If you are the kind of person who can't stay
in one city continuously and wishes to keep backpacking then you are most
likely what the world calls as 'Traveler', 'Nomad', 'Explorer', etc. We
have this strong desire to keep going. Be it a small journey to a nearby place
or a more planned and long trip, the joy and satisfaction we get after
returning back is something only we ‘Travelers’ would understand. It is
something we can’t explain using words.
Most of the people who love to travel would
have experienced similar situations during their journeys. One common situation
is when they over spend money during a trip without knowing that there are more
reasonable options instead. I think this happens to most of us Travelers. Especially
if we are completely new to a place and have no idea about the location, then
we can end up spending more.
What can we do to save ourselves from over
spending? What are the precautions we can take as passionate travelers? Well some
of them are:
1.
Read Well About The Place
Once we decide on a location, we should read as much as we can
about the place. Many sites like Tripadvisor, Thrillophilia, etc. are
helpful. These sites contain actual
reviews from other Travelers and we can use the information while planning our
trip.
2.
Transportation Details
The mode of transportation to reach a place is very important. If
we know anyone living at the place we are planning to visit, we can get
information from them about the best ways to reach the place. If not, we can
always get information from reliable sites on the internet. Once we know the
best way to reach the place, if we do the bookings in advance, we can save up
on a lot of money. Flight, Tatkal Train Tickets, etc. operate on Dynamic Fare
concept, hence we might end up spending triple times if don’t do the advance
bookings.In our case, it is always planned at the last moment. We are trying to change!
Apart from this, the transport within the city is also very
important. We should ensure we have a plan as to how we will travel within the
city/destination. Sometimes, we have
cheaper options like local buses which can help us avoid cabs.
3.
Accommodation
While there are many options to stay, the main points we need to
consider is the safety, hygiene, facilities, comfort and the cost of the
place. If we take a little extra time to
research on staying options, we can find some wonderful pocket friendly places.
But this usually takes a little time and effort on our part.
4.
Tour Activities
There are many tour packages available in most places these days. We
need to carefully check the details of the package (what is included, excluded,
taxes, etc.) We can compare the various packages and then decide if we wish to
opt for one or just take things at our pace and travel as per our wish. We can
compare the prices of all the available options and then decide.
5.
Food
While we travel, we have to depend on outside food. Sometimes, we
end up spending a lot of money on food which is actually unnecessary. This happened to us while we traveled to
Coorg. We stayed at a budget hotel, but the food at the place was extremely
costly. We ended up spending a lot of money on the evening we reached. The next
day morning, we backpacked away and found a small and simple place with fresh
food and reasonable prices.
6.
Shopping
Sometimes it so happens that we visit a city and feel tempted to
buy a lot of things from there. While we visit local markets, we should always
try to blend in with the local people there. If possible, we should speak in
the local language. It is best if we find out if we need to bargain or not
before we even go to the place. Also, we need to remember that we shouldn’t over
buy things which we will never use. (This happens to me a lot L).
There are many more tips that can be used to have a budget
friendly trip. At this point, I can’t think of anymore.
Hope we Travelers save up on some money and use it for another
trip J
Happy and Responsible Traveling!!
