Your Money_ The Missing Manual - J. D. Roth [94]
Be flexible. Don't be a slave to your itinerary. Some places will be more interesting than you expected and others less, so give yourself the freedom to adjust your schedule accordingly.
Eat cheap. You'll want to eat out at least a few times, but for many meals, you can save money by picking up food at a grocery store. Stock up on your first day and eat light-and-easy meals throughout your trip. You'll find this especially handy on days when you're rushed.
Manage your money. Know which payment method is best for each situation. For example, Visa charges a 1% overseas usage fee regardless of whether you use a credit card or a debit card. And some cards charge more than others to make withdrawals from foreign or out-of-network ATMs. Before you travel, find out your accounts' policies.
Tip
If you're going overseas, remember to let your bank and credit card companies know you'll be gone so they don't freeze your accounts for unusual charges. Also, be sure to make two copies of important documents (like your passport, credit cards, and driver license); leave one copy with somebody you trust, and take the other with you.
Steer clear of souvenirs. Souvenirs are almost always Stuff—you bring them home and they turn into clutter. If you want a keepsake, choose something practical. When we toured Ireland, for example, I bought a wool sweater; whenever I wear it, I remember our trip.
Like so much of personal finance, saving on travel comes down to two things: doing it yourself and going against the flow. When you take self-guided tours, prepare your own meals, and arrange your own travel, you make your vacation dollars last longer. And by avoiding tourist traps, traveling during the off-season, and staying in modest hotels, you can save even more.
Travel for the Adventurous
If you're a little daring and have the time, you can use slow travel to escape the tourist traps and get a deeper look at a culture—while saving money, to boot. With slow travel, you avoid hotels and instead base your trip around longer stays in hostels, apartments, rental homes, or other creative accommodations. By staying put for a week or more, you can gradually explore the local culture. In many cases, you'll prepare your own food or share a table with your hosts.
There are two ways to ease into slow travel:
Consider a vacation rental, furnished home, or apartment that you can rent for a week or longer. These kinds of places are often less expensive and more comfortable than hotels. Renting a home in another city gives you space and flexibility. For more info, check out Vacation Rentals by Owner (www.vrbo.com), which connects homeowners with travelers. For each available rental, you can view photos, read about its features, and look at renter reviews. Another option is to swap homes with other vacationers; check out HomeLink (www.homelinkint.org) and HomeExchange (www.homeexchange.com) to learn more.
For an even cheaper place to stay, look into hostels. Hostels provide travelers with a bed (usually in a dorm-like setting), shared bathroom, and often a kitchen for cooking your own meals. In big cities like New York or London, hostels can run up to $35 per night—still just a fraction of the cost for a hotel. In smaller cities, they can be as cheap as $10 per night. Though hostels are more commonly used by younger folks, most welcome travelers of all ages. For more info, visit Hostelling International USA (www.hiusa.org).
You can learn all about slow travel at www.slowtrav.com and www.sloweurope.com. The following two sections cover two more slow-travel techniques: hospitality exchanges and volunteer tourism.
Note
Professional traveler Nora Dunn has a brilliant piece at IWillTeachYoutoBeRich.com that describes how to travel the