For some of you, do you actually spend less while traveling versus staying in your own country?
It can be less expensive to travel than to stay home. One of the reasons could be that you are more likely to keep to a budget when you are traveling than when you are at home. When you are traveling, you watch what you spend very carefully, because you have allocated a fixed amount of money to the trip.
Reply to this I will spend less a day traveling but I will not be getting an income so I have to be carful 12 lth wit no income adds up even when you live on the cheap side.
Deborah
Reply to this That is so true, Beverly. When I travel, I know I really have to stick to a budget. I do not relish the idea of coming home with huge credit card bills to pay off. So far, I've been good.
As for the 'no income' period, Deborah, that is also true. But at least some of you can work for a couple of years, save enough, and travel for a whole year on a budget, then go back to work. Even if there is a good chance to be away and then go back to one's job, most Asians do not have that option because the currency we earn back home doesn't afford much in first world countries. In the same token, it takes far longer and harder for us to save , say 5,000 euros here than in Western countries.
Reply to this Last summer, we moved from Shanghai to Bangkok. The container with all our stuff took a month...so it was cheaper for us to go on the road for two months...saving on some rent, and we would have been with nothing for quite a while. It was not actually cheaper, but it was a good deal to do it.
Reply to this Hey, Peter, judging by your blogs, it certainly ain't cheaper. Have a good life 😊 ---- happy to know I've got friends who certainly know how to celebrate life!
Reply to this Thanks Lili...it is actually not more expensive...shanghai can be a serious killer if you are a party animal....so I wouldn't bet that it was cheaper.
So funny if you go deeper in your questions. I've got friends in Paris, London, NY...some seriously successful...rent, cars, restaurants...it's killing them...they earn a fortune, and I'm a very poor guy compare to them, but my life look way more...well...maybe glamorous than theirs...
At the end of the day, it's a all about efficiency...and trust me, I put more effort in efficiency than burning my credit card...but than again...this is not easy every day!
Reply to this In my experience it usually is cheaper. Just recently I booked a weekend in Budapest which ended up being only 20 euro dearer than if I booked a weekend away at home for the same standard of accomodation.....no contest !!! You really need to shop around for worthwhile places though.
Places like Spain, Portugal and Malta tend to be that little bit cheaper. Was in Malta last year....great place, lovely people and prices were right up my street. Was not sure about even going there as I heard it was expensive, which turned out to be untrue. It's a really small island and the history and culture there is amazing. I am also into photography so my camera loved it. Have not got around to processing the film yet but found a site with some great photos of Malta.
Reply to this I've been traveling Asia now for four weeks, and it has been less expensive for me to travel than live at home. So far travel has been three weeks in Japan, one week in South Korea. Home is the US, San Diego, California. Granted this may not be the most representative city in US for a cost of living comparison. It has certainly helped that I moved out of of my condo and only have storage expenses while away.
Japan was costly, but could still get by with lodging at about $30 USD per night (stayed with friends in Tokyo one week so that was helpful!). Still less than rent, but not great compared to Korea, which has been less expensive than I expected. Lodging in the $15 USD per night range, cheaper some places. Food is very inexpensive, except decent coffee.
Looking forward to China and SE Asia as I understand traveling costs will only decrease.
As far as the comments on US and it's money culture, sure, it exists and is more visible in major cities like New York, Las Vegas, LA, and some others. However, even within those cities you can go places where you are not buying respect. Just like some people smile a lot, are shy, talk a lot, are helpful, or are rude; some like to spend money to make themselves look good. Everybody is not like any one of those characteristics everywhere you may go in the US.
Road trip, assuming you have a few people, is likely the least expensive way to travel the US unless you plan ahead. You rarely find cheap last minute flights in the US. If you want to hop around to major cities then Southwest airlines is often a good discount option. There are more hostels than I believe most people realize in big cities in the US. There is even one with a patio on the Pacific Beach boardwalk in San Diego. Lovely sunset view.
Reply to this Looking forward to China and SE Asia as I understand traveling costs will only decrease.
You will be pleasantly surprised. If you thought Japan and Korea were "reasonable", you will find China and SE Asia very very cheap.
As far as the comments on US and it's money culture, sure, it exists and is more visible in major cities like New York, Las Vegas, LA, and some others. However, even within those cities you can go places where you are not buying respect.
Very well said, Todd. There are such nuances sometimes, like the many touts you'd find in Asia, or the racist behaviour one senses in certain places, or the money culture as mentioned here. As travelers, we just take them all with a grain of salt and enjoy our time!
Road trip, assuming you have a few people, is likely the least expensive way to travel the US
I have done road trips lots of times in USA with friends, and absolutely loved it. Just that if one is a solo traveler, it would be more fun if one can instead take buses or trains than drive around. But as
swissmaple said, road trips are the way to go in the US of A! (Btw, those are real good blogs on her trips around USA. ) So there.
Reply to this yes staying away and living in country like India, Sri Lanka will definitely help you in surviving at cheaper rate but what hurts you is cost of transportation that has to be taken care of seriously and offcourse the culture is also different
Reply to this I think that it is cheaper to travel than to stay at home. I make sure that I plan my travel budget ahead and make some research about how much am I going to spend on hotels and touring the place and pack everything I need so that I don't have to buy the unnecessary except for souvenirs. I had a
last summer, the food is worth every penny I spend. Reply to this HA HA LET CONSIDER THAILAND Because it is the best place for Travelling within minimal budget.
Bangkok is one choice for travelling there. Some hotel , hostel are cheapest such as bansabaihostel , asha , sakura hostel. let chek them and consider THAILAND as one alternative before you made the decision.
Reply to this I think everyone agrees that traveling around Asia can prove to be so much cheaper than if one were to stay home........especially if home is somewhere in North America, Europe or Australia. And there are more than enough tips on how to do these budget trips judging by the blogs we read around here.
....there are ways and means of spending less. A lot of people survive on 600dollars a month in London.
Quote from
thecrashpacker
Was wondering though how cheaply one can really travel around Europe or North America. Would $600 as suggested in this thread really be enough for a month? Any tips on how to work around this budget?
Reply to this I am fed up with the costs of traveling anymore. And I'm just talking about traveling within the United States. Its impossible to fly cheap anymore. Finding deals is such a game I can't stand it. How far in advance should I start looking for tickets. Too early, too much money. Too late, too much money. I moved away from home a few years ago so now I have to fly so much more often than I ever have. The holidays are so much more expensive for me now because I'm adding traveling costs on top of costs for gifts.
This year I'm working towards getting this gift card for US Airways. I will try anything to fly cheap....it's definetly worth a look...
Reply to this you can live cheaply in London by staying still and discovering the free treasures of the city.
Surviving is one thing - Travelling costs a lot more.
I toured round europe in the early 90's by stealing diesel for our van and 'dumper diving' from supermarket waste. We had no budget, didnt even think about it, now it would probably be cool and there would be a coffee table book made about it, but back then we just got on with it.
If you want to travel europe cheap, go round the south in the summer, and camp.
or come to england - its cheap here now for foreigners!!!
Reply to this Hi all.most cheapest country is a Mongolia.yes it sure very cheap for all things.and beautiful and wonderful natural.Worlds unique traditional nations lives in there.
Reply to this I would recommend you to visit to Mongolia which are unique natural and specialist traditional nations. In Mongolia you can have a great chance to do some horseback riding, ger staying.eat national mongolian foods.shopping and do some hiking.
If you need some more information needed, feel free to contact
Kindest,
Temka
Reply to this Hi Temka. Yup, Mongolia sounds interesting. Unique indeed.
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