For every tip, there is a trade off that you're sacrificing, as specified below. If you're going for cheap, don't expect to travel first class the whole way! But if it gets you there and experiencing something new, it's worth it!
AIRLINE TICKETS
1. Use a search engine website to help you find the cheapest flights. The two ones I have used are Skyscanner and Kiwi.com.
Skyscanner- https://www.skyscanner.com/ This will find you the cheapest flights that are pretty direct. You can even set the search to look for any flight to anywhere from your nearest airport and just see what's available. Sometimes you can find super deals, like going to Italy for $60! You never know! These prices will be lower than if you found them through mainstream airline companies by 2/3 the price, usually.
Trade off: Not all flights are available at all times, and sometimes the flight you really want isn't discounted at all.
Kiwi.com. https://www.kiwi.com/us/ This search engine is what we used to go to Jerusalem because it cuts big corners to get you extremely cheap tickets. A ticket that might usually cost $3000 you can get for $500-$700.
Trade off: The airline companies they use are the cheapest ones- meaning your gate is not usually connected to the big main airport and you usually have to walk out onto the tarmac or take a bus out there where your junky-er airplane is sitting in the worst parking spot. You never get free pretzels or little orange juice drinks or meals either unless you pay an arm and a leg to buy it on the airplane, even if you have a 15 hour flight. So bring snacks! The other big downside is that these flights are usually never direct. To get from point A to point B, you usually have to have several (like, 3-5) layovers in places that may or may not be actually progressing you logically to get closer to your destination, and these layovers may not be quick. On our way back from Jerusalem to Seattle, we have 4 layovers in different European airports, some that even took us back closer to Jerusalem before we could get closer to Seattle, and some of the layovers lasted 12 hours. If you play your cards right and still want to travel cheap, you can just say yes to these tickets and then take advantage of long layovers to do more exploring where your flight lays over! We got to see quite a bit of London, Latvia, and parts of Poland because we had long layovers and chose to get out.
ACCOMMODATIONS
1. Stay in a hostel. These are best for youth or people that don't mind staying in a junkier hotel-ish place where the kitchen and bathroom may or may not be shared. Some hostels are private rooms, and some are dorm-style rooms where there may be 12 people staying in bunk beds in the same place. If you do dorm-style, make sure you check to see if the dorm is all male, all female, or mixed, and that you are comfortable with whatever you choose. Most hostels have secure places to lock valuables they will provide. When I traveled as a single person, I could get a dorm-style hostel for $4/night in Bucharest, Romania! The more popular the destination, the higher the price will be. Dorm-style hostels in Jerusalem were $28/night. If a private room is provided as an option, it is usually more expensive, but it will always be cheaper than a hotel. Overall, I recommend this option to someone staying with a group or traveling alone who doesn't need too much privacy.
Trade off: Not as clean or nice usually, and depending on the room there can be less privacy.
2. Stay in an Airbnb. https://www.airbnb.com These are preferable for someone who may want more privacy. I don't think Bradley and I will ever stay in anything else but these ever again! These are usually more expensive than a dorm-style hostel, but less expensive than a private hostel, and way less expensive than a hotel. I used to be freaked out about this idea, because basically how it works is any local who has a spare room/addition to their house/couch just posts what they have available to spare on the Airbnb website along with details and the price. I was against this idea for a long time because I didn't want to stay with some weird old single guy on his living room couch, but it turns out that most people advertise full private rooms that can lock, and you can shop around online to find a situation you are comfortable with. Many hosts are families or even young single girls. Sometimes people will post an entire house that no one is staying in! In one situation in Nazareth we had our own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen stuff, and even a separate entrance, all for 1/4 the price of a local hotel! It was super nice and clean too. You can view the host's past ratings too, so a bad host won't survive on the website too long before their ratings speak for themselves. If you choose an option where you are staying in a room with a kitchen that the family shares, you get to see more of the local culture and daily life, which is cool.
Trade off: It's not just you rating the host, the host rates you too! So make sure you are a polite guest and don't make too terrible of a mess. (A guy in our high school was known for pooping in the hotel sheets- he would never last on Airbnb.)
3. If you have any local friends, stay with them! Most people love to host foreigners for free. Just make sure to bring them a really nice host gift.
