16 Tips to Travel on a Budget
I’ve travelled quite a bit in my twenties (I’ve been to about 15 countries, some multiple times and for months at a time) which is more than a lot of people I know, even adults older than myself. I’ve never had a cushy income that allowed me to travel easily and luxuriously, but I somehow made a lot of my dream trips happen!
I’m pretty savvy and budget conscious when it comes to travelling. Now I realize that is quite a useful skill and approach to travel because I’ve had so many amazing, life changing experiences from places I’ve been to and never let not having enough money hold me back! I’m sharing my tips and hopefully regardless of your budget, you can also make your dream trip a reality.
Accommodations
1. Hostels - I’ve stayed at hostels in a variety of places like Paris, Barcelona, Nice, Reykjavík, Venice, Florence, Rome, Bali, Playa Del Carmen. I like hostels if I want to meet people easily or want activities to do because a lot of hostels offer community events or day trips. My boyfriend and I made friends with people at a hostel we were at in Barcelona. A bunch of us would party at the hostel in the communal area in the evening, or go out for dinner as a group and one day we rented bikes and rode to the Sagrada Familia. I met a lot of cool people at a hostel I stayed at in Bali which was my frist solo trip so I’m glad I booked that because it helped me meet people easily. Also the hosts or people who work at hostels usually have recommendations of things to see and do in the area.
2. Airbnbs - if you book for a month some places give you a decent monthly discount (I stayed at an Airbnb in London, UK for a month and they gave us off 40% off!) If you are sharing a place with someone sometimes this works out cheaper than if you were to both book a bed in a hostel separately. I also will look for places not downtown as they are cheaper and the neighbourhood is usually a bit quieter. Or if you book a room at someone’s place instead of booking an entire place to yourself that is another way to save money.
3. Camping - Now I know a lot of people won’t like this option but I quite liked my couple of camping experiences! My family used to always go camping every summer when I was growing up so I’m used to it. But I volunteered at an Eco-Community in Costa Rica one winter and it was free if I decided to camp. So I spent 7 weeks sleeping in a tent in the Costa Rican forest and it was the best sleep I’ve ever had! Also a cool story to tell people about since people don’t expect that from me.
4. Pet Sitting - Probably not something most people think of but there’s a website called Trusted Housesitters and I made a profile when I was travelling Europe and secured 5 weeks of pet sitting in various countries. I stayed in Dublin & Cork Ireland, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Manchester and in exchange for looking after the pets we get to stay at the owner’s house for free. Looking after pets is pretty easy too, we were easily able to walk and feed them in the morning and evening and have the majority of our day free to explore the city.
Food
5. Free Breakfast - I’ve had hostels and hotels offer free breakfast as part of their rates. I stayed at a beautiful hotel in Bali for $27 CAD per night and they delivered me breakfast to eat on my balcony every morning! This was crazy to me because I could spend $15-$20 going out for breakfast back in Canada and this was included in the hotel rate. I’ve also volunteered at communities and they included lunch and dinner, sometimes breakfast too. Food can add up when travelling so this hack helps to save money if you are on a budget or just want to spend more going out for some meals.
6. Street Food - I have had some DELICIOUS street food and for such a cheap price! You can get 20 pesos tacos in Mexico (which is $1 USD) and there’s a restaurant I love near where I live in Playa Del Carmen and they have a whole menu and everything on it is 22 pesos each. I have found very affordable pizza, tacos, sliders, pastries and fresh fruit in Mexico sold a little stands or shops.
7. Cook at Home - When I stayed at Airbnbs I would often buy groceries and cook most meals at home. Sometimes I would use the communal kitchens at hostels to cook as well or just buy fresh fruit from the market. If where I was staying had a blender then smoothies were my go-to breakfast. Also it helped buying groceries because I could have snacks with me like granola bars, fruit, crackers etc. so I wouldn’t have to eat out as much.
