Check out this awesome guest blog from Charlotte at Looking After Your Pennies.
We are so fortunate to be travelling the world right now as a family with two young kids. We left home with a small budget but determined to make it work for the next year.
We’ve made some mistakes on the way, but we have learnt a lot, and now we are finding it easier and easier to stay in budget.
Choose Your Destination Carefully
There are cheap places to visit and expensive ones. If you just want to see the world then you’ll have the flexibility to choose the cheaper destinations.
But if you’ve got your heart set on a place, all is not lost. There are still cheaper bits that you can go to.
We have been able to save huge amounts of money when staying in cities like New York and Sydney by choosing accommodation slightly out of the centre.
Travel Light
Not only does this mean that you’ve got less to carry but you’ll save a fortune on transportation costs too. If you can get away with just taking hand luggage, then you’ll save up to £50 on flights.
On top of that, you won’t mind using public transport or taking a short walk when you get there, as you’ll have a tiny bag compared to everyone else.
Be Prepared To Change Your Plans
You can make all the plans you want, but if a cheap flight or bus deal shows up then taking that deal could save you a lot of money.
This might mean that you spend slightly more or less time in one place, but you’ll be able to do so much more because of the money you’ve saved. Embrace it! It is part of the fun!
Travel By Bus Rather Than Plane
Flying is so expensive and bad for the environment too, so try to avoid it as much as possible. Travelling in Southeast Asia or South America is great for this because you can get to a lot of places by bus or train.
We’ve found buses to be a cheaper, comfier and more exciting way to travel between countries. If you’ve got plenty of time, then take a bus and soak up the view.
Go Self-Catering
Wherever you are, you are still going to need to eat. There are a few places where it is cheaper to eat out than cook for yourself, but most of the time you can save money by going self-catering.
Access to a kitchen will mean that you can buy food at local markets and supermarkets and prepare the food yourself. This means that the odd meal out won’t break the budget.
Get Travel Insurance
It might seem weird to say spend money to save money, but you’ll be grateful for it if you ever have to use it.
Cheap backpacker travel insurance plans are available, and they will pay for themselves if you ever need to use them. And you might be surprised at how often that is.
Can You Travel On Small Budget?
We are doing OK so far. Plus, everything for us is times by four, so it is more expensive for us than it would be for most.
Think carefully about what you want to do while you are away, do some research and set yourself a budget from there.
