Four years on the road continuously travelling, where has the time gone! 29 countries at our latest count and thousands of miles travelled. We are travelling on less now than we first started out. Quite a lot less actually, our first year budget was USD $130 per day and now we are at USD $70 per day for the 2 of us.
Our USD$ 70 includes all our flights and ground transport, travel insurance, accommodation, meals and incidentals.
We are travelling smarter, slower and having lots of fun adventures.
This is how we do it.
Tip #1 – Set a Budget and Stick To It
Start with you home budget costs. Get into the detail; fixed costs, groceries and discretionary spend. Track your costs daily by each spend and work out what you can do without. By being prudent before you spend will allow you to build up a travel $$ buffer. We track our expenditure in an Excel spread sheet and we use from (fellow travel bloggers, Never Ending Voyage) a travel budget app called Trail Wallet. This helps keep us on track. Just a quick look can tell us how our budget is going for the day. We can also track what our biggest spend is and in which country, when to pull our heads in and when we can splurge on a top class restaurant.
Be prepared for a budget blow out on travel days.
Tip #2 Travel Slowly
That first year we were on the move every 4 nights, 16 long-haul flights covering Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America, Europe and Asia, not only was it exhausting but it was costly. These days we spend more time in each destination, exploring and getting to know the place and the locals. It is much more rewarding experience for us.
Tip #3 Travel to Low Cost Countries
Our best memories are from travelling through low cost countries such as Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Turkey, Belize, Spain and Portugal. We get more for our travel dollar, which we can offset against a high cost country or transport and accommodation. Look at your bucket list and prioritise by the cost of the destination and transport costs to get there. The further away you travel initially from your start destination, the higher the cost will be, however if you stay longer in that area and move in shorter distances your daily costs will settle down.
Tip #4 Travel Out of High Season
For example Europe is expensive in the Northern
Hemisphere summer and also very busy. Time your travels to coincide with their shoulder seasons usually Spring and Autumn or low season in Winter. You will still get the same enjoyment, at a more cost effective price and less crowds.
Tip #5 Airfares
We have become a lot smarter when purchasing airfares. There are great sites out there for searching the best airfares e.g. Skyscanner, Google flights, Kayak etc. In most cases one-way airfares are more cost effective for us as we have time on our side. If there is a flight that you are considering and it involves 2 or more carriers with stopovers along the way, compare that fare to each individual leg with the same carrier listed or another, most cases you will come up with a cheaper fare. Word of warning here make sure you allow enough time in between flights in case of delays.
Budget carriers can reduce your airfare expenditure, but you need to play their game. It may be a great fare but by the time you add on luggage costs, seat costs and any other extras they may charge you for it may be better paying for a full fare. Read the fine print carefully and abide by their rules in your initial online booking. Airlines are always changing their regulations.
Using frequent flyer points is a great way to reduce your travel costs. Before you commit to using your points look at an alternative airport, the taxes can be a lot lower or use a partner carrier utilising less of your points.
#6 Bus Travel
We have found bus travel is an affordable way to travel internally around countries. These days most of the bus companies have Wi-Fi and toilets and are more luxurious than ever as competition is fierce.
In Spain we save money by booking non-refundable tickets in advance with ALSA, the Spanish Bus Company.
Flix Bus in France also has cheaper options the further you book ahead.
ADO Buses in Mexico have different classes of buses, make sure you are aware of which class you are on, it can be confusing. We got caught out taking the cheaper option on an 8 hour journey with hard uncomfortable seats and no toilets on board, and stops in every town along the way.
#7 Rail Travel
In Italy we saved Euros on booking regional train tickets on slower trains.
You do have to remember to validate your ticket on the day of travel otherwise the fine could be higher than the savings made (speaking from a lesson well learned!)
Always compare the cost of Eurail passes to individual tickets, the pass may not always save you money. Also check whether purchasing your ticket in advance will save you money.
