How to travel on a budget

When people think of travelling, they may think of expensive trips, flights, hotels and activities. Of course, this will depend where you are flying to, but there are many ways to travel on a budget. If you are looking to travel on a budget, the first thing you need to be is open minded. It may be difficult to travel abroad and do luxury things, but not impossible. Anyway, that is up to you. Here is how to travel on a budget.

Accommodations

The most obvious and probably one lots of creators say to do is to stay in hostels. I feel like there are negative assumptions with hostels, but there are some nice hostels to stay in. You just have to do your research. This is definitely the cheapest choice if you are travelling solo. If you do not want to do this, you can check out booking.com and create an account. The more you use their site, the more discounts you can get. You may be able to find a good deal (it will probably be more expensive though). I have stayed in B&Bs before too. This is where you share a kitchen space with a few other people, but you have your own bedroom. So if you don’t want to share a bedroom, then this is also a possibility.

If you are travelling in a group, then you could easily find affordable accommodation as the cost divided by you all will be cheap.

Flights

Flights are a bit of a hit and miss when it comes to budgeting. Booking in advance is usually the best way to go and checking multiple websites and comparing price may also be good. Furthermore, sometimes flight companies have deals going on too, such as discounts, so maybe check the airlines websites too.

Activities

This is probably where your money will mostly go to. I personally try to spend the most money on activities as these will make-up most of your memories. If you stay in a hostel, check out what activities they have going on as this may be a cheaper route. If not, then no need to worry, I will a couple of provide tips.

1. Tours – Personally, I don’t usually do tours, unless I want to do something that physically cannot be done without a tour guide. Walking tours aren’t always required if you don’t mind walking around alone and exploring the city. However, if you would like some guidance and to learn about the place around you, then there are usually free walking tours in most cities, so if you do want a tour, then do this! You can then ask the tour guide what they would recommend doing. I have done this before and they often say what places they think are worth visiting, instead of trusting some website on google who may not be from the area (ironic).
2. Compare prices – Usually I tend to book activities online than in-person. If you go to a tourist place, you will most-likely find a lot of people trying to sell you their activities. This happened with me in Turkey and Greece. Take a Brochure and ask them to write down their prices and compare these prices to the ones you find online. Also see what they offer. Although a lot of companies offer the same activity, what is included (such as food and drink) may differ. For websites, you could try travel website such as Tripadvisor or get your guide. By using websites, you can also read reviews to see how legit it is and how good other travellers experiences were.

Food

Spending money on food can depend on a lot of things. For me, breakfast and lunch is something that I usually try not to spend much money on. If I stay somewhere with a kitchen, I will usually try to make my own food. If not, then I usually won’t eat at a restaurant and may just grab some food to eat on the go. This can save a lot of money as always eating out at restaurants definitely adds up. Some countries are obviously more expensive than others, but still, cooking your own food or getting food from a local cafe may be cheaper than going for a sit-down meal each day.

Everyone’s idea of budget trip is different. It is very doable to do a budget trip, whether this is alone or with friends. A lot of my trips have been budget-friendly trips and they always end up being amazing, mostly because I keep an open-mind to what I do! If you still want some more advice, perhaps ask the person at your hotel or someone at a local restaurant. They may know of some good recommendations. Remember to have a good time!!