Chapter 1

Wanting to Travel at Any Cost

IN THIS CHAPTER

Figuring out where you want to go

Narrowing down your to-do list

Living large on a small budget

Adventure — that’s what travel means to me. Whether it’s exploring the streets of Vienna, floating in the clear blue waters of Fiji, or hiking through a rainforest, it’s all an adventure. Travel can be a weekend away upstate, or a multi-month journey around the world. Big budget or small, long or short, travel can make you feel alive, rejuvenate your psyche, and give you memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime.

The trick, of course, is being able to afford it. Don’t worry, though. I’m here to help you become an avid traveler whatever your budget.

Be sure to check out www.dummies.com/go/budgettravelfd to find any web addresses mentioned in the chapter as well as links to other fun and useful sites.

Ditching the Notion That Travel Has to Be Expensive

You don’t need to be rich to travel. I mean, sure, it’d be great to hop on your private jet, get whisked away to your private island, and enjoy a feast prepared by your private chef. If you’ve got a line on how to do that, I’m all ears. But I’m not waiting around to hit that lottery. I’ve traveled for months at a time on a limited budget. How limited? Less than many people spend on rent, even to gorgeous locations like the one in Figure 1-1.

The fact is, the way most people travel is significantly more expensive than it needs to be. I’ve heard people who were convinced that a trip to Europe can’t cost less than $4,000 plus airfare. I’ve heard people dismiss entire countries because they think it will cost too much. Most upsetting, I’ve heard from far too many people who think that all travel is “too expensive,” despite having an income higher than mine.

This is one of the few times in this book I’m going to be judgmental: Most people are wrong about travel. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It can be affordable enough that most people, with a little planning and savings, can travel anywhere. While I don’t have just one secret that allows this (that would be a pretty short book!), there are a variety of simple adjustments and “best practices” in this book that can greatly reduce the cost of every aspect of your adventure.

My goal is to show you not only how you can afford your next trip, but also how to use the skills you’ll learn to have one after that, and one after that, and fully embrace the goal of adventure. Because no matter where you want to go, the way to get there is budget travel (hey — that’s the title of the book!).

Deciding Where to Go

By far the best way to be able to afford travel is picking your destination carefully. This, above all other tips and tricks, will save you the most money. Or to put it another way, your money goes a lot farther in some places than in others. Don’t get me wrong, if you’ve got your heart set on seeing the lights of Paris or the sun setting over Serengeti, there are ways to make that affordable, too.

If you just want to get out there, to go somewhere you can’t read the signs and no one knows your name, you can find a variety of options similar to the popular places where you can enjoy a comparable experience at a fraction of the cost.

For example, Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. If you’re looking for the hustle and bustle of a huge city, along with some amazing varieties of food, Taipei is significantly more affordable. London is another hugely expensive city, but if you’re looking for history and atmosphere, Lisbon has that Old World feel and is easier on the budget.

Not every place has a less-expensive option. If you have your heart set on Paris, France, then Paris, Texas, is not going to work. The Luxor in Las Vegas is not the same as Luxor, Egypt. It’s a big world out there, though, and there are adventures to be had all over. If your budget is limited now, you can get out there, explore, and make some memories right away without having to save up for three years for just one short trip.

With any luck, you’ll have more money in the future to venture into more expensive places. Or even better, you’ll discover from this book and your initial budget travels how to become such a clever and frugal traveler that you can spend days and weeks in even these expensive places, with a budget that seems impossibly low right now.

For now, if you’re not set on a location, several flight booking sites (more on these in Chapter 4) can show you what the cheapest flights are from your closest airport. The best deals might be a less-visited and less-expensive location.

If you’re not sure where to go, the following sections should help you narrow down the best destination for your next adventure.

What kind of experience are you looking for?

Some types of travel are more affordable than others. If it’s your dream to spend weeks on safari in southern Africa, that’s going to be difficult to do on the cheap. If you want to try every restaurant and café along the river Seine, you’re going to need deep pockets.

What is it about the location that appeals to you? If there’s some personal reason, that’s great. But if it’s just “I want to see X,” it’s worth asking yourself what it is about that specific location that’s drawing you there. If it’s to see something unique about that location, the Eiffel Tower or Iguaçu Falls, go for it. If it’s just to be on a beach, to climb a mountain, or explore an unfamiliar city, there are lots of inexpensive and still incredible options.

Of course, you don’t have to have a reason. I’m absolutely not trying to talk you out of seeing what you want to see. I’ve certainly done plenty of “touristy” trips myself (see Figure 1-2 for just one example), and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Even if it’s just “I want to take a picture on the Great Wall of China,” don’t let anyone talk you out of it. I’ve certainly gone on trips for worse reasons. I once took a series of trains from northern England to Spain because I thought it’d be funny and make a good story. It was, it did, and I won’t do it again.

If your budget is extremely limited, though, and you just need to get out and see the world, figuring out what you want from travel is the first step in figuring out what locations can satisfy that desire, and more importantly, which of those are affordable.

Ideas for first-time travelers

It’s a big world out there. That’s exciting, but also daunting. If you’re new to travel, the whole idea can be intimidating. It’s awesome if you have an endless list of places you want to see and things you want to do, but don’t feel the need to tackle all of it at once. The idea of budget travel is not to be cheap but choosy so that you can make travel sustainable on your budget. Rather than breaking the bank for a singular “trip of a lifetime,” the goal is to take as many trips as often as possible throughout your lifetime, creating countless memories over many years.

Hopefully, you can narrow down your dream travel list to what you want to see the most. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty about what’s on this short list. If you want to take a selfie in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa or eat sushi at a fish market in Japan, you do you. It’s all an adventure and as long as you treat the locals with respect and you have fun, who cares what your former roommate’s brother’s partner’s jealous cousin has to say about it.

Throughout this book I give you tips that should help you wherever you want to go, but I want to give you this piece of advice now, before you get your heart set on any one place: start slow. If this is your first trip of hopefully many, stick to one place, and ideally, a place that’s not overly challenging to visit.

I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yums, but for novice travelers I generally recommend places that are well-known tourist destinations. This partially goes against my advice of going where the tourists aren’t, but there’s a line to be walked for sure between affordability and accessibility. Perhaps the cheapest destination isn’t as easy to navigate as a slightly more expensive option. On the other hand, the easiest destination could be the most expensive for getting around, while one a bit cheaper could prove nearly as easy.

What do I mean by “easy”? Tourist-friendly destinations will have the infrastructure to help you out if something goes wrong, many people will speak English, and it will be fairly simple to get around. Cities might be entirely walkable or have an extensive metro system. Grocery stores...