The sudden outbreak of the novel Coronavirus has brought in a drastic change into the whole world.
As a result, the travel industry is one of many financial sectors that have had a revolutionary impact due to this pandemic. All the people who intended to travel this year have paused or canceled their traveling schedules.
Hopefully, despite this tragedy that has engulfed the whole globe, traveling will eventually resume, and the world will reopen to everybody. The most enthusiastic traveler will always start traveling as soon as this crisis ends.
However, the aftermath of traveling experience might look and feel different once the world begins to function back. In the future, it will likely change the way we used to go. In a nutshell, the upcoming days will be a period when budget traveling comes into play. Therefore, how can we make our travel budget-friendly? Well, here are some ways that you can follow.
Finding Cheap/Discounted Flight Tickets
The airfare will be the most expensive part of the trip if you are planning to travel to a foreign destination. However, the airfare would never be an issue if you know where to look and what to do.
Usually, airlines have hundreds of fantastic deals. They provide travelers with discounted rates when they conduct special promotions or when they happen to compete with another airline. Thus, you can gain the maximum advantage of these deals if you consider the following guidelines.
- Be flexible with travel dates. Because the airfares vary depending on the day of the week and time of the year.
- Be flexible with your destinations because the airlines provide a deal at least to one travel destination.
- Booking a few weeks earlier will help you find discounted air ticket rates.
- Travel in budget airlines, if possible.
- Try not to take direct flights to your destinations.
Finding Cheap/Discounted Accommodation
Finding a comfortable place for accommodation is one of the highest fixed costs the travelers usually have. Thus, reducing the cost of accommodation will help you save some money on the go.
Hotels also provide amazing deals and discounted prices. A thorough search via the internet will expose you to many sales. The following are some tips to lessen your expenses for accommodation.
- Be flexible with the place you are hoping to spend the night because deals and discounted prices will not always be provided to you by the hotel of your first preference.
- Limit your needs for accommodation to bed and breakfast.
- If possible, stay with a local or somebody you know because you will be able to get cheap or free accommodation.
- A completely off the beaten track solution is to stay in a monastery. These will have limited facilities containing not more than a bed or a washroom.
Being Flexible with Foods and Drinks
One expense that you can control is the money spent on foods and drinks. But, most of the time, we make the mistake of spending more money on meals. What are the best ways to save money on foods and drinks? Here are some tips.
- Try to look for the best places to find a cheap meal to satisfy your hunger. You can always ask a local for those types of information.
- Try to save money on foods by using grocery stores. Here, you can take advantage of buying pre-made and easy-to-prepare meals or healthy snacks like fruits.
- You can always try street food or roadside grills, which provide you with meals adequate for your budget.
- Notably, if you can stick to two main meals per day, you can lower your travel expenses.
Saving Money on Transport
An additional expense that the travelers have to make is on transport. Travelers mostly overlook transportation expenses when planning the budget.
Although renting cars and hiring taxis provides you with comfortable transportation, they cost more. However, you have the possibility of saving some money in this area too. The best solution is to use public transportation whenever possible. That means you are always open to using public buses or trains to travel. Besides, you can also try the following ways to make your travel budget-friendly.
- Walking is always an option that is convenient to travel short distances. All you need is an up-to-date map and some knowledge of an international language.
- Use public transportation to travel overnight. You may not get the best sleep during your journey, but it will save the day’s accommodation.
Earning while Traveling
One of the best ways to avoid going bankrupt while traveling is to keep on earning money on the go. It is always a smart idea for travelers to rely on more than one source of income. Thus, the money will come from multiple sources, and it will help you to maintain your lifestyle as a budget-traveler. What can you do to earn while traveling?
- Click original and unique photos and videos and sell them to stock images websites.
- Create a blog or a vlog about traveling and update it on the go.
- Be a salesperson and sell authentic or foreign products around the places you travel to.
- Learn some information about the places you visit and be a tour guide.
Benefits of Budget Traveling
The availability of budget traveling provides an opportunity for everybody to travel to their desired destinations. Notably, budget traveling can be a strategy for all travelers to follow forever. The following will provide you with an insight into why budget traveling is beneficial for a traveler.
- Budget traveling is useful in conveniently managing expenses.
- A traveler can spend the saved money to make the same trip more adventurous.
- The saved money can be spent to travel to another destination.
- Budget traveling will keep you traveling for a long period because as the amount of money stretches, the trip stretches with it.
- It will motivate you to spend money on new things and on what you really need.
- Most importantly, you will not go bankrupt after a single journey.
By: Dulakshi Kuruppu