While traveling is an amazing experience, it can be easy to spend too much money, making going home even harder if you’ve completely blown your budget.
When you’re traveling through so many incredible countries and seeing so many amazing sights, you may forget about your financial responsibilities and have an attitude of “I’m only here once and I should enjoy myself while I’m here.”
However, it’s possible to have a happy medium and enjoy yourself while exploring the world and not blowing your budget.
Here are some ways to save money traveling this year:
Make a budget
Often we go traveling without doing enough research. There are so many resources online that can help us plan a daily budget for each country we visit, including travel blogs, magazines, forums and more. Taking the time to make a budget based on your level of accommodation, the type of food you like to eat, and how many souvenirs you like to buy, can give you a good goal to save towards when you’re at home and a limited amount to spend each day when you are overseas.
Take a working holiday
If you’re like most people there are some activities you would like to splurge on while you’re traveling. Maybe this is scuba diving in Thailand, taking a hot air balloon ride in turkey, or taking a ski trip in Europe. Working while you travel is a great way to meet people, add to your travel fund, and allow you to travel for longer.
There are many working holiday programs and visas which allow you to work overseas. Many bars and hostels will throw in accommodation and drinks in exchange for a few hours of work each night, and of course there are options like Au Pair America, teaching abroad, and freelancing.
Split the costs
Traveling with someone else is much cheaper than traveling alone. Of course it’s great to travel solo (and this is a great way to make friends), but traveling with someone else allows you to split accommodation, meals, and activities so you can do different things and save money along the way.
Make smart choices
Changing the way you use your cash can save you hundreds of dollars. Before leaving your home country, compare credit cards, bank cards, interest rates and international ATM fees. Many banks have deals for travellers and students and shopping around can save you plenty of cash while you’re abroad. Before you go be sure to do your money exchange when there is a high rate. A global money transfer can also be a great option when compared to using your bank cards overseas.
Take travel insurance
It may seem like a crazy idea to spend more money on insurance before you leave, but this is one of the best ways to ensure you don’t completely blow your budget. You’ll be surprised how common it is to get sick or injured overseas, and this could leave you in thousands of dollars of debt. There is also no price for peace of mind.