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– Why is everyone always traveling the world and I can’t afford it? Well, two reasons, you might not know how to travel efficiently, or you are buying way too much stuff that you don’t need and not saving money for the most important thing in the world: travel. Here are 19 of my best tips to help you travel the world on a budget.
Hi friend, hi, woo, meh. Book using a private window. Make sure you clear your browser cookies and even use a private Incognito Window while searching for flights. Websites track if you’ve looked at these prices before and they bump up the prices. So for everyone’s benefit, use a private window.
Getting really good fry, frights. (laughs) Getting really good flights is an art form and I have perfected it over my 12 years of travel. I’m having a great time today. I use websites and apps such as Momondo, Skyscanner, and Kiwi.com because you can actually select flying from your local airport to anywhere, and it’s gonna list flights from cheapest to the most expensive.
So if you’re flexible with where you wanna go, this is perfect, the world is your oyster, get on it. I book far in advance if the destination is really popular, such as Iceland or Israel, you need to get in early because everything is so expensive leading up because it is a very popular destination.
If a destination is relatively unknown, you can book closer to the date because sometimes accommodation in AirBnB, for example, is slashed so dramatically closer to the date, but there is a risk involved. This could turn out to be a disaster and work against you and everything is actually more expensive, so use this tip with caution.
Fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday, usually it’s a lot cheaper flying on these dates, but this is not always accurate so check Momondo, Skyscanner, and so forth. Sometimes even going day-by-day to try to identify where the cheapest flight dates are. (imitates siren in distance) ♪ Go save the lives of people, go get it ♪ (exhales) If you don’t have a flexible schedule it’s still wise to look up the cheapest days to fly, then ask for time off, and then book those flights, instead of the other way around.
Stay in hostels. Dorm rooms are fine, mixed dorm rooms are fine. The large dorm rooms are fine. I’ve only had a handful of bad experiences in the dorm rooms, when it’s too loud, too many people walking in and out, doors slamming. If you’re a female and a bit nervous, stay in an all-female dorm.
I will point out that the only time I ever had anything stolen from me was in an all-female dorm. In all my 12 years of travel this is the only bad thing that’s ever happened to me, though, so it was just a one-off experience. Just book whatever you’re comfortable with. But basically, just don’t shy away from hostels ’cause they’re awesome, you meet people so easy.
Another option, AirBnB is awesome, can stay in your own room, you can have the entire apartment to yourself. Sometimes there are just unreal deals, especially if you book for about a month at a time, you get discounts of 35-50% off. So, when looking for accommodation make sure you check hostels and AirBnB because you could be surprised.
If you’re staying in a hostel quite often, they have breakfast included, stock up for the day. An egg in one pocket, and apple in the other, sandwich in your backpack, goes a long way. Save your stuff by not getting it stolen, referring to the tip above. It doesn’t happen very often, but please, for the love of God, lock up all your stuff when you are leaving the hostel to go explore.
Put it in a locker, everything, no matter how nice your roommates might seem, it could happen, so I am always cautious and I just pack everything away. I look like a bit of a psycho when I do so because everyone else is sprawled all over the place, but I would rather have my stuff. For transport, just find the cheapest way to get from AB– Just find the cheapest way to get from A to B.
So if you’re in Europe, it’s very easy catching buses. If you’re flying long distance, maybe it’s easier to fly to a big airport in a nearby area and then catching a bus, or a local plane, or a train from that destination. Flying to smaller airports is always gonna be generally more expensive, so just try to find what is the closest.
Fly with cabin baggage only. So these days, it’s unreal because lots, almost all, airline carriers allow you to have so much luggage on the actual plane, so for example, I carry this backpack and my other backpack with my camera with me when I’m flying, and that’s enough for my entire trip, for months at a time.
There’s no reason why I would need anything more than that. So, a carry-on suitcase and a backpack, you’re good to go. If you are a notorious over-packer, halve whatever you think you wanna bring and then halve it again. This is the rule that I always go for, and I still have way too much stuff when I’m traveling, that I hardly use any of the stuff.
