Traveling is not always costs you a lot of money as these days everyone can access less expensive ways to do things in their vacation, of course with a little effort. Remember, no pain, no gain, dear.
There are some of the golden ways of spending less money you could take a note to, divided into several section: pre-travel preparation, transportation, accomodation, eatery, destination, shopping alternative and other tips.
1) Pre-Travel Preparation
*Research, research, and research!
Don’t be ignorant and take some time to do some research about the place that you want to visit. In this time of age you can find information anywhere: magazines, colleagues, friends, family, news on TV, social media, and internet provides you a limitless data almost about anything you wanted to know to its most spesific details. Sure you don’t want some unfortunate events turn up and costs you a lot of unnecessary outcome when you finally reach your traveling destination, simply because you don’t research about it enough. A friend of mine learned it the hard way. She planned to go to Bali and arrived safely at the airport, but it turned out she arrived exactly on “Day of Silence”! She had nothing to do but stayed at the airport until the next day, therefore waste a part of her travel budget and time.
*Plan your travel budget
To avoid encoutering unnecessary outcome during your travel, creating a budget plan would be essential move. After research, plan how much would you spend for in three different sections: transportation, accomodation, and daily nutrition. Don’t forget to share 30% of total budget for ’emergency money’, in case of something happen during your travel and you have to spend money outside those three points.
*Watch the dollar exchange rate
If the dollars—fortunately—falls against rupiah, might as well take the opportunity and save yourself some more money, isn’t it? We recommended the site xe.com for informational details.
*Stay tuned for cheaper flying tickets
Nowadays we find cheap tickets everywhere—it’s almost like the airlines itself is in race with each other! Of course, if you’re willing to take all the risk and consequences, those promos are all yours!
2) Transportation
*Plan the day of your departure
Statistically, transportation fares is usually less expensive if we purchased it during weekday instead of weekend.
*Booking and Comparing
Try to compare the ticket price from one airlines to another, and don’t forget to search the information regarding the safetiness of those airlines. When you finally decide, book the tickets long before the actual departure for cheaper fares.
*Use the public transportation
Avoid taxis if you are willing to use public and local transportation to get the essential traveling experience you are actually looking for.
*What are those legs of yours doing?
Choose a fantastically strategic yet comfortable hotels in your traveling destination, one of those which at the center of town and surrounded by attractive tourism spots. Then, you can visit those spots and explore interesting places nearby your hotels on foot for a true traveling feel.
*Use trains or buses for long trips
If you have so much time to spent in your travel, we recommend this option. It might seem a little too inconvenience for people who used too much of conveniences, however the experience pays you heedly. Traveling in trains, especially, lets you meet people you don’t normally encounter, fixing you a conversation you usually don’t have, widen your broad a bit from your little golden cage.
*Ask the hostels or guesthouse staff for more information
Be bold and ask them about the local transportation fares and therefore you’re free from any con which local drivers often charge for the tourists, whether you’re domestic tourist or foreign one.
*Avoid extra costs of bags and porters by doing ‘Travel Light’
Bring only the essentials for your travel and fit all in a single backpack to avoid extra spending to pay for luggage and airports/hotel porters.
*Use Smart Card
Wireless payment card, exhibit: Ezlink for Singapore’s MRT, is quite useful when it requires you to use local public transportation frequently during your travel. You don’t have to worry about petty arguments in fares change anymore!
3) Accomodation
*Research, Monsieur and Madammoiselle!
Search resourceful information to look for convenience and less expensive hotels. Sometimes you can find a place which offers you luxury and modesty at the same time! We recommend you to use hostelworld.com, hostelbookers.com and agoda.com for such places. But, if you were to find the official site of the hotel that you are plan to book instead of using the searching sites, it would cost lesser.
*Try CouchSurfing!
Have you heard it before? CouchSurfing is a way in traveling where you blend in with the locals by staying at their houses, sharing food and learn their way of lives for more experience during your travel. You can try and have it a go at CouchSurfing.org or HospitalityClub.com. Usually you can find and make new friends in your travel destination and they will offer to provide you with place to stay and guidance with cheap fares, even for free!
*Stay the night at airports
This option is availble for those who get a lengthful of time to be spent during their transit into another flight. Check sleepinginairports.net for more detail information and tips in staying the night in airports.
4) Eatery
*Buy food and drinks from local grocery stores
Try snacks, dish ingredients, veggies and fruits from the grocery stores around you and ask for their region’s specialty eatery and the locals would be happy to welcome you. Instead of buying food from bigger franchise store like 7-11 or sorts, smaller shops give you different vibes within their special delicacy and hospitality. For drinking water, it would be more appropiate to buy a single large bottle than many small singles.
*Bring your own food and drinks
Getting ahead of your culinary tourism should be fun, but sometimes bringing your own homy food could save much more of your travel budget than you think.
*Visit local restaurant and street vendors
You can try one of those fancy and famous food trucks! The food truck has been a trend lately, because they offer you both of the most essential happiness in the world: less price and deliciousness, in one pack! Local vendor know exatcly their eatery potential which the outsider won’t and ask them to show you where regular meals or snacks are. For food truck dining, it has caught on in several U.S. and Canadian cities including Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, Vancouver, Washington, D.C., New York, Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Calgary, Portland and Tampa.
5) Travel Destination
*Plan your rute effectively and efficiently
Use travel application, for instance: Google Map and Stay.com’s City Guides to help you plan the route and pace of your travel cleverly in your travel destination. Blind travel sometimes cost you much more than it should.
*Be your own tour guide
Make your own tourism guide book based on your reasearch to gain a really good arrangement of your holiday. Many travel sites such as tripadvisor.com, viator.com, wikitravel.com, lonelyplanet.com, and many many more will really important to set your decision on what you want to eat, see, and do during your travel.
*Priority set the goal clearly
Choose and list the tourism spot that you want to explore and make priorities. This will help make your trip more enjoyable.
*If it possible, avoid tourism pakcage
Tourism pakcage is usually more tiring than it is exciting, also it dreads you with limit in exploring the destination since you come in groups. By planning your own travel, you can tolerate your own error and gain more satisfaction rather than go with somebody else’s plan.
6) Shopping
*Talking about souvenirs and knick-knack…
It doesn’t really have to be expensive ones, you just have to pick something memorable,unique and very local-tasted, such as postcards, T-shirts, traditional snacks, or a simple key chain. Be creative!
*Haggle!
Haggling is a fun way to buy something! Sometimes the local would appreciate you more if you’re trying to haggle the price, especially using their native language. And in that case, they would lower the price happily 🙂
*Explore the deep inside of traditional market
The things they sell nearby the entrance is practically the most expensive of them all. Visit the inside section of the market for the less expensive ones.
6) More tips!
*Avoid exchange in airports and famous tourism spot!
The airports usually give you the lowest cost there is, you better find banks or money changer in town.
*Be thrifty, but don’t starve!
It’s good to save some money, but your travel worth nothing if you limit everything to the bone. Remember, the concept of travelling is to “buy experience”, meaning it’s okay to pay something worth much if it’s for something you would remember for the rest of your life. Enjoy your travel!
Leave a Reply