The BLT Guidebook

Let’s face it- the thought of spending money can suck the fun out of travelling. We worry that we should be spending the money on other expenses instead of having weekend trips or vacations.

I don’t have all of the answers, but in the last ten years I have gone on countless weekend trips, two out of country excursions, and (almost) yearly out of state national park vacations all on a teacher’s salary. I have found practical ways that made it possible and alleviated the guilt of spending.

Now my idea of a vacation may not be your ideal vacation, but I’m hoping you can take one tip here and use it to your advantage.

Practical (Guiltless) Ways to Save While Travelling

Reimagining lodging

Do you have to stay in a nice hotel? Not always. There are so many options out there now that you can find the right place to fit your budget and your ideal vacation! Sometimes hotels are the cheapest option, but Airbnbs may outweigh a hotel if you plan on vacationing with other people or if you want to do a little more cooking at “home.” Both of these options will cut down on costs.

Camping is also another option! If the weather is right and we are travelling in the states, we try to incorporate some type of camping into our vacations to save money. We may even do a half-half combo of camping and hotels. If we plan on spending most of the day away doing recreational activities, we don’t need to spend money on a place we won’t spend a ton of time in.

Eating in or out

Dining is usually the biggest day-to-day expense you have while travelling. There are a few ways around this: street food, cooking for yourself, or splitting portions. If you’re a person who wants a nice meal on vacation- I get that too.

Here are a couple of options to save money (even if you are a foodie):

• Have at least one meal “at home”- this could be a coffee/to-go breakfast, leftovers, or cooking a meal
• Have one larger meal a day- usually we have an early-to-late afternoon meal and either have a smaller dinner or snack or skip dinner entirely depending on how we feel
• The alternative to that is having a smaller meal earlier in the day and having a big dinner you have been looking forward to
• Splitting a meal with your travel partner (do you both need full-sized pasta dishes? Maybe! Or maybe not)
• Depending on where you are-street food can be an option (usually cheaper and smaller portioned)
• If you have access to a car, bring a small cooler with you so you can carry pre-made sandwiches or snacks to curve going out to eat

Souvenirs? No Thanks.

When I was younger, I was always given a souvenir after a family member or friend came back from vacation. These were usually trinkets or t-shirts. When I became older and started travelling myself, I always thought this was something I should do. I should buy myself something to remember the experience and I should buy something that reminds me of someone else and give it to them.

Over the years, this has changed for me. In 2019, I went to Europe for the first time with only one backpack. Nothing extra was going in that thing! I managed to still buy trinkets- a magnet from every place I visited (small, packable, inexpensive). One thing I couldn’t manage was bringing things home to everyone. This changed the way I travel. You don’t have to buy things everywhere you go, and you don’t have to buy gifts for people to show them you care. Take a photo of your memory and share pictures with family and friends while you travel- it’ll save you money and they can still feel like they are a part of the adventure.

Pay it off before you take off AKA budget effectively

There are different ways to pay for a vacation. For many years of my young adult life, I thought I could just pay it as I was on vacation and when I got back. What I realized was I was stressed on vacation as I was spending money because it was money I probably I didn’t have.

When it finally came to that same European trip I mentioned above, we changed the way we planned for the trip. We bought our plane tickets one month. The next month, we paid for our lodging. The month after that, we paid for any other transportation/activities, and finally we set aside spending money, which was to be spent mainly on food. While this plan wasn’t perfect at the time, I have fine-tuned it over the last few years.

Our most recent vacation was in August and I already “paid” for everything including my food and spending money before the trip happened. This helped me really look at how much money I had budgeted for the trip and took the stress away while I was purchasing food or other things while on the trip. Since I budgeted for everything, I wasn’t spending my money on impulse purchases and was thinking twice before I bought something I probably didn’t need.

Walking vs transportation

This may not be for everyone depending on where you are going and what your abilities are. Typically, our vacations and travel are more remote recreation-wise, so we can’t walk to everything we want to do. However, if you are in a city or even a decent-sized town this is a bit easier.

Walking is the cheapest form of transportation and great exercise! Not only is it free, but you can see so many more sights if you are walking compared to being in a car or train, etc.

When we went to Rome last winter, we stayed in a neighborhood that was a 20-minute walk from all of the major sights in different directions. It would have been “quicker” to take transportation, but we saw so much more on those walks and saved money at the same time!

Choosing activities wisely

When you’re in a new place, you want to see everything! Whether or not that’s possible depends on how much time you have, but do you still need to do it? If you want to do everything, go for it. If you want to do save money, you should see what you absolutely want to see.

You can go to Paris and spend money seeing all of the museums or you can go to Paris and choose one to spend more time in. You can go to Seattle and pay to go to the top of the Space Needle or you can go to a rooftop bar, spend less money (with less people), and see the same view. Bucket list items are non-negotiable of course, but there is usually a way around spending your money to do everything.

There are also so many things to see that are free! If you’re in a beach town, outdoors recreating, or in a bigger city, there are places you can go to that don’t require you to spend a dime!

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What are some things you do to save money while travelling? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

None of this content was AI generated.