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Secrets Of Cheap Travel
There are two ways to save money traveling. The first way is to get
the best deals on the specific things you want. There is a limitation
to this type of approach though. If , for example, you find the lowest
price on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you
will save money, but still have a very expensive vacation. Trying to
get exactly what you want, or what you think you want, will generally
be an expensive proposition, in travel and in life.
Be A Travel Opportunist
The other approach is to be a true opportunist. This will be difficult
for some of you, and entirely unacceptable to others. Nonetheless, the
travelers who get to travel the most, go to the widest variety of places,
learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists. This will be true
until you are so wealthy that you have no monetary limits.
The first time I went to Ecuador, I went there because it was cheap.
If it wasn't, I would have had a great time - somewhere else. The trip
lasted a month, and cost $1045, which included airfare and even the
$130 fee for a guide to take me to the top of glacier-covered Mount
Chimborazo.
I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami, and
back again when I returned from Ecuador. The round-trip ticket cost
$158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami was only $256, because
it was a courier flight, which meant I signed for some luggage (car
parts), and could only take carry-on luggage.
Never did I feel deprived, or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever
it was cheap and clean, doing all sorts of inexpensive, but interesting
things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also
met and fell in love with my wife Ana.
How To Become An Opportunist Traveler
Can you drink rum at a dollar per bottle, instead of your favorite
beer? Can you eat chicken instead of steak? How about visiting the free
sights first, and dancing in the street festival instead of the disco?
Being an opportunist means you'll have just as much variety, and probably
almost everything you want - eventually. You just have to stop trying
to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If the guide
that took me up Chimborazo hadn't dropped his price from $200 to $130,
I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on El Altar, another
great Andean mountain. That would have left me with enough money for
several other minor adventures.
More Secrets Of Cheap Travel
Plane Tickets: My wife and I were planning a trip to visit family in
Ecuador. The cheapest airfare from Traverse City, Michigan to Quito,
was $1720. Out of curiosity, I checked Miami to Quito, and it was only
$404. Airfare from Traverse City to Miami was $300. Book two separate
flights and save more than $2000! The discount sites aren't set up to
search in this way (yet), so you have to do this on your own. By the
way, the whole six-week trip, which we took in 2004, cost $2400, including
losing $100, and being robbed of $174.
Food: Whether traveling here or in other countries, it is usually cheaper
to buy some healthy snacks in a grocery store, rather than eat every
meal in a restaurant. When you do eat in restaurants, it can be cheaper
to to order individual items on the menu from the list of appetizers
or side dishes. You also may get more variety in that way.
Accomodations: For a long trip, you may want to rent an apartment in
an interesting city. We did this for two months in Tucson, for about
$600 less per month, compared to even the cheaper motels. Watch for
hotel coupon-books in gas stations. The coupons will often save you
$10 on a room you would have stayed in anyhow. If you have a conversion
van or RV, you can camp a couple nights a week, like we do, to save
on motels. We love the hotsprings we've stayed at, for a $3 fee to the
BLM, instead of $40 for the cheapest motel in the area.
Travel Expenses: Do more and travel less. It is often the traveling
part that costs the most, due to the cost of gas, convenient fast food,
and expensive hotels you are forced to pay for when you just can't drive
any further. So if you find a place with a reasonable motel, and a lot
to do in the area - stay for a while!
About The Author Steve Gillman first hit the road on his own when at sixteen,
and traveled alone across the United States and Mexico at 17.
Now 40, he continues to travel and backpack with his wife Ana,
whom he met in Ecuador. Many of his stories, plus tips and information
on travel and lightweight backpacking, can be found on his websites,
http://www.EverythingAboutTravel.com
and http://www.TheUltralightBackpackingSite.com.
This article was posted on March 07, 2005 |