Top 3 Tips for Traveling (Just About Anywhere) on a Budget

Traveling on a budget may seem like an oxymoron, but there are plenty of ways to cut costs on the road! I always try to travel as inexpensively as I can, and certainly, everyone has preferences, but I honestly don’t think I’ve suffered much from not flying first class or staying in fancy resorts all the time (or ever).

If anything, I think that traveling on a budget has enhanced my experience by making it easier to meet both locals and other travelers! It has also given me a little more insight into how people in a country actually live on a day-to-day basis.

This post lists some of my best tips for traveling on a budget.

My top tips for traveling on a budget

1) Be flexible in your plans, and use Google Flights to compare prices

If you can be flexible in where you want to travel, you can save so much on airfare! Lots of flight search engines give you the option to search for flights to a region rather than to a specific city.

For example, if you know you want to go to Europe for the summer but you’re flexible as to where you want to fly in to, you can just search for Europe as a whole and figure out where the cheapest flights are going. It might seem counterintuitive not to choose your destination first, but I’ve had a lot of unexpected and very cool experiences going places based on flight prices that I might not have thought of otherwise.

Remember that your total costs will also include accommodations, so I recommend doing a quick search on Hostelword, Booking.com, or Airbnb before you book your flight.
 
Note: I have heard that other flight search engines are better for specific regions, but I personally have had pretty good luck with Google Flights and get quickly overwhelmed trying to compare every search engine out there.

Another note: Remember that any flight to, from, or within the US can be canceled for 24 hours for free, so don’t be afraid to book if you see a good price but aren’t ready to commit yet.

2) Use public transportation

If you’re from the United States like me, you might be used to needing a car to get everywhere, so it might not be your first thought to look into local public transportation. However, many places in the world aren’t so car-centric, and public transportation is a part of everyday life.

It can be intimidating to use public transportation if there are no clear timetables online, especially if you don’t speak the local language, but I’ve found that if you show up early and ask for help, people are more than happy to point you in the right direction. Just be polite and make sure that you thank them for helping you out!

3) Pack light!

It’s easy to fall into the trap of taking everything you might ever need with you, but now that almost all luggage comes with an up-charge for many airlines – is it really worth the extra fees to take a few more changes of clothing?

Packing light also makes it so much easier to hop on public transportation instead of having to call a taxi to carry those extra suitcases. I recently spent four months in Central America with this 35L pack, and it was so, so nice to have such a manageable amount of luggage.

Of course, how much you need will vary depending on where you go – for example, you might need more clothes for colder locations – but overall, you usually tend to need less than you think you do.

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Honestly, there are so many ways to make travel more affordable, and this list could go on and on! In general, thinking about how locals do things and sticking to more of a backpacker ethos go a long way in making travel more affordable if you want to see the world but don’t have the budget for the typical “vacation” style of traveling. It’s also great to be able to support local economies rather than international hotel chains when possible!

As a final note, make sure you don’t skimp on travel insurance! It might be tempting to save a little up front, but you want to make sure that you won’t be on the hook for much more expensive bills later on if (knock on wood) something does happen. My post on How to Choose the Best Travel Insurance for Your Next Trip lists some things you should think about when choosing a travel insurance plan.

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