Travelling on a Tight Budget

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Being short of money can force you to put your travel plans on the backburner. Whatever you had planned, it’ll have to wait, you tell yourself. 

But do you really need a lavish budget to travel? No, actually. It turns out that there is a whole group of people out there who specialise in getting around the planet on as little money as possible. And they’re here to share some of their wisdom with you. 

Here’s what they do. 

Use Your Air Miles

If you’ve been using your credit card for any length of time, you’ve probably built up a healthy number of air miles. In some cases, you might have thousands of miles saved - easily enough to fly you and your family to your destination of choice. But even if you haven’t, you can often save a substantial sum of money off your bill. So much, in fact, that it is the same as taking a short-haul flight. 

Travel Off Peak

If air miles aren’t an option, you can also try travelling off-peak. Airports tend to be much quieter at midnight on weekdays than during the days at weekends because fewer people want to travel. In response, operators lower their fares and ticket prices tend to be a fraction of what they would be usually. 

Hotels and restaurants are the same. They usually ramp up prices in the summer to discourage too many people from booking rooms. But in the off-season, nobody wants to travel and that forces them to lower their prices substantially. Many families can save up to 50 percent off big ticket holiday items. 

Drive

Flying is fast and convenient. But in many cases it is actually cheaper to drive to your destination if you have the option. Driving allows you to split the cost of fuel between people you're travelling with and share the cost of parking. You can't do that with an airline ticket.

Use Your Credit

Sometimes, the time is right for you to take a trip. You’re in good health, you have work, and you want to try something before you get too old. In these cases, it might be worth using your credit.

If you don’t have a good credit score, you can also use buddy loans. These rely on the credit score of somebody else you know, allowing you to access the money that you need. 

Prepare Your Own Meals

Okay - so maybe you can’t cut the cost of your accommodation or transport. But you can always make your own meals to save money. Nobody is forcing you to eat at the hotel restaurant (unless you go for an all-inclusive package). 

Buying the food you need at the supermarket and then cooking it at your rental massively cuts costs. You might not have a gourmet kitchen, but if cheap travel is your goal, there’s nothing better. 

Traveling on a budget isn’t easy. But it is better than missing out on all those adventures because you are stuck at work. Remember, you can still have fun even if you aren’t spending a fortune. 

How to instil your child with a love of travel

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If you’re a big fan of travel and you also happen to have a little one (or a few) then it’s only natural that you want your child to be just as enthusiastic about exploring the world as you are. However, it’s not something that they’re going to automatically develop as they grow. It’s something that often needs to be taught. Here are a few ways you can help instil your love of travel into your kids.

Help them have brand new experiences

The first tip that you might want to follow is that you should think carefully about the kind of trip that you take your kid on in the first place. For instance, your child might not find it overly exciting to visit a sunny, warm spot if all they can do is lounge on the beach because it might feel much the same as going to the beach in the summer back home. However, encouraging them to try brand new experiences such as a ski trip can help them see the sheer diversity of what’s on offer when they can travel. What’s more, it can help them build their confidence so that they’re more willing to try new things in future, too.

Encourage them to travel without you

Don’t worry, this tip isn’t suggesting that you pack your kid’s bags and send them into the great unknown without any company or assistance. However, it’s likely that there are going to be travel opportunities that your child might be able to take advantage of without you there. If there are activity groups, such as sports teams, that organise trips, religious groups you are a part of that offer field trips, or the classic kind of school trips available at a student travel company, then you should encourage your child to take those trips. Getting the chance to “spread their wings” without your supervision, even if they still have supervision of some sort, can help them find the love of travel for themselves.

Align your trips with their interests

What do you love about travel? How well does it fit your other interests and personality? If you’re a person who loves to relax in comfort, then you’re a lot more likely to love a spa holiday at some sunny and luxurious destination. If you’re a bit of a history buff, then you might like more culturally enriched spots, and if you’re a fitness fanatic, you might like somewhere that you can hike, walk trails, kayak and more. Think about your child’s interests, and find destinations that align with those interests. It might mean occasionally having to sacrifice the type of vacation that you normally want for the type of vacation more likely to appeal to them.

If your child doesn’t love travel, then it can become undeniably difficult to organise vacations and trips with them. The good news is that it’s not very difficult for most kids to find what “clicks” with them about travel. Often you just need to find the right opportunities or the right angle to frame it.