How To Afford To Travel More

If you are a frequent traveler, then you are probably used to the question “but how do you afford that?!”. A lot of people want to travel more but aren’t sure how to make it possible, especially when it comes to having time off work and the money to go. There are people who love to travel and found a way to make it happen as often as possible. I asked several travel bloggers to share with me how they afford to travel the world, and here’s what they had to say:

Monthly Budgeting & Sinking Funds

It should be no surprise by now that I am a big fan of monthly budgeting and sinking funds to save for travelling. Building saving for travel into your budget will help you travel more often because you’re always saving for your next trip. Set up an automatic transfer to a high interest savings account so you can’t access it with your debit card, which will help the urge to spend it on an unplanned purchase.

How much you save per month will depend on how much you can afford to save. The zero-based budgeting method gives every dollar you earn a “job” by allocating it to either paying bills, saving or daily expenses. If you don’t have much room in your budget for saving then I would recommend looking at your spending and adjusting your priorities. If you spend $50 every weekend going out to eat, but then say you have no money to travel, that is a priority problem, not a money problem!

Jenn

Travel Off Peak

Being a family of four with a love of travel means we need to travel smart in order to save money/travel more. We also live in Melbourne. A great city yes (and I don’t see us ever moving) but to get anywhere it means a long, generally expensive flight.

Travelling off peak is a great way to save money on your travels. Of course, if you are looking to book a tropical beach escape then booking during the middle of the monsoon season is not the smartest choice; but you can still travel just outside the peak periods for a significant saving.

Travelling during the off peak season can mean cheaper flights, cheaper accommodation and a chance to see your chosen destination without the crowds.

We saved thousands on a family holiday to Thailand by travelling just before the peak season started. All we had to do was change our dates by two weeks. Two weeks earlier in the season is not going to make a huge difference to your weather. Weather can be unpredictable at any time of the year anyway. By simply rejigging your itinerary by a few days you can end up saving loads of money.

The weather cycle is not the only thing to consider when looking at travelling in the off peak season. You should also look into the various school holidays, public holidays and festivals on during this time. It is generally always cheaper to travel outside of these events.

Travelling during the off peak season can also give you more flexibility and cost savings whilst at your destination. Transportation such as buses and trains could book up months in advance during the busy season at a premium cost, but during the off season you may be able to pick up last minute deals at the time that suits you best.

Being wary of peak seasons and low seasons is a sure fire way to save yourself some money when traveling and help you travel more!

Amber, Hill Tribe Travels

Little Savings Add Up

Travel together: It’s best thought of as a perk or a side benefit, but traveling with a partner (spouse, BFF, whatever) means each of you pays a bit less. Two couples in the same place? As long as it’s big enough, even better!

Go grocery shopping: Even for tourist trips of less than a week, eat at home more often than eating out. This is easier said than done in some cases, but even modest hostels have kitchens for its guests. Just because they’re too often used for ramen doesn’t mean you can’t put a bit more effort into it!

Choose destinations carefully. You can do a lot of research to figure out how expensive a place will be. Some places (think Switzerland, Iceland, etc.) are known to be quite expensive, while others (think Eastern Europe) are known to be quite inexpensive. Use numbeo.com, among other sites, to get a sense of how much a place costs.

Chris, Worthy Go

Use Overnight Transportation

Travel can be expensive, so saving a few dollars wherever you can while on the road is a great thing for most travellers. One way I enjoy to save on accommodation during my travels is to take overnight transport.

Not only does taking overnight transport save a day in travel, you’re travelling while you’re sleeping rather than through the day, it also makes travel cheaper.

If you were taking a long distance bus or train during the day, you would still need to book a place to stay. But travelling at night, that bus or train acts as your rolling accommodation. Most overnight buses are least equipped with a reclinable seat, and trains are usually set up as rows of bunk beds, or a private carriage.

I’m a pretty tall guy, just hitting the 6-foot mark, and sometimes I do find it difficult to have a full unbroken 8 hours as the bus winds around tight corners or the train rattles over its rails. Taking earplugs/headphones, an eye-mask and possibly some sleeping aid will make the journey a lot more manageable.

These hostels on wheels are one of my favourite ways to save money and time while travelling.

Ben, Horizon Unknown

Couch Surfing

There is nothing like the freedom that comes from traveling full-time. Once we had a glimpse of it, we focused all our energy on making travel a bigger part of our lives. We needed more than the 4-5 weeks of vacation we got from working our full-time jobs.

With long-term travel, budget becomes such an important part of daily life. So we had to get creative on finding ways to get more bang for our buck. One of our favourite ways of doing this was to couchsurf. Whether you’re traveling full-time or just taking a few weeks to discover a new destination, Couchsurfing is an amazing way to truly immerse yourself.

Beyond getting free accommodations, you get to make new friends for life. There is nothing like staying in a traditional home with locals, seeing what daily life is really like, and talking about things that you normally wouldn’t. It really redefined our way of traveling.

Although we love the fact that Couchsurfing is free, it should be known that there is etiquette to follow. So if you’re not looking to invest time into getting to know someone, their story or their way of life, this may not be for you.

