Throwback: Travel Diary (2012 - 2014)
5:46 pm
I am endlessly jealous every time I see someone's post
describing a wonderful travel experience
to a distant, exotic land, or even a brief weekend
getaway. We all know the world is full of exciting destinations, and it
doesn't take much effort to discover them. But unfortunately, there are many
factors that have to be taken into consideration before we start packing up. Money and spare time are certainly on the top of the list.
Although I literally live for travels and discovering
new places, unfortunately I haven't been anywhere in months, at least not
anywhere worth mentioning for. Still, my new job should include frequent business
travels worldwide, which I am looking forward to, but I think it’s nothing
compared to travelling to where, with whom and when you want to. My private
plan is to visit Germany as soon as possible, but I am not so certain I'll be
able to make it. I guess you all know the drill: when one has plenty free time,
they have no money. When there's money, there's too much work or other
obligations. And the wheel keeps on turning.
Still, I am quite satisfied with the journeys I did
undertake during the last two years. These included: U.K., France, Belgium,
Turkey, Serbia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina (in addition to numerous weekend
getaways all over Croatia). Of course, all of these were budget travels, so I figured I might share some photos and advice
on how to survive a week or so in a foreign country with a limited budget.
#1 TRANSPORT TO AND
FROM THE DESIRED DESTINATION (1)
If you’re buying
tickets online, make sure to take advantage of first / last minute offers. Also, a very important thing to know:
many companies track down your activity on their web pages, and often raise
prices every time you come back browsing the same destination as before. Accordingly,
the smartest thing to do would be to register for relevant newsletters and get
informed on the best deals s soon
as possible. This is particularly useful if you don't have any preferences
regarding your destination, but only wish to seize every affordable opportunity
to travel. In addition, subscribing for newsletters often comes with other
benefits, including special discounts, chances to enter various competitions
and win trips to amazing destinations, etc.
Example: I bought
my plane ticket to London about 3 months in advance. The return ticket totalled
about €30 (Ryanair: Zadar-London Stansted).
#2 TRANSPORT TO AND
FROM THE DESIRED DESTINATION (2)
If you're traveling
with at least 3 or 4 friends, use a personal
vehicle whenever possible. You'll get to see many places and things that
you would have never seen if, for example, you were travelling by train or
plane. And you will surely spend less on gas than on 4 or 5 train tickets.
Besides, road trips are always so much fun. Especially if you decide to turn
off your route and do something completely unplanned.
Example: I went
from Split to Belgrade by car with 3 other people. That's about 1000 km, and
each of us spent only €25 on gas.
#3 LUGGAGE
Unlike many girls,
I always travel light for several
reasons: carry-on luggage is generally free of charge, and I don't have to
worry about my suitcase being too heavy to tow around (damn you, stairs at
metro stations!). That's why I always travel wearing the heaviest clothing
items that would take much room in my suitcase (such as boots and coats!), and
only pack up light, small items (underwear, makeup, towels, etc.). The number
of tops and T-shirts always by far exceeds the number of pants and skirts, and
I always try to find accommodation where I can wash and dry the items I wish to
reuse.
Of course, the very
first thing every traveler would check before going on a road is whether they
know someone in the city they're visiting who can provide them free accommodation. Whenever this isn't
an option, they would opt for cheap hostels, campsites, and similar. However,
for me, this eventually proved to be a very bad decision. Why? I am the kind of
person who can literally sleep anywhere: I have slept on floors, balconies,
beaches, etc. But what I can't stand is sharing bathroom with 20 or more
people, for both hygienic reasons and constant shortage of hot water. So I
eventually found the perfect solution: Airbnb.
This site allows you to rent out apartments, rooms and other types of
accommodation units from local hosts. In other words, you can rent out a wholly
equipped apartment for the price equal to that of a hostel bed. And the best
thing of all: you have your own kitchen (so you can save money on food), you
share bathroom only with your travel companions, and your luggage is much safer
than in a hostel. I honestly recommend checking this option out: and bear in
mind that each unit is rated by the people who had already stayed there, which
is often a great criterion for choosing from the vast offer.
Example: my 7
friends and I rented out two lovely little apartments in Paris for about €10
per night, and had a blast there!
Many great cities
have different types of public transport tickets available both to their
citizens and tourists: daily, weekly or
monthly passes. I recommend finding more information on this online prior to your trip, because you can save a lot by buying one of these.
Example: as soon as
I arrived to London, I bought an Oyster card. This ticket is valid for all types of public transport, and you can top it up at every subway station. And
it doesn't have an expiration date, so you can continue using if you ever
return to the city! Also, when you charge it for about £6 in one day, which is
equal to the price of a daily ticket, you can take any public transport for
free for the rest of that day. This is how my friends and I ended up hopping on
random double-deckers and driving around the city for an entire afternoon. One of the best travelling experiences ever! :D
#6 BONUS IDEA
If you are under 30
years old, you can join various Youth
Associations and travel on the expense of the EU, or other respective
institutions. They usually cover 75% costs of your transport to and from the
destination in question, 100% cost of your accommodation and 100% of your food.
Ergo, all you need is some pocket money! Of course, you'll have to participate
in and contribute to the project in question, but you can rest assured that
there'll be plenty of free time for your own activities!
Example: as a
member of the Croatian Youth Association, at one occasion I spent 13 days in Turkey, stayed at
a 5-stars hotel with a spa center, gym and international cuisine, met some wonderful people from Croatia, Latvia, Romania, and Turkey, and tanned in early
April! And I basically only paid for the return bus ticket from Split to
Zagreb!
If you think about the categories covered here, they
usually make for the greatest part of your travel expenses. But by following
these ideas, you can cut them at least in
half. The rest, evidently, depends on your preferences; whether you prefer eating out or preparing your own meals, whether you like visiting museums, galleries
and other places with an admission fee (by the way, the admission to most
museums in London is free!), are you into clubbing, etc. Of course, there are
ways to save money on these things as well, but I don’t suppose it would be
wise to further expand this already long post. Perhaps on another occasion, who
knows? For the time being, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite travel
photos and wish you as much time and chances to discover and enjoy
our beautiful world!
Thank you so much for reading and have a lovely day!
2 komentari
You have listed some really helpful advice here (and lovely photos, too)!
ReplyDeleteI will definitely check out airbnb.com when planning my next trip!
Thank you, Natasha, I really appreciate your comment!
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