Trade off: Less privacy, sometimes you're tied to the meals they cook for you and their schedule.
LOCAL TRANSPORTATION
1. If you have the time and it's not too far- walk! I think this is the best way to travel if you can manage it because you pass things more slowly so you have time to look around, window shop, observe the locals, buy ice cream on the corner, etc. This is always the cheapest option and best for your health too! Unless you buy the ice cream.
Trade off: Slower, and you have to endure the weather.
2. Use local public transportation. There's a reason the locals use it- it's the cheapest, fastest combo. These are different in every area, but they are usually trains, busses, vans, etc. Ask the locals how they get to work and do that! It's never a taxi. For example, in Peru a 5 minute taxi ride could cost $8 on average and a bus ride would cost $0.30. HUGE difference that is worth looking up ahead of time and finding the stops and the schedules.
Trade off: It's gonna be a little slower and you'll have to plan around its schedule and stops. You will have to be comfortable possibly being the only white American- or whatever you are- and sitting in a space that is definitely more crowded. There might even be a smelly guy on his way to work whose armpit is right next to you and you have to smell it. Luggage is harder to pack around with you, but not impossible, and the locals will try to accommodate you. Everyone on the bus will speak the local language, not English, so you'll have to use google translate or some other type of app or book to tell the driver where you want to get off at. Sometimes if everyone on the bus speaks a language I don't speak and I don't know where to get off, I just show the name of the stop I need to get off at to the driver on my phone by pointing to it, and then kind of do this weird eye contact with gestures and speaking English thing where he knows that I need him to tell me when to get off. He always gets it.
3. Use a local car rental. We learned the hard way that you need to reserve your car ahead of time so you can be sure the agency will have a car for you available. Using an online search engine like Skyscanner is also helpful to find the cheapest car rental place in the area. If you do it ahead of time, you can look at $10-60/day instead of $300. This is preferable if you are wanting to drive long distances with weird stops that are specific to your wants and not along a main route where there might be a local bus or train.
Trade off: More expensive for routes where there is already a bus or train that could take you there instead, and you have to be responsible for driving. Also it can take a while to sign all the papers at the agency before they hand over the keys, so plan on some paper signing time.
4. If you HAVE to take a taxi (and sometimes you really do because it's faster, more direct and reliable): Find out ahead of time from a local how much a taxi should cost. Then when you see the driver, stay outside the window before you get in to decide on a price, and instead of asking "How much is it to get to the museum?" Ask, "Does it cost $3 to get to the museum?" or whatever the other person said it should cost. Usually the driver says yes and you're good to go! If you just ask an open question, taxi drivers will sometimes double the usual price because they know they can take advantage of ignorant tourists. If you have a price settled before you get in the vehicle, you can be sure that the driver is going to be motivated to get you there the fastest, most direct way possible so he can get you out of his car and onto another customer.
Also- Avoid letting them start their meter! Most taxi drivers are very familiar with their way around town and know how much it should cost to get to a certain location. They don't need to start their meter. If they start their meter, sometimes they start taking the LONG way to get to the destination, because they know you'll pay by the mile, and they know you won't know that they're taking you the long way. If they will absolutely not give you a solid price that you agree on before you get seated in the car and they start their meter, try to have a map there with you on your phone and sit in the passenger seat with them so they know you are following along and you'll know whether they're taking you the right way or not. Not sure if this is the same everywhere, but it's worked for me in Romania, Peru, and Israel.
Trade off: More expensive by a long ways.
FOOD
The best and easiest way is to not eat out! Food options for not eating out include:
- Eating Costco granola bars you packed in your suitcase from America. We survived many days off these.
- Going to a corner store or local market and buying bread (often one of the cheapest things in most countries with the most calories) and if plain bread scares you you can also get some type of jam, hummus, or something to put on top. You can also buy fresh fruits and veggies for a pretty low price here. You can look around for something cheap that all the locals eat and just buy that in bulk. That can be yogurt, cheese, or potatoes. Lunch meat is usually not too bad. This will always be cheaper than eating out.
- Depending on what hotel or hostel you stay in, take advantage of free continental breakfasts.
