Seeing the world doesn't have to break the bank!
I know budget travel isn't for everyone but hear me out. These are a few things that I incorporate along my travels to make them more affordable. Not everything that I do personally will fit everyone's lifestyle preference, but that's okay! Following a few of these ideas could put some extra cash in your pocket!
Upon 2024 starting and my planning began I gave myself a general amount that I wanted to be under for each individual trip. If I spent less great! I just made sure to stick under $2000 total for daily costs, souvenirs, flights, accommodation, and food costs. At the end of the year looking back that was a really fair amount to put myself at. Most of my trips were well under that price point for example my two-week trip to India was around $1500, but the one trip that I did go slightly over was Italy. Looking back Italy was still very budget friendly compared to most people travelling to Europe, but It's also the one trip that was relaxing and involved the least number of activities. When planning trips don't get discouraged if the flight price is over $1000. A lot of the destinations I travel to, the majority is spent on the flight. Italy was one of the cheapest round-trip flights I had all year and that still ended up being my most expensive trip. Look outside of Europe! Theres so much to explore that cost a great deal less.
Hostels Before Hotels!
The biggest part of budget travel I've found is staying in Hostels. I know that sounds like you might be walking into a dungeon like warehouse, sleeping with 50 strangers in a large room with beds. Well, I'm here to tell you it absolutely IS NOT. The photo to the left is one of the MANY beautiful hostels I've stayed at across the world. Yes, some are better than others but so far, I've had a wonderful experience at every location I've been to (do your research still of course.) I've not experienced a place that is dirty (yet), but I do know they are out there if you budget a little too much. Most of them offer private rooms, dorm rooms with options that include 4-8 people in a room, a bar, a restaurant with breakfast included or for a small extra charge, and an easy source to book activities and help you along the way. I typically stay in an all female dorm, but I have stayed in a mixed gender room, and it was just fine. There's an unspoken community and appreciation in these
places. Most people are respectful, and I never felt uncomfortable staying in a mixed dorm. Hostels can range in prices depending on the country, but I would say the lowest I've paid for a bed is $8 and the most I've spent is $25 a night. I use the Hostel World app to book most of my accommodation. The app offers Hostels all over the world, discounts, and also a great source to meet people before you arrive! Two weeks before a
trip you can access group chats among the people staying in your hostel, as well as people who booked in other hostels through the city you're staying in. You can find people arriving at the same time wanting to share the cost of taxis from the airport, and also get a lot of questions you might have before arriving to a new country from people who have recently experienced similar things that they've already found a solution to while they have been there.
For solo travelers this a great option to easily make friends. You're never solo for long when you stay in a place like this! I've made friends of all ages in each place to share experiences with, and even meet up with in other countries. You're never too old to stay in a hostel! Don't think it's just a bunch of broke kids. I've met people in their 80's travelling solo and enjoying the atmosphere as well! One of my favorite things staying in a hostel is sharing everyday with people from all over the world. You get to experience different cultures outside of just the one you're visiting and it's always nice to be surrounded by a group of people who are all sharing a similar journey as yourself.
* Tip: Make sure you bring a travel towel with you. Most hostels offer a towel to rent for a low cost or refundable deposit, but I always like to take my own just in case!
Create A Daily Budget
A daily budget is a HUGE shift rather than just taking a certain amount of money for spending. I've found that with a daily budget it challenges me to be more cautious of prices before I purchase things. Example: During my month-long trip in Africa, I gave myself a daily budget of $35. Sometimes I go over this, so I do typically bring a credit card and some extra cash. If there's an experience, I didn't expect to come across I don't want to miss out because I only brought a certain amount of money. I use my United Airlines card while travelling because I do get extra rewards for travel purchases, and no added fees for transactions!
My daily budget for each country does change based on the currency in each country. Typically, in a daily budget I include food costs, added expenses I might need along the way, activities, transportation, souvenirs, and accommodation. Some of those added expenses can be toothpaste, deodorant, sunscreen, etc. I typically buy a lot of this once I land in a country. It gives me reason to go explore on the way to the store for these items, and also its typically much cheaper. Travelling in a backpack is limited and also has to go into the cabin. Some of the items I need are over the 100 ml (3.4 oz) allowed in the plane cabin. If there's anything that I might cut out from my daily average it's accommodation, and activities. Sometimes you can't work around the prices for excursions, and accommodation varies. I personally like to keep accommodation in my daily average because it pushes my boundaries a bit to save money. Once that expense is subtracted and seeing my leftover budget, it pushes me to seek out local street food or smaller owned businesses that are less expensive (and the food is typically much better!) Using local transportation is a great way to talk to locals and save and save a bit. Don't be afraid to get creative! Uber isn't always an option in other countries or as widely accepted because of the fees taken by Uber. Local taxis, tuk tuk's, buses and even some friendly locals are a great way to stay on budget! Be sure that you ask locals or the place you're staying what prices typically are to get around, and also see if they can give you advice on what rideshare apps work best for that country. It's good to be aware, and don't be afraid to negotiate prices even with transportation. Its normal I promise, and if one person doesn't like the price you're offering, there's probably 15 other people close by that will.