#8 Car Rental
It is worth spending time researching your car rental. In the last year we have saved money by booking car rental in a different currency, paying in advance and going ‘incognito’ or clearing your browsing history when you are making that final booking.
#9 Repositioning Cruises
A reposition cruise from Spain to Panama cost us less than a one-way airfare. We enjoyed 15 nights of sun, fun and lots of food and drink and arrived at our destination without any signs of jetlag but weighing a little heavier.
Tip #10 Accommodation
Airbnb has certainly ruffled up feathers in the accommodation sector. Hotels are feeling the pressure and their prices are becoming more competitive. Airbnb has many properties available, but prices are rising, watch out for the cleaning fees they can be a bit on the steep side.
There are hotel sites like Booking.com where as a regular user you can become a Genius booker and receive a further 10% off selected properties. Hotels.com has a programme that after 10 nights stay your next one is free.
Using one chain of hotels for all your bookings and belonging to their Frequent Stay programs can give you accommodation discounts plus specials and other benefits such as upgrades etc.
Recently we have been accessing better rates by paying in full our accommodation through sites such as Booking.com in the initial booking process, knowing that we will lose 100% if we cancel. If we know that we have to be in a place at a certain time it is well worth the savings.
Another tip is to look for last minute deals, a recent example for us is Dubai. In this instance if you leave your booking to the day before the savings are substantial. There are so many hotels to choose from, we have seen savings of up to 75% off luxury hotels by booking the day before.
At times we stay in hostels, not in dorms, but in double rooms with private bathrooms. Not only do we get lower accommodation rates, we enjoy the camaraderie that a hostel gives rather than a hotel. We enjoy listening to other traveller’s experiences at the same time gathering the latest travel information.
#11 Shop Locally
We are all for supporting the local community when we travel and we head for the green markets as soon as we can. Not only do we reduce our food costs but we have a local experience. Try not to buy souvenirs, they are a problem to carry around and costly to send back. Try to keep your memories and experiences in your heart and your mind.
#12 Travel Currency Cards
Our favorite travel card is one where you can earn frequent flyer points on your spend – Qantas Cash. Although we have a few back up credit cards that earn us points as well, this is our main card we use. It is easy to load the card up with which ever currency you want, it is set at the rate of the day but in some countries you will still have to pay an ATM fee. America has the Charles Schwab card, which refunds all ATM fees, but it is only available for Americans.
#13 Medical Tourism
Dental work overseas in countries like Thailand and Mexico are becoming popular. You can have your teeth cleaned, fillings, implants etc. for little more than the cost of your holiday. A recent example was in Madeira Portugal when a visit to the local dentist to extract a tooth cost 50 Euros, it would have been at least double that back home in Australia.
For non-urgent medical treatments it may be worth researching low cost countries for cost comparisons.
#14 Hair Cuts
Hair cuts for men are certainly cheaper in Central America and Asia than Australia and Europe.
Women’s hair cuts and treatments can vary from place to place but on average I am saving up to 50% on what I would have paid in Australia and so far only 1 disaster, which a close friend rectified for me very quickly. I can only put it down to ‘lost in translation’.
#15 Vacation Travel Packages
There are many companies offering travel packages especially last minute ones. Holiday Pirates offer packages from the UK and Spain, Travelzoo and others. More often you will find that a flight, accommodation and sometimes even car hire can be just a little more expensive than a return airfare. It is worth subscribing to their newsletters.
#16 House Sitting
House sitting definitely reduces our accommodation costs. On average, we house sit between 5 and 6 months of every year where our daily costs can drop down to anywhere between AUD $20 – AUD$ 50 a day.
House sitting has taken us to so many places that we never have thought of travelling too such as Ometepe Island in Nicaragua, San Miguel de Allende and Tepoztlan in Mexico, Bedar in Spain, Canoa in Ecuador, Boquete in Panama just to name a few. We house sit between 3 weeks and 3 months and really get to live like a local. We use the time between house sits to holiday creating content for our travel blog www.totraveltoo.com.
Have you got any tips?