- Trade off: Eating local good food is one of the best parts of traveling, so you should probably eat out at least a little for the experience of it.
- Avoid restaurants right next to large national parks or famous places. These are famous restaurants with easy access and they take advantage of tourists that don't know where else to go. Meals here can easily be $50.
- Avoid sit-down restaurants. Prices will be higher and sometimes you have to tip too. And if you do eat here, avoid buying drinks here. They're way more expensive than if you bought the same drink at the grocery store in a 2 liter bottle.
- The cheapest places are local corner stores or places along the street where you can't sit down, but the prices are usually 1/4 of sit down places. These places usually have food that's just as good, more authentic to daily life rather than fancy restaurant food, have larger portions for smaller prices, and are quicker to get your food.
- Trade off: It's street food, so just be careful, avoid raw fish, and know what you're eating. As you buy your food, look around and make sure the place looks pretty clean and the people preparing the food have washed their hands.
1. The easiest and most effective way to save money on souvineers is to...... (drumroll...)..... not buy them! :) The more you can value experiences in pictures rather than things, the cheaper you can travel!
But.... if you still like those few certain things... like I do- the rest of the suggestions are below.
2. Try to avoid buying something in a place where they are obviously the only one carrying that item. For example, a gas station an hour away from any other gift shop, or a gift shop connected to a site that is the only one around is going to be much more expensive than a place that has a competitor next door. The best place price-wise for things is markets with lots of competition where bartering is common.
Trade off: sometimes something is only available at one shop, so that's your only option.
3. Never buy something the first time you see it! If it seems cool and unique to the country, chances are many vendors all over the country have it too because they know you want to buy it! Unless something is extremely specific to a place (Ex: an oil lamp at a site near an old oil press where Jesus used to work), the thing probably was made in China as a souvineer and is sold all over the country, so you could get it cheaper somewhere else.
4. Barter!
How to barter: (This isn't the tried and true right answer- this is just what I do, and it works for me, because I'm non-confrontational and don't love arguing)
1. Find a market where bartering is common. You can spot these if there are no prices labeled on the products- that means it's up for debate! Also you can kind of tell if other people around you are bartering. If you try to barter somewhere where the prices are already set, the people get quickly annoyed.
2. Find the thing you want and ask how much it is. As soon as they give you the price, say okay, and then walk away. You are just looking around for prices at this point, but they will get desperate and want to sell you their product, so they might cut the price in half or even thirds. Just say thank you and leave.
3. Ask around to several different other people what their price for the same product is. Again, just ask and walk away.
4. Decide on the best price you found.
5. Go back to the vendor with the item you liked best (you may have found a color or size that suited you most) and rather than taking the price they originally gave you, offer them either the cheapest price you found, or if you want to push it, offer just a few dollars short of the lowest price for the item you found. They may just go to the lowest price, but you never know- sometimes they say yes! If they're not giving you the price you want, don't be afraid to say no and get a different item instead, or if you can't live without their certain item, you may have to meet them where they are, or halfway closer to where they are.
6. If you are planning on buying in bulk, you can kind of pretend that you're only going to buy one, and the at the last minute you can ask them if they'll cut you a deal if you buy lots. For example, yarmulkes in Jerusalem were 25 shekels usually, 10 at the cheapest place I found, but when I all of a sudden offered to buy 10 (fulfilling orders with money from Jewish relatives back home :) ), they gave me all 10 for 80 shekels. Many times if something costs $10, they'll give you 2 for $15, or something similar.
7. Celebrate the exchange. Bartering is a people event, so thank them generously for the item, compliment it, and maybe even take a picture with the vendor! Celebrate the fun and quick relationship you have just been a part of.
TOURS
Avoid tours if possible. Most info tours give out you forget quickly anyway and you are tied to explore the place with a guide rather than at your own pace. Tours are a quick way to rack up travel costs. Other cheap options include Rick Steves audio tours for free, free walking tours the city may provide (there were decent ones with guides in Jerusalem), or just old-styling it with a travel guide book and a map.
Trade off: Harder to find your way around, less free info.
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Welp- that's not gospel truth because I'm still learning, but it's all I've got. Hope it helps you! And feel free to comment and add any other tips or tricks and websites that help!
