If I Can Travel On A Budget With No Self-Control, You Can Too
You can travel anywhere you want to, if you follow a simple budget plan.
Often times I have people swiping up on my snapchat stories with the same question, "how can you afford to travel so much?" Well, young grasshoppers, if you follow my simple tips, you too, can travel abroad for ~cheap.~
First things first, when you figure out which country, or even the city you want to visit, immediately look at flights and start price watching. Sign up for emails for when prices begin to drop. This is an easy way to (most of the time) get the best flight. But, there a few things to take into consideration when booking cheap flights. Make sure that you read their terms and guidelines as well as their baggage requirements and check-in policy. For example, Ryanair is a cheap airline in Europe. But the reason they are so cheap is because they typically depart from further, more suburban airports like Stansted in London rather than Heathrow - which is a $200 Uber ride from inside of London. Another thing is that Ryanair charges you $55 to check-in to your flight if you don't do it ahead of time online. Finally, Ryanair's baggage policy is one bag (backpack) per person, no exceptions. So the main thing to keep in mind when looking at cheap flights is to see which airport to fly into and out of.
I booked a cheap flight to Seville, Spain from Barcelona only to arrive and realize the airport I flew into was two hours from the town of Sevilla and there was no public transportation in sight. Another thing to keep in mind is that uber isn't available in all countries, so I ended up taking a cab from the airport to my hostel (over an hour and a half away) which cost me 180 Euro.
The next thing to keep in mind when traveling is your accommodation for your trip. If you're a college student like me, you can't afford to stay in a hotel near the beach in Barcelona, or even an air bnb for that matter. However, I am here to save the day. Hostels are weird places to stay, but if you're trying to stick to a budget, you won't mind too much. Hostels will become one of your new best friends while traveling abroad because most beds go for $9-20/night which is super cheap considering most hostels include free wifi, a kitchen for you to use, cheap or free breakfast, and even laundry services at some facilities. Hostels are basically dorms where up to twelve people room for anywhere up to a month. It's a great place to meet other travelers, especially if you're a solo traveler such as myself.
In addition to transportation and accommodations, the other thing that you need when you travel is food. Trip advisor is a great tool to use if you have a food allergy or preference and you're looking for something to eat near you. Trip advisor offers lists of eatery places near you, prices, and sometimes menus. You also have the option to enter a food allergen on the app which is helpful when traveling with someone who has peanut allergies. If you don't want to take up space on your phone with an app, another great way to find affordable eatery is to walk around the neighborhood you're staying in. Most restaurants have menus posted outside on their doors or windows which not only give you an idea to what you could walk into, but prices are also listed.
I recently traveled around Spain and Morocco and followed a semi-strict budget and managed to spend under $500 in 12 days on accommodation, flights, public transportation, food, and other cool excursions. I did this by allowing myself to spend 'x' amount of money on food and alcohol per day, 'x' amounnt on public transportation like taxis and buses each day, etc.. If I can do this with the little self-control that I do have, trust me, you can do it too and I encourage you to.
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