8 Ways to Save Money Travelling
Keeping track of your money travelling isn’t always easy, but it’s a good idea to keep tabs on your spending – we’ve put together a few ideas for how to save yourself some pennies while on the road. If you’ve got a bit of money in crypto or blockchain, be sure to do some research into Blockchain Regulation to learn how your assets will be kept safe no matter where in the world you are.
1. Saving money on food
Buying food might be essential, but you can be thrifty about it. One of the joys of travelling is trying the food of the country you’re visiting, but try to limit the number of restaurants and bars you visit, and make sure to research prices before eat out. Stick to street food whenever you can, which is often much cheaper – especially off the beaten track rather than in tourist hotspots – and make sure you have at least a couple of meals a week that you cobbled together from the supermarket. Similar to how it’s always surprising to work out how much you spend a week on coffee at home, you’d be surprised how much money gets swallowed up by buying food while travelling.
2. Travel by Campervan
This is a great way to cut down your travel costs, especially in more expensive countries like Australia where distances are large and it can be expensive to get around. You combine your accomodation and transport into one comfortable, cool vehicle, and you can save serious money along the way. Campervan rental holidays are becoming more popular, especially now with the pandemic, as you can travel while minimising how much you’re exposed to other people. You don’t have to worry about checking into new accomodation every day and can social distance better. Like many things, you’ll find that the price of renting a campervan is more affordable the longer you rent it for, so play along with your rental length to get a great deal and save money on your trip. Although, it will be cheaper in the long run to just buy a camper van and have it shipped home.
3. Find free attractions
Although many famous attractions and museums have entry fees, there are always plenty of free sites to visit instead, which are often much less well-known. Just ask the staff at your hostel or hotel (or consult the internet, of course), to find these hidden gems and enjoy soaking up the culture and history without loosening your purse strings.
4. Keep water on you
Many tourist hotspots, especially in hot destinations, capitalise on travellers’ need to hydrate and charge a lot of money for bottles of water. You would be surprised how much money you can save by carrying a refillable bottle with you wherever you go. Although they might look a bit miffed about it, you’d be hard-pressed to find a place that would refuse to refill your bottle, so you’ll be drinking (water) for free all day long. Plus, a refillable bottle is much better for the environment than repeatedly buying plastic bottles.
5. Have a budget
It sounds obvious, but this really is one of the best ways to save money travelling. Everyone is familiar with that tendency to spend a little recklessly on holiday because you’re away from your normal life and having fun – but when you’re travelling long term you need to stay on top of your money. It’s easy to forget that little purchases like coffees and souvenirs add up as much as bigger costs like accommodation, and having an idea of how much you can afford to spend each day or even each week is really helpful. Remember to be flexible – don’t miss out on an awesome boat ride or climbing the Eiffel Tower because it’s a dollar over your budget – but try to stick to your limits, and your funds will stretch a lot further.
6. Make use of your phone
Almost everything you could think of is now available on your pocket-sized phone. Instead of investing in pricey travel guides, phrasebooks and maps, use your phone and save yourself the money. This will also free up a lot of space in your bag, so you can either pack more essentials or travel light.
7. Free wifi
Escape the roaming charges by hunting down free wifi. Although they sound almost quaint now, many places still have internet cafes, plus most public libraries, shopping centres and even some train stations will have wifi you can jump on the back of instead of using up your data or paying through the nose for hotel wifi. Not only is this a great money-saving tip, it can be an excellent way to get to know a town – a friend and I spent a couple of pleasant hours exploring the cobbled streets of Rouen looking for free wifi.
8. Shop around for travel insurance
If travelling is a part of your lifestyle and you don’t see this changing any time soon, you might be better off investing in an annual travel insurance policy which covers multiple trips, rather than paying upfront for coverage each time you go abroad. If this isn’t the case, you should still invest a little time in making sure you find the best value for money travel insurance you can to cover your trip – however, don’t fall into the trap of skimping on the quality of the insurance because this could end up costing you down the line.
Travelling and experiencing the world is always going to be an investment, but these handy tips will help you make sure your money stretches as far as it can.