Activities
8. Photography - The fact that I love photography and would bring my camera with me on all my trips I believed helped me save money because just walking around the city and exploring was an adventurous activity for me. I would research “beautiful sights to see” or “top Instagram spots” beforehand and walk around and take photos or have people I was with take photos of me. Bonus of this is you have beautiful photos to keep as memories of your trip. Also if you don’t have a DSLR camera that’s not a problem these days since iPhone cameras take really high quality photos now too.
9. Beach - So I love the beach, and the beach is always free! I loved visiting the clear turquoise ocean in Cozumel, Mexico. I found the pebble beaches in Nice, France quite interesting (they have nude beaches there too if you want to try something a bit daring). I hiked down to a secluded beach in Dubrovnik Croatia, it felt like our own private oasis. I’ve watched beautiful sunsets from the beach on the Pacific side of Costa Rica and went to a black sand beach in Santorini, Greece.
10. Cenotes - There are hundreds of Cenotes to visit in Mexico and the cost of entry is usually between $5-$20 USD. Some give you snorkel equipment too and have areas where you can jump off cliffs into the water. Cenotes are great during the summer in Mexico when the sargazo is all over the beaches and in the ocean. Cenotes are very clear, clean and absolutely beautiful!
11. Tour Bus - The only time I’ve done one of the city tours by a tour bus company was in New York and San Francisco. I personally loved it because I got to see a bunch of sights I wanted to see, learn about the history of the city from the guide on the bus and didn’t have to worry about taking cabs or public transport all day because I would hop off the bus and get on another when I was ready to continue the tour. I think it’s a convenient option if you are visiting a large city and want to see a lot of it in a short time.
Transportation
12. Airmiles - A lot of credit cards give you points or Airmiles for every dollar you spend and those points add up over time and I’ve always cashed mine in for free flights. Oddly it works out to be a better deal if I use my points to book a 1 way flight versus a round trip (for example a one way flight would be 20,000 points and a roundtrip would be 40,000 points plus a $400 fee). So over the years I’ve had enough points to book a flight to New York City, Costa Rica twice and Mexico once. Probably more places I just can’t remember. About once a year I have enough points to buy a one way flight (depending how far away the place is).
13. Bus - Sometimes to save money I’ve booked a bus overnight to get to my destination. I did this from Florence to Rome, I’ve taken a bus from Toronto to New York City, Cancun to Tulum, Toronto to Atlanta. It’s not always ideal and not very comfortable but if it’s significantly cheaper than a flight and the bus isn’t too long I’ve done it. I was recently researching to plan a trip to Central America and since a lot of the countries are close together a bus from one to another is about 6-7 hours and is only $70 approximately, so I would possibly do that too!
14. Cheap Flights - There are several airlines in Europe with very affordable flight prices ($50-$150) like Ryanair and EasyJet, as long as you don’t have to check luggage because that fee will increase your cost quite a bit. When I backpacked through Europe at 21 I hopped from country to country with just a large backpack that was small enough I didn’t have to check it. Also the flights travelling in Mexico are quite cheap! I’ve also used apps like Hopper to track when the cheapest flights are or when they go on sale, I also get Google notifications for certain flights I’m interested in.
15. Rent Bikes - I rented a bike for a month in Mexico when I stayed at an Airbnb a bit outside the downtown area. It was much cheaper than taking a cab every time I wanted to go to the beach or out for dinner. It was fun and relaxing activity too! I also stayed at an Airbnb in Tulum that had bikes we could just use and I loved it. Such a great way to get around town and there was no additional cost.
16. Public Transport - I make it a mission to l learn the trolleys, subways or bus routes when I’m in a big city. It’s a fun challenge! I’ve taken the subway in New York City, London UK, Barcelona Spain, Paris France, Montreal, Toronto, the trolley is San Francisco and more. Some places have a week or month pass depending how long you stay which ends up being cheaper if you know you are going to use public transit daily. It’s the perk of staying in a big city because smaller places usually don’t have great public transportation so you have to cab or rent a car.
I hope these tips help you plan your next trip and save some money too! Travelling is such an enriching life experience, even on a budget you can still see amazing locations and make wonderful memories.