Discovering new cultures, going to places you could only dream of, flying, eating new things, uncovering secrets of ancient history, taking pictures: whatever the reason, we all have a little part of us that loves travelling. Some of us, like me, absolutely adore travelling. However, this comes at a cost. Having travelled quite a bit myself, and for the purpose of this article I will focus on the backpacking side of my experience, I have learnt how to limit my expenses to a minimum without necessarily missing out on everything when out there. So, here are a few of my tips to travelling on a budget as a backpacker.
Travelling there
First of all, how are you going to get there. I would recommend having a look, when possible, at other options than plane such as the train or the bus. There are many reasons for this, obviously it is better for the planet, but there is more to that. With flights, there are always extra costs, whether it is the transport to the airport via public transport or a cab, but also booking fees, baggage fees and so on. You will also find yourself arriving outside of town, sometimes very far and therefore have to take that into account from a time and expense point of view.
On the other hand, buses and trains are (most of time) cheaper, eco-friendlier, and you always arrive in the city centre or next to a public transport station. I recently travelled to Amsterdam from Paris for a return ticket of 50€, arriving in 6 hours at a metro station just outside the city. It is an early rise and a long trip, but you can sleep on the bus and it is very cheap. The train is even better, although pricier; it is quick, spacious enough to enjoy the trip and you get to enjoy the views of the countryside on the way, which isn’t the case when looking at clouds from your airplane window.
For buses, I would recommend either BlaBlaBus or Flixbus in France and National Express in the UK as companies, but the Omio website is perfect to find all companies on the same website and it is the same price as if you book directly with the company. For trains, it depends on which country you are in or going, OUISNCF works fine in France, as does Trainline in the UK. For a long trip around Europe, I would recommend trying out Interrail, which I will do a full article on soon, but it definitely makes things easier and cheaper when going around.
This being said, if you prefer taking the plane, or you simply cannot take the other transports as you are travelling to another continent for example, there are many ways to make your trip cheap as well. I would check websites such as Skyscanner and Kayak for a rough idea of what is available in terms of trips, but most of the time I would go directly to the company website to book as these other websites tend to make the trips a little more expensive and take a percentage of your money. Additionally, I would look at the modification fees before booking, in a world where travels can change so quickly it is important to take this into account. Finally, I would also try and book an open return if you can, particularly if the return is in a long time, a lot of things can change in a few days, weeks or months.
Transport in the country/city
This really depends on where you go, it can change from continent to continent, country to country or even between cities. However, here are some basic tips, which I will get into more detail once my specific travel guides start coming out.
You should definitely consider walking as a great way of getting around a city. Not only do you really sink in the atmosphere, the vibe of the city, you get to observe a slice of life of the inhabitants but also the architecture or even smells around you. Each place has its unique feel and you can only truly get this feeling by walking around said place. Alternatively, bicycles are great for that too, while going a bit faster from place to place. You can stop whenever you want to have a look at something, go into a shop/restaurant or even take a picture. Bikes are usually pretty easy wherever you go, particularly into Europe where there are bike lanes wherever you go. They are often cheap to rent or even free depending on your hostels.
Staying on the topic of two-wheeled transport, motorbikes are very popular in Asia. You can rent them for pretty cheap in a lot of places, without necessarily having an international licence, or licence at all that being said. Alternatively, you can trust a local driver to do the driving for you and still enjoy being at the back. There is the Easy Rider option, which is pretty great: it gives you a guide, you pay him/her for the day, and they take you to all the good spots which you decide with the driver beforehand. They also take you to special locations that are prohibited to tourists, such as trying out strawberries or rice alcohol in local farms. They have a good level of English, are entirely to your service, very knowledgeable and kind.
Other options for drivers are apps like Grab (which works like Uber in Asia), where most Asian cities will offer the motorbike and car options as ways of transport. Very cheap, easy and convenient. Side note: hang on tight, they are not always the best drivers or don’t necessarily drive the way Europeans would consider ‘normal’, but you still feel safe. Talking of Grab, I would recommend getting the local taxi app. This can be Grab in Malaysia or Vietnam but can also be Uber in Europe or PassApp in Cambodia for example. They can be a bit stingy with you having a local phone number to sign up, but we will get into those details later on.
The public transport is always a great option, especially in a developed city. It is more or less cheap (looking at London for example when saying this…), but it is pretty reliable, quick and straightforward. This is particularly the case with the under/overground which can include the tram. Lyon, Amsterdam, Lille, Prague, all these cities have the tram and it works perfectly fine, with the tickets as the metro, so day passes can be a great solution if you are planning on using the public transport regularly.
