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Traveling long term has turned us into an obsessive deal finders. There is no happier moment than finding the travel agent that sells the ticket to some place for cheapest and no sadder moment than the time we have to buy something at fixed price. But as we are getting better at traveling, we realize that traveling is not about saving money but instead about the experience of traveling. But is there any harm in saving those bucks to help you travel a little longer? No! So here are five ways we actually save money