What's great about a daily budget is that on travel days you typically will spend less money on food, and daily needs because you're travelling! By taking local buses and trains, this price can vary, but you can save money by being occupied heading to your next destination and avoiding the inflated prices in the airports. If a place isn't far don't forget that you can always walk. Even if it's a couple miles sometimes it's great to just walk and see what's along the way and talk to the locals. The best part about walking, its free!
White People Inflation (it's not just white people but were easy to spot!)
BE AWARE, and don't be afraid to negotiate prices! Its normal in a lot of markets across the world to negotiate prices for items so don't avoid doing it just because you might feel bad or awkward. I try to avoid typical tourist traps. These are the places that have your wide variety of refrigerator magnets, shot glasses, and keychains. These stores are always going to charge a large amount and often are fixed prices (prices that are set to an amount.) If one of those items is what you collect, I'm not saying to avoid them completely. I like to browse markets often and sometimes drop pins on Google Maps, or on my Apple maps app on my phone to remember where an item is that I really like and might purchase later on. I like to browse and see how much people are offering me for various items. Even if I'm not going to buy them it gives me a better idea on prices for the local area. After a few days of price comparing, I'll go back to my pinned places or choose a specific day to shop and now when I negotiate with the vendors, I have a better idea on what prices should be. It's good to have a general idea because you also don't want to be offensive with your number. At the end of the day this is the livelihood of these individuals so don't forget that!
I like to keep a currency conversion app on my phone. This helps you keep track of how much the conversion rate is between your currency and the locals. I like to use "My Currency Converter"
You can find this on the Apple Appstore. If you don't have an iPhone and this app isn't available there's plenty more great options out there, just make sure that it works without needing data. You never know when you won't have phone service!
If you're still not sure what a fair price is I usually follow a personal guideline that has seemed to always work for me. If I want to buy an item in a market and they tell me the price in their currency I check my currency calculator and then usually offer back about 40-50% less than their offer depending on the item. This offers space for their counteroffer and then the fun begins going back and forth until you're both happy! This can be an overwhelming, and exhausting task when you're thrown into the chaos of these markets. I promise it gets easier!
Don't be afraid to walk away if someone isn't meeting the needs of your budget. Places often sell the same items and are willing to give you the price you're offering. Sometimes walking away is the trick you need. Walking away shows the vendor that you're serious about your price point, and most of the time they will agree that it's a fair price. If not, keep on walking!
Being aware of local prices and being comfortable with negotiating can make a huge difference in your budget by not overpaying on items, while also being sure that you get some great souvenirs as a memory of your travels!
Avoid Planning Too Much Ahead of Time
This one's tricky. I wish that I had caught onto this sooner in my travels. I always get asked "what do you plan to do while you're there?" my typical response is "I have some ideas, but I'm pretty much just showing up and seeing what life has planned for me!". It sounds crazy, I know. Showing up to a foreign land and not having anything planned, but it all works out! It's much cheaper to book things once you arrive. A lot of locals offer tours and once you're face to face negotiating the prices of these tours is much easier. Recently in Zanzibar I wanted to do a Blue Safari to swim with dolphins, and other activities. After doing some research the cheapest price on my sources was around $90. While walking the beach and talking to some of the guys offering tours, I made some new friends and managed to talk the price down to $17 for the 6-hour tour! When booking with locals it's wise to be cautious because scams can be common. A small deposit is one thing, but I never pay the full price up front just in case. Most people often won't ask for the full price up front when booking in a situation like this, or they will understand if you express concern. If they insist on the full amount up front, and after giving an explanation their reason this is one of those things where you have to trust your gut and believe that people don't all have bad intentions.
If you don't want to book with a local, hostels typically can arrange most tours last minute, as well as using the "Get Your Guide" app on your phone.
Being in America I've noticed that when I search tours on a lot of major sites the price looks cheap because in most countries you can do things that are much more affordable, but when I arrive to other countries these prices change drastically on the SAME websites! Being on American cell phone networks automatically increases the price to most things.
Recently I planned to go paragliding in Morocco. I was meeting up with a friend from Ireland and we had a FaceTime call to discuss our bucket list items a few weeks before our trip. We looked up a tour on a popular booking site "Viator", and also a few on Get Your Guide. On Viator the tour cost me was $116, but the SAME tour, on the SAME website for her in Ireland was priced at $45! I knew that price gauging was happening in some areas on my end, but I couldn't believe the difference in cost for this tour.
This is also very common when booking flights. If you are spending enough time somewhere and your travel plans can be less structured, I would also highly recommend not purchasing flights too quickly if you're going to multiple destinations within a country or nearby that require a plane ticket. Its best just to track things and keep an eye on flight prices to know you're not overspending.
These are all just a few general guidelines that I incorporate into my travel planning and daily life once arriving to a new country. These are some of the things that no matter where I am I implement. Throughout my blog posts of each journey, I include things that I do for each individual place, and also any difficulties I might have experienced along the way and the solution I found that may or may not have worked. Everywhere is similar, but also wildly different! I learn something new on every adventure that makes me more knowledgeable and aware of how to handle new situations that I'm placed in. As I learn I'll include my experience, sources, apps, and accommodation for each individual country to help keep us all on budget, make things a little less stressful, and make sure we all feel more confident to explore the world!