However, if you’re looking to make new friends, learn about a culture, spend time cooking, drinking and hanging out with locals, discover places that not many tourists know about and make lifelong bonds, then Couchsurfing is perfect for you.

Carine and Derek, We Did It Our Way

Combine Business with Leisure

Who doesn’t want to travel more in an affordable way? Bleisure travel can do the trick! You don’t have to be a travel writer nor in the travel industry. You do need a job that needs you to travel often and you must be able to work from a distance.

If your boss sends you on a business trip somewhere you can add additional days for leisure. Work in the early morning and evening several hours and have the day free to explore. Business trips are often a few days and extending the trip to over a week usually gets the airfare down a lot. Your boss even saves money too and you can explore an area without having to pay for an airfare.

I, Chris from Chris Travel Blog, have done this for several years before starting my blog. The blog isn’t the reason I started to travel but does contribute now to travel even more. I still have another job that requires me to travel to each continent once a year. Adding 7-10 days per trip is possible so that I have about 70 leisure days a year without expensive flights. At some point I made a great deal for my other business while having a 5-star lunch high up in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Bleisure travel is a great way to travel affordable!

Chris W, CTB Global® (Chris Travel Blog)

Rent Your Place on AirBnB

Anytime my husband and I go traveling for more than a few days, we rent out our apartment on AirBnB while we’re away. This goes a long way towards paying for our trip. Depending on the cost of living in our destination, we sometimes even come out ahead and make money by traveling!

Of course, we don’t get to keep all of the profits. We have to pay someone to manage the bookings, clean the apartment and check in the guests while we’re away. Since AirBnB rentals are very popular in Lisbon, Portugal where we live, there are several companies that specialize in this kind of short-term rental management. They typically charge between 20 and 30 percent of the rental price.

We’ve actually had quite a few problems with the rental management company that we’ve been using, so we’ve recently switched to another manager. When dealing with a large company, we found that no one wanted to take responsibility when things went wrong.

So this time we’ve hired a single individual who will take care of everything while we’re gone. Despite the headaches we had with our previous property managers, we have no regrets about renting out our place. It’s been a great way to make passive income that will fund our travels.

Wendy, The Nomadic Vegan

Be Flexible

Making travel a priority in life is a great idea, but how do you make it happen when there’s bills or a mortgage to pay? I’ve employed a simple system that lets me travel more often for less.

We all have a bucket list of dream destinations right? Well I simply watch the deals from my home airport and when any cheap flight to one of my destinations comes available I book it, typically getting the airfare for half off. While I might not get to pick and choose my next destination as much as a typical traveller, being flexible like this allows me to travel twice as much as I would otherwise.

Being flexible doesn’t just apply to destinations either. That fancy 5-Star hotel by the river? Sure it’s nice, but if I stay in equally nice accommodations just a few blocks outside of the tourist area I save huge amounts of cash & get a more authentic experience too!

Apply this quality to everything you do while traveling and suddenly everything becomes more affordable. I’m not saying you have to skimp—Treat yourself; nobody goes on vacation to save money—but being flexible can save your wallet!

Patrick, Adventographer Travel & Photo Blog

Use Public Transportation

One of the best ways to save money while travelling is by using local and public transportation. If you are travelling to developed countries or big cities, the public transportation network is usually well developed with multiple modes of transport. These may include metro/subway, skytrains/trains, trams and buses. Remember the golden rule: No Taxis. Taxis are the most expensive means of transport and end up eating a substantial chunk of your budget. For instance, airport transfers are best done by airport shuttle bus or metros. Most airports around the world will have regular shuttle bus services to take you to the city. Another tip: Most cities have tourist bus/metro passes of different durations. If you intend to sightsee a lot within the city, work out the individual ticket costs and check whether buying a pass is cost effective.

On the other hand, if you are travelling to developing places where the transportation options are limited, make use of local options like tuk tuks or cyclos. Not only are they cheap, they are a fun way to experience the place. In any case, buses and trains are present everywhere for airport transfers and inter city transfers.

Neha, Two Flashpackers

Home Exchange

Five years ago, we made the decision to turn our dream of travelling into reality. We sold our home in New Zealand and took the opportunity to transfer to Germany and then on to the USA. While uprooting with a 3-year-old and newborn may seem like a crazy idea to some, relocating gave us so much more opportunity to travel.

With cheap airline flitting around Europe flights were only a small expense but accommodation was still taking a large chunk of our budget. It was a trip to Copenhagen that prompted us to try home exchange and after saving more than 1000 euros in one week we were hooked!

A few years later we are on our 12th home exchange, I am even writing this from our beachfront house swap in Hawaii! There are pros and cons to home exchange, it is not for everyone. For us it has allowed us to stretch our budget, travel more, get off the beaten track, live like a local and make lifelong friends.

Kaylie, Happiness Travels Here

Final Thoughts

We firmly believe where there is a will there is a way, and if you are looking for a way to afford to travel more, then you can find it! You can always combine these tips to make the most of your vacation dollars. Do you have any tips to save money on travel? Please share them in the comments so we can all save!