How to Travel Without Breaking the Bank.
So like me, you’ve been bitten by the travel bug, and keep staring at your bank balance and wondering if you can afford to jet off for a while and travel the world. Or maybe you’re already halfway across the globe and worrying that you might run out of money before getting home again. Here are some tips to help you travel the world without breaking the bank — because we’re all more than ready to get out there again.
Stay somewhere with a kitchen
In movies, travel often looks like a group of perfectly coiffed ladies jetting off to a luxurious hotel resort with waiters rushing to serve them drinks at the poolside. In real life though and with most of our budgets, travelling is a lot messier and less swanky than that. Food can easily be one of the biggest expenses while globetrotting, especially for long trips, so try to book your accommodation in places where you will have use of a kitchen. This doesn’t have to be an expensive Airbnb: youth hostels often have shared kitchens and, despite their name, they’re not reserved for young people only! If you can’t find anywhere to stay that has a kitchen, opt to eat where the locals eat and choose restaurants in side streets rather than on busy main streets to save some money.
Watch your credit card debt
Getting a credit card might seem like a tempting way to get enough money together to go travelling, and for a lot of people, it will be the only way to afford large payments such as for international plane tickets. However, you need to make sure that you understand how things like principal and interest work on your credit card, or you’ll be sure to find yourself in big trouble down the line. Don’t get into a habit of maxing out one credit card and signing up for a second one in order to pay for the first — it never ends well. It’s only your money once you’ve paid it all back, and you don’t want to be getting yourself into debt to go travelling, tempting as it might be.
Work while you travel
With more and more locations — even relatively remote ones — getting reliable internet connections, it has become a lot easier to work while you travel. I always do, even if it’s just for a couple of hours a day. The COVID-19 pandemic has also helped by forcing most office-based companies to open up to remote working. If you can’t continue in your current job while travelling, there are plenty of remote jobs you can do from anywhere, such as admin work, customer care, freelance writing, or transcription. Just do your research to make sure you’re not falling prey to a job scam.
A globetrotter or traveller is not a tourist
This one might sound strange, but a lot of people equate travelling with spending long hours in queues to visit famous monuments or museums. While art and culture are certainly an important part of experiencing a new place, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that unless you spend the best part of thirty pounds to visit the Tower of London you’ve not been to London at all. The real-life of a place happens on the streets, so limit yourself to free museums and outdoor monuments and spend the rest of your time exploring — ideal on foot or self-drive.
Originally published at https://theincidentaltourist.com on January 4, 2022.
