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Frugality Tips for the Frugal Traveler

Frugality Tips for the Frugal Traveler

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You’re a little older now than that first Euro backpacking trip, funded mostly by $1,000 of graduation gift money and student loan residue. You bought lots of drinks for barflies in Madrid, and shopped ’til you le dropped at the Paris sales, but nowadays you’ve got like real-time bills to pay. But you’re still an adventurer and always will be! Here are 10 adult ways to still slap on the pack, live by the T-shirt and tally forth into the world on a sensible budget.

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1. Cost-Effective Destinations

Bucharest is cheaper than Paris. Berlin is cheaper than New York City. Bangkok is definitely cheaper than Tel Aviv. Research your top three most fundamental prerequisites (hint: they should be 1) Lodging 2) Cost of dining 3) Flight prices) before booking. Also, get on multiple travel search engine alerts. Kayak.com and Hipmunk.com will let you know when the destination you’re bent on reaching has low airfares.

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2. Hostels/Airbnb

Most hostels aren’t just liberal, curfewless orphanages with free coffee machines. They can be wonderful safe havens in otherwise strange cities where friends can be made. When you reach a certain age, book a double or a single room so you’re less likely to be woken up by five drunk Australians at 4 a.m. (and watch out for party hostels — they usually advertise themselves as such). Go through websites like hostelworld.com to ensure ratings and quality. Airbnb.com has an amazing following. It’s like couch surfing for non-serial killers. There’s a verification process and a dual-sided endorsement section that increases or decreases your ratings as a renter-rentee. Many people airbnb (yes, it is a verb) their place when leaving town, so you can pretend that house, flat, or pension is yours! That is, until the police come to break down the door…

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3. Get a Job!

We know you’re not lazy, we’re not sayin’ that. However, if you’re planning like a multi-month, open-ended, backpacking trip, there are plenty of places to find income on the planet. Countries like Turkey, Thailand, or Taiwan notoriously hire English speakers as language instructors. Teach kids! Often, there are year-long contracts involved, so if you’re absolutely set on a particular destination, try to arrange a job and visas beforehand. A great website for international teaching postings is Dave’s ESL Cafe (eslcafe.com).

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4. Show off your Craft (and get paid!)

While living two months in France, I advertised myself on Paris Craigslist as having extensive service-industry experience, and one day later I was catering and bartending at a posh private event in Le Marais! Post yourself online as a one-on-one conversation tutor. Many struggling, yearning-to-speak-English respondents will reach out, guaranteed. Sell your pottery, clothes, or the jewelry you’re skilled at making, but do research your vendor permits first!

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5. Street Food

It’s cheap! In France, a take-away crepe is made right in front of you, spread thick with nutella and sugar, and costs 2 euro ($2.50). Penang, in Malaysia, is considered a top street-food city — grab some wonton mee or Penang assam laksa, considered the best in the world here! Go to Krakow around the holiday season and drink mulled wine while wolfing down a greasy sausage! Of course, eat out once in a while, but if you go to that tallest building with the giant, pristine restaurant that overlooks the city, order a drink. Save your dining-in money for local, pocket-friendly restaurants with character.

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6. Shop at the Supermarket

Stick to the local stores! Many hostels and hotels in Europe have kitchens to cook in, so go buy the makings for stir fry or morning eggs. A salad, baguette, package of mortadella, wheel of brie, and a bottle of vin can ring up for under 10 euro! Yep, one-euro bottles of wine at the Paris Monoprix! And it’s not bad, either. But do go local, because fast-food joints like McD’s or Starbucks really hike up their prices abroad, on account of touristic allure.

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7. Walk

Walk everywhere. Walk from the top of the city to the bottom. You might not want to waste your time looking for a Bally’s, and taking the metro or taxi everywhere will rack up. Get a great street map, make routes in the morning to and from your lodging, and just walk everywhere. There’s no better way to feel one with a city, but do make sure to research the scary areas online before embarking!

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8. Free Museum Day

Europe is just a treasure chest of museums and art galleries, and most of them have free days every week! The Louvre: first Sunday of every month. Tate Modern: always free! Mosques in Istanbul: forever free! If you’re with an especially scholarly group, look into the museum passes and group deals that respective cities have to offer. Warning: free museums can pack tourists in like sardines, so plan on seeing Mona Lisa grimace before noon!

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tripcard.typepad.com

9. Cheap Inter-Continental Transport

The buses into the Andes Mountains may be rickety, but they’re less than $5! It’s nice to fancy yourself in an Agatha Christie mystery, white gloved in the smoking car hurtling through the Swiss Alps. But Euro-trains, while highly recommended for the experience, can really separate you from your cash. I mean that literally. My wallet was stolen on a trans-Hungarian express. Sleep clutching your purse like a lover. When flying from London to Berlin or Istanbul to Kiev, its Ryanair (ryanair.com) or Easyjet (easyjet.com), baby! Flights from Perth to Sydney or Athens to Paris often cost less than buses from New York to Chicago.

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10. Make Friends!

Talk to people! Buy a drink for that guy! Pay that girl’s coffee tab in the cafe! Have an affair! You’re freewheeling, and you’re lucky to be doing so. Connectivity when traveling abroad abounds, at a breathtaking level. People want to know about you, and you want to know about their culture. The world is a house, and everyone cries, laughs, gets pissed off! Make friends, keep in touch, host them in America, and you’ll be back in Shanghai or Prague in three years, rent-free, picking up where you left off. “Only Connect!” –E.M. Forster.