How to travel more & not go broke!
Photo by Spencer Davis on Pexels.comWe all know the feeling of seeing people traveling all the time, even though they have a daytime job just like you, and you wonder how they do that. We all wish to know how they find both the time and the money for that.
The good news is that you don't need to be rich and you don't need 100 days of vacation from your job! It is perfectly possible to travel a lot with the vacation time you already have, you just need a bit of planning, flexibility, and adaptation.
In this post, I will show you 8 tips on how to travel more often without breaking the bank!
Some of these tips may not apply to you because of your location or your work conditions but I hope that at least some of them are helpful to you.
1. Use your weekends
There are endless possibilities in this one! If you think about it, you can see a lot in two days if you plan it well so why not use your weekends? You can travel and you don't need to take time off from work.
Of course, this is not the perfect way of traveling because you'll have to see a lot in a small period of time and, in some cases and depending on the type of traveler you are, you might not be able to see the whole city. However, you can choose some smaller cities to check on these weekend getaways and leave the bigger ones for longer vacation time.
In terms of money, if you keep an eye out for deals, you can find cheap flights and cheap accommodation in hostels and guest houses, which will help you save on your weekend trip. For people in more isolated places, like Australia, this might not be a good option as they are at a longer distance from other countries and would have to pay more for plane tickets...but I hope I can help you can find something more helpful ahead!
2. Use the holidays
This one is kind of related to the previous one but, this way, you may be able to extend your weekend a little bit. Basically, if there's a holiday next to a weekend (Friday or Monday), you can just do what I just told you about in the first tip but you will have an extra day without having to take time from work.
Another thing I like to do (and do all the time) is to connect holidays in the middle of the week with the weekend. Imagine that you have a holiday on Tuesday. You can take Monday as a vacation day and you can travel for 4 days with only one day off work.
You can combine these days however you want but never forget to check the holidays in your country every time you're planning your vacation time. You may even have a holiday on Friday and another on Monday and you get 4 days to travel without having to use any of your paid vacation time.
3. Constantly check the flights and accommodation websites
This one is kind of straight forward but sometimes people forget how important it is to be attentive to these websites. Sometimes, you find a flight that was expensive yesterday but is a lot cheaper today. The same goes for the accommodation sites.
As an example, earlier this year, I was checking flights for Madrid and I found a cheap flight but I didn't buy it right away...the day after, it was more expensive and I ended up not going to Madrid and going to Salamanca instead. My trip to Salamanca was awesome but still, I lost a good flight to Madrid.
So, besides being constantly on top of the prices available for you, you also shouldn't wait long to buy them if you are really planning on doing that trip. Prices can go up!!
4. Be flexible
Being flexible is very important. Even if you are traveling on weekends, try to be flexible with the weekend you choose because sometimes a week earlier or later can make a huge difference in the price you'll pay for the tickets.
One thing I do all the time is going to Skyscanner, choosing travel to anywhere at any time and then I check the prices of various destinations and dates. Or, when I want a specific destination, I choose to see the flights for the whole month and, that way, I can see which weekend is cheaper (and which destination is cheaper, in the first option).
Flexibility with the destination can sometimes get you to know hidden gems. Places you don't hear about often but that are breathtaking. You'd be surprised with the amount of beautiful places people don't talk about...plus you would probably have a lot fewer tourists flooding the place you're visiting!
5. Plan and budget
Photo by Thijs van der Weide on Pexels.comPlanning and budgeting are both essential for two main reasons: allow you to see the most in the smallest amount of time and help you control how much you spend so you can avoid spending too much.
I always plan my short trips carefully in order to see the most in the places I visit. I am not a maniac of planning but I like to know the places I can't really miss, their schedules and prices, and also which content I want to create in each spot as well.
Budgeting is also very important! Define how much you want to spend and check if it is a realistic amount while doing your research for the planning part. Have this in mind when buying the tickets, booking accommodation, buying souvenirs, deciding which places you want to visit and pay for the entrance, and even deciding how you want to eat. You may be going to restaurants, eating street food, or buying groceries and cooking yourself (in this case you'll need accommodation with a kitchen or kitchenette).
Never forget to adapt to the place you are visiting! Sometimes, groceries can end up being more expensive than eating out (doesn't happen very often but it happens).
6. Validate airports and other transportation you may need
In terms of transportation, there are two main things you have to think about: how you will get to the place you are visiting and how you will move while you're there.
Sometimes, the cheapest option you'll find is going from your country to a big airport and going to the final destination from there. As an example, I am from Porto (Portugal) and imagine I want to go to another country on the other side of Europe. It may be more expensive to go directly from Porto to that country when compared with going from Porto to Madrid and from Madrid to that country. If you have the time, make sure you check this option.
Besides that, you can always check other forms of transportation you may have available instead of a plane: you can go by car if it's not far, by bus or train. Don't forget to check these as well.
Now, to move around the city. Before leaving to your destination, make sure to check if you can move around just by walking, if you should rent a car, or if public transportation is your best option. If the latter is the chosen one, remember that some cities have great combination cards that may help save a few bucks on that. I'll give you an example from a few years ago. I went to Barcelona and we bought a 3-day ticket that worked in almost every public transport. There were more options available depending on your demands but I think that was a good thing to buy.
7. Check possible extra expenses
Sometimes you buy a cheap plane ticket and you think you won't spend a lot but, when you start seeing all the "extra" things you may need, you'll see that they might add up to the point where it breaks your budget.
An example, sometimes a city (Paris, for example) has various surrounding airports and we tend to see which one has the cheapest flights and we choose that. However, it may probably be the farther airport and, if you see how it will cost to go from that airport to the city, maybe it will end up being more expensive than buying the ticket to an airport closer to the city. So, tip number one: always check how you'll go from the airport to the city you're visiting before choosing the airport.
Another thing you should keep an eye on is the bag you can take with you on the plane. Sometimes we buy the cheapest ticket from a low-cost company and then we realize that we can only take the smallest backpack with us. If you do this, make sure that that backpack is enough for you. Otherwise, you might have to buy extra luggage and you'll end up paying more than what you'd pay for another ticket that was initially more expensive but had more luggage included.
8. Travel light
Photo by Alessio Cesario on Pexels.comLast but not least, I always heard this saying: "He who must travel happily must travel light" (Antoine de Saint-Exupery). This is true for two reasons:
you will probably walk a lot and heavy luggage is not your friend on that;
you may save on your plane ticket because the low-cost ticket with only a small backpack will be enough for you
So plan your trip very well and try to pack as little as possible. In my case, this is a hard task because of my photography gear but I always try to compensate by not taking much clothing and shoes. You can survive with a single pair of shoes for a couple of days and you can also plan your outfits in a way that you can be stylish, comfortable, and still, pack light. Trust me on that.
Final thoughts
There you have it for my 8 tips on how to travel more without breaking the bank! Another extra tip for you: in most cases, saving money to travel is easier than you think. You just have to be willing to maybe cut some things you don't need here and there. If you adapt your life in order to put aside 50$ every month, you end up with 600$ by the end of the year...there are plane tickets that cost less than 20$. Keep that in your mind!
I really hope this was helpful and that these tips will make it easier for you to travel more without overspending your money or your paid vacation days at work!
Make sure you check my other posts on the trips I did here and let me know in the comments if you found this helpful and if you have any extra tips to share ;)
XOXO,
Bárbara
