Traveling On A Budget

Not all of us are privileged enough to be able to travel near or far. Traveling takes money, a lot of it actually. You can’t just expect to go from one place to another, or even better, to a festival, without spending a buck or two. And if you are traveling thousands of miles, it can easily rack up to several hundred or thousands of dollars. It is also the reason why many people haven’t been to other places aside from their hometown or the nearby state. While the concept of backpacking is quite trendy nowadays with people being able to travel on a limited budget with all their belonging inside the backpack they are carrying on their back, many nations have been raising an eyebrow on begpackers who aren’t ashamed to beg for money to fund their travels that are all over the world now.

If you want to explore the world, learn more about traveling on a budget. You don’t always have to stay in the poshest of hotels or fly first-class. Making do with your meager accommodations is one step closer to helping you afford that dream vacation and go to places you never thought you could go to before. It all starts with planning. Learn as much as you can about the place where you are going to and prepare sufficient money that will be enough to cover plane fares, food, accommodation, transportation, and some extra money for life’s little surprises.

No matter your holiday of choice, the last thing you want to do is count your pennies while you’re enjoying some well-deserved time away. On the other hand, you also don’t want to overindulge and come back home to staggering credit card bills. 

We chatted to South African travel professionals for some of their tips on how you can make the most of your budget: 

Off-Peak or High-Season? 

It seems a no-brainer. Off-peak will always be more affordable than high season travel, right? Well, not always according to Theresa Szejwallo, md The Travel Corporation.

She explains that everything depends on your chosen location. For South Africans, anytime between November and February is high season. However, when travelling to Europe, this time is considered low season and therefore more affordable and less crowded.

(Via: http://www.iol.co.za/travel/planning-a-holiday-heres-how-you-can-stick-to-the-budget-10381873)

Check out travel blogs to get travel inspiration or travel tips that only a real jet-setting traveler knows about. After all, you can’t always know everything there is to know about the world at large, so learn from other people’s experiences and plan from there. From work leave credits to your travel fund to your travel itinerary, you have to cover all bases to prevent yourself from getting overwhelmed by all the preparations especially when things don’t seem to go your way.

In-private browsing

It might not seem like much, but going incognito when you’re booking flights can save you money on your next trip.

As your history isn’t being recorded, airlines can’t keep track of your previous searches. It’s a little-known secret that some sites will use your searches to bump up the price of that Caribbean getaway you’ve been eyeing up, even if it was just idle browsing. 

Not sure how to do it?

If you’re using Google Chrome, simply open your flight browsing tab ‘incognito’;

In Firefox, use the menu button and select ‘new private window’ or ‘open link in new private window’ from the menu;

Microsoft Edge users should click the ‘more’ icon and then the new ‘InPrivate window’;

Safari users should select ‘new private window’ by right-clicking on the existing screen or by opening a window that’s already using private browsing.   

(Via: https://www.lovemoney.com/news/65534/book-holidays-cheap-online-packages-time)

You’d be able to save a lot of money by doing that simple measure. We aren’t quite sure yet about the consequences of our online activity, so better be careful and follow these tips in order to save a few bucks without compromising your comfort and security when traveling. You don’t always have the cash to burn on travels, so all these tips can help you realize your #travelgoals despite your limited budget.

Traveling need not be expensive. Prices and fees become more costly the longer you put off your planning and the closer you are to your travel date. Also, take advantage of free attractions you can visit. You can only find out which landmarks these are if you plan your trip in advance. Become a smart traveler and traveling becomes a breeze you can always indulge in from time to time.

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