting miles which will further help you in traveling for free. This works amazingly well for wonderful and popular destinations such as Central America, Australia, Scandinavia and Europe.
Try Having Street Food
You might be aware of the fact that part of every individual loves having street food. Therefore, there is absolutely no reason why you must not have your hands on street foods instead of spending a lot of your travel budget amount of having food at high end restaurants. Food takes up a major part of your travel budget and if you are successful in cutting these expenses down then it might turn out ti be really advantageous for you. Hence, one of the best ways of traveling on a budget is talking to the locals where you have visited and learning more about their traditions, customs, cultures and popular street foods. Try asking about what are the different things that should be tried out and make sure to taste some of the customary street foods in the region.
Do Away with Phone Plans
It is quite difficult and pretty expensive to make use of a sim card while traveling to some foreign country. This is because you will have to take sim cards for the destinations that you are visiting. This might spoil all your plans of traveling on a budget. Therefore, it would be better if you use a wireless connection or hotspot in a restaurant or a café for getting connected to the people back home. Nowadays, Facebook and WhatsApp are platforms that can effectively be used for adding video chat and call features. There is no need for you to out in your money in using additional sim cards.
Download Applications for Proper Budgeting
This might seem a little weird but there is no need for you to keep a good track of all your expenditures manually. There are some of the best travel budgeting applications that can help you in keeping a record of all your travel expenditures even if they might be the smallest of expenses, for example, buying a mere subway ticket even. The small knick knacks keep adding to your travel budget and you can keep a check on them simply by making use of a travel budget tracker. Despite the fact that you might not be spending too much on big products, the small expenditures in bulk are pretty heavy on the pocket and therefore you must have a record of such expenditures.
Make Use of Public Transportation Whenever Possible
Traveling on a budget does not merely mean saving on the big expenses but it also means being aware of those small spending that prove to be high add-ons on your travel budget. One good idea that can help you in saving a huge amount of money while satiating your travel pleasures and cravings is making use of public transport whenever possible. Making use of public transportation will not only help you in saving a huge amount of money but will also help you in knowing a lot of things about the place that you are visiting. Taxis can be specifically expensive and one of the most affordable alternatives to taxis would be renting a car for a few days. This will help you in traveling as per your own fancies and whims. The entire procedure can be very exciting and fun.
Simply try to search for top quality car rental packages and you would get the ability of cooking one that best suits your requirements. However, for the ones who are fond of motorcycles or bikes, there are options of renting bikes as well. They can be adventurous ways of exploring a city.
Make Tourism Cards
Making tourism cards will help you in traveling on a budget. They are cards that will enable you to take hitchhikes and buses with people. The tourism cards will also help you in availing huge discounts and offers. They will give you easy access to popular attractions like museums and palaces while helping you make the best of public transportation at the same time. Some examples of tourism cards or passes that can help you avail huge discounts and facilities include the Paris Museum Pass and the London Pass.
Order Drinks Carefully
You must order drinks and beverages in places where you can get huge discounts. In some countries, alcohol does not tend to be very expensive. This means that you can easily have beer and wine. However, if you are traveling in a large group then see that you divide expenditures on drinks among everyone. Plastic water bottles can be very expensive. Therefore, you must always try to drink tap water. One good hack in this context would be using a filtered individual water bottle for purifying the water that you drinks. This way you would not have to purchase expensive water bottles every time. The filtered water bottle would serve as a one-time investment for your budget travel.
Plan Your Vacation
The very first thing that you must do in order to have all your plans of traveling on a budget successful is planning your vacation carefully. First you must plan the budget that you have set aside for your vacation and then plan your tour. Small budget means you will have to spend very few days in countries like Europe. Thus, you must work accordingly. If you want to save money then instead of traveling to Europe make your way towards South America. If you further want to save money then choose cheaper destinations. Therefore, it can rightly be said that it is very important to plan travel dates beforehand. The best thing that you can do is travel off season. This means that the destinations that you choose will be less crowded which further means that you would to spend less on accommodation and food.
Conclusion
Traveling on a budget simply requires some effort. You can easily make your plans of budget travel only if you are aware of the factors that you need to keep in mind. Try visiting free entry museums, hike more, walk more and explore the places instead of spending a lot of money in clubs and bars because these are things that you can enjoy anywhere. Taking the services of a travel agency can also help you in saving a huge amount of money. But here again, it is important for you to make sure that you have made the right choice.