Finally, to travel between cities, it really depends where you are. Local buses are my favoured option in Asia, while Europe I preferred the train. There are travel agencies everywhere in big cities which can recommend you the best options, depending on the time and money you have. Local flights are also an option, an option I took twice in Vietnam as the country is so stretched and during Chinese New Year, buses were packed and really expensive.
Accommodation
Now this really depends on your budget, the time you are travelling, and I guess your luxury standards. When travelling for a long time, you will most of the time end up in hostels, which are fabulous for meeting people but have this unfortunate reputation of being crowded and noisy. Through my experiences, I can honestly say this is less and less the case and you just need to do a bit of research. The hostel I stayed in Hanoi was very classy, we were 6 per room, there was a pool, I never had an issue with having the show free and the bed was probably one of the best I have ever slept in. Hostels have understood that the competition is becoming better and therefore need to invest in the facilities in order to keep customers coming. This is obviously not always the case and none of the reviews on the various hotel booking websites will ever give you the true feel for the place before getting there. However, you can ask fellow travellers, that is how I found the hostel in Hanoi through a recommendation. This being said, sometimes having a bit of time alone is nice too, and I can definitely say Asia has a lot of cheap options for single rooms, cheaper than hostels in Europe. So sometimes treating yourself can be nice as well.
All this being said, where can you find the best prices, best reviews and a few extra tips for booking. I personally use Booking.com a lot, practically exclusively, and I should consider other options as Booking tends to inflate prices in order to make a small commission on the rooms. However, both the website and the app are very simple, and it is super easy to book anything in 3 minutes, particularly if there is no payment in advance. It is easy to find reviews on each hotel/hostel, to sort out by price and even best price with best reviews. I would say there is the most choice on Booking.com in terms of number of establishments, most places if not all places are on this website. On the other hand, there are other options you should consider. Hotels.com for example offer for free the 10th night you book with them, and the prices are a bit cheaper than Booking, and Agoda has some good high-end choices as well as interesting deals once you book numerous times with them as well. In terms of hostels, you should consider Hostelworld.com, which has the widest choice in that field of accommodation, as well as looking at Youth Hostel Association (YHA.org.uk) if you are staying in the UK.
When looking for places to stay, I would say do a bit of scouting ahead of your stay, even if you book it on the day, whether it is online or directly there. Scouting will enable you to know the locations of places, a variety of opinions as well as certain options such as whether you have to pay beforehand, if breakfast is included, how close to the stay you can cancel or whether you will be given a towel or not. These are certain things that are good to know before you select your place to stay, in order to have the best experience. Rushing into booking a place can often lead to disappointments, particularly if you do not know how to pick up on certain negative aspects when skimming through the hotels’ page. Additionally, for hostels, I would consider looking at whether they offer tours, they often have reduced prices or even free walking tours, as well as activities in general. This also depends on what you want to get out of your stay, whether you want to join into the group activities etc. If you have questions, hotels are pretty easy to reach through Booking and the other websites through the chat option, most of them respond within 24-48h, so that is a thing to take into account if you are hesitating between places.
Additional options I would consider are Airbnb and Couchsurfing, for different reasons. Airbnb is a great option if travelling as a group, you can eat at home, not have anyone else share your private area, and overall it makes the stay cheaper if you find good prices and you have many people in the group. Small tip, you can also find full apartments on some of the websites I mentioned above, for similar prices to Airbnb. Couchsurfing on the other hand, is a great option for solo travellers or couples/duos. Local people offer a place on their couch or even sometimes a bed in a spare room for free, they are super welcoming, if they have time, they will take you for a walk in the area or even a museum. It is super easy to make new friends in this process; they will also give you tips for the city and what to do and all of it is free. Obviously, if you have a good heart, you can take the host(s) out for a drink or even food and they will be very happy. In exchange, you can welcome them back home next time they visit, and you make friends from across the globe in this process. It is very popular in Europe and the US; it is slowly growing worldwide. You should try working a little beforehand on getting in contact with the people there as they don’t always welcome guests or they cannot plan far ahead, therefore you can have several refusals which is obviously understandable, but you need to find an option to sleep at the end of the day. Both websites offer other features which are not explored as much, sadly. Airbnb has options to do adventures or experiences as well, in a similar fashion to TripAdvisor. To give quick examples in Paris, you can do cooking classes or an escape game in the Sacré Coeur. On Couchsurfing, you can find events, create groups and generally meet people in the city you are staying in. Anyone can post of the city group “is anyone up for a beer tonight” and there you go, you’ve just made a new friend, so it’s really practical for solo travellers.
So, this ends my first article on how to budget your holidays and travels across the globe. A follow-up article will be up on the website, concerning food, tips for banking or a general idea of what kind of budget you should consider having before going.
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