It is often mistaken that traveling is only for people who are blessed with an abundance of money. Partially, that is true since you cannot travel without the means of money.
However, you don’t need to be a rich kid to travel around the world, a couple of hundred bucks will do, and that could be more than enough to experience a real adventure. Take a moment to read guidelines on the cheapest way to travel.
Choose Your Destination
When planning for a trip, a traveler usually starts it by knowing where to go. If you are stuck with a specific budget, make a list of your dream destinations that are near you, have amazing tourist spots and make sure they are budget-friendly ones.
Affordable countries with world-class attractions are known to be located mostly in Asia like Korea, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Some are also from Colombia, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Mexico.
Go For a Budget Airline
There are hundreds of commercial airlines who can take you to any destination you want to visit. You can either choose well-known airlines like Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and ANA; or you can go for budget airlines like Jet Blue, Easy Jet, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Virgin America, Jetstar Airways and Air Asia.
These budget airlines can give you a price rate that is within your scope; however, it would be much wiser if you do a bit of research for these airlines before booking a ticket. Getting a cheaper rate is good but make sure that you are comfortable and safe during the entire flight.
Travel Credit Cards
Travel credit cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve, Wells Fargo Propel American Express, American Express Gold and Platinum cards, United Explorer Card which will allow their customers to earn points and miles from sign up bonuses and expenses they made from shopping or previous trips.
The points and miles accumulated can be exchanged for free flights or even a huge discount for an airline ticket or even hotel accommodations. It would be best to sign up for one as early as today.
Great Timing Is The Key
Airline ticket rates usually boost up during the peak season of the country you wish to visit. Finding a cheaper rate is all about perfect timing. If your target schedule falls to your destination’s peak season, then you need to book your ticket at least 6 months before.
Or, search for your destination’s low peak season and schedule your flight base on that and you will surely find a great deal. Usually, peak season is around June to August through October. Weigh in your options well.
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Pack Lightly
We all know that airlines have specific baggage allowances included on your ticket price and if you go over, you will have to pay for an extra fee. To avoid incurring additional fees, make sure to smartly use a small bag as much as possible and bring only a few things.
You should bring 2-3 pairs of clothing, toiletries, shoes or flip-flops, and a camera if you want to take pictures or simply use your phone. Scale them before going straight to the airport. Traveling with just a backpack is even a great idea!
Cruising Is Not Bad
To travel is not only through flying in the sky, but you can also try sailing and enjoy the fresh ocean breeze with serenity. You can spend under $800 for a week-long cruising adventure, and everything is paid for like your accommodation, food, and entertainment.
This kind of travel will actually give you significant savings, and you can visit a lot of islands or countries, depending on the kind of cruise you will sign up for.
Train Passes
Purchasing train passes could give you more savings than getting a cozy ride from a taxi or a bus. Most subways around the world are offering train passes especially for tourists to give them easy access to different cities within a specific travel duration and help them save time from buying regular tickets.
Strolling On Foot
The cheapest way you could ever travel during your trip is strolling on foot. Walking is free, and there are some of the benefits you can gain from it aside from saving money like burning calories and more chances to explore every nook of the city where it is difficult for a bus or a taxi to enter.
Cheap Accommodation
Ditch the enthralling comfort from a luxurious hotel or a regular hostel. Travelers on a budget prefer to stay in a dormitory type accommodation in which they only need to pay for a single bed. Most dormitories are offering free breakfast, although it may not be a world-class cuisine but it is enough to fill you up. They also have lockers where you can safely place your valuables.
Work Part-Time
If you are planning to stay or extending your vacation in the city for a couple weeks or months, you might as well find a job to support your daily expenses. Some countries allow tourists to work part-time whether in food chain companies, housekeeping or English teaching jobs for Japan, Korea, Thailand, and China.
Travel With Friends
If you travel with some friends, you can expect to cut your expenses for at least a quarter of your allotted budget. It could lessen almost everything like your accommodations and meal expenses. Also, having the company of your friends would make the travel more fun and exciting as well as creating memories that you all will forever cherish.
Stay With The Locals
In some other countries, they have this unique kind of hospitality service for foreigners. They offer foreigners free accommodations with the locals. Yes, you read it right. Free accommodation! You can either get a free room, a mattress or even sleep just on the couch – it doesn’t matter since you aren’t paying a single dime.
This kind of service can be found from Servas, Couchsurfing, and Global Freeloaders. Basically, their main agenda is to create goodwill and get to know each other’s cultures.
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for the Adventurous Backpacker
If you think about it more closely, there are tons of ways on how to achieve your goal to travel without making yourself broke. You only need courage and determination to make an effort in slowly reaching the things that you truly desire.