And I carry expensive, massive, heavy photography equipment with me. If you’re not in this profession, you don’t have a problem like that. Staying healthy on the road is very important, so if you wanna work out and save some cash, you can do so at a local outdoor gym, which is free. Or apps such as TrainAway will give you fluh-bluh-bluh– will give you really great deals on local gyms.
Or volunteer. Check out Workaway or similar pages on places you can stay for free, eat for free, and you just do a little bit of work in return. Genius. Cooking is always wise when you’re on the road because it is the cheapest. Just ask your AirBnB host or the hostel staff where their cheapest supermarket is, and if possible, shop at the local markets, it’s cheaper, healthier, fresher, plastic-free, delicious.
If you are eating out, try to do so at lunch because the deals at lunchtime are much better than dinner deals. And also, ask the locals where the cheapest places are to eat out, and the good ones, because there are so many tourist traps for restaurants. Avoid those, as much as you can, and follow the locals’ advice.
When it comes to excursions, I don’t often participate because I just don’t like tours, but I just don’t like massive group tours, not knowing who my tour guide is, going to the boring same-old tourist destinations. It’s just, I just don’t like tours. Unless it’s my tour, of course, which is super fun.
So oftentimes, I’ll just hire a car and I’ll do the tour outline by myself or with friends. I have my own pace, I can stop whenever, take my own photos. Or if you’re looking to do a boat tour, for example, you clearly can’t do that by yourself, speak to the locals. Stalk people on Instagram that live there and ask them questions about if they know the best places to do a boat tour, or if you’re in Asia, speak to the local fisherman, maybe they can take you on their boat.
Basically, just ask. Questions get you very far if you just are willing to ask. Take free classes or walking tours. There are a lot of free classes out there and walking tours are almost in every single city. Usually it’s for a tip, but that’s still way cheaper than having to go on a big tour and paying way too much.
Don’t buy souvenirs, they just clog up your space and they probably break in your backpack. Stick to taking photos and creating memories, it’s gonna be way more valuable. Plan to travel during off-peak periods. Iceland, for example, is significantly more expensive in summer. Costa Rica has this beautiful rainy season that most people stay away from because they just hear rainy season and they just think it’s constantly raining, but actually, it’s beautiful throughout the day and in the evening starts raining like crazy.
But I love it, it’s luscious, it green, and there’s not many people. Some islands in Croatia have a three-month travel period because it’s the school holidays and after that, almost day-to-day it’s black and white, it becomes empty, and that’s a great time to travel. Even though a lot of things are closed at the time, there are still a few very cute restaurants open and it’s a lot quieter and cheaper.
Use a VPN to find the cheapest deals. Sometimes when you’re searching from a location, it ups the price because it’s a rich country you might be searching from. Sometimes, playing around with your VPN and pretending like you’re searching from a different country allows you to get cheaper deals and this can save you a ton of money.
Save up frequent flyer miles. I have never done this and I have traveled so much, so I’m always kicking myself over this. Do your research. Some places have incredibly cheap flights, and then you get there, and you have a massive shock because– (gasps) Prices are expensive. Iceland falls into that category.
A very quick search of accommodation prices is gonna help you determine if you are able to travel to that place. So first, search for accommodation, then flights, then see of you can actually travel there. Buy a SIM card in the local country because it’s a lot cheaper than paying for your massive fees from your phone daub-doob-dla– (sighs loudly) Done, okay.
Thank you so much for watching, guys. I hope you got some good insights into how to travel on a budget. Traveling is a lot cheaper these days than you can ever imagine, all you have to do is look, research, get started, you’re gonna find some great deals along the way. Don’t be shy, children.
You’re not children. Don’t be shy, just get out there, hit the road, and while you’re at it, hit the like button, subscribe, hit that bell and I look forward to seeing you guys again soon. Thank you so much for watching. Peace out! Also, do you like my outfit, flight suit, ’cause it’s a travel video? That was my boyfriend’s joke, he figured it out.
I didn’t even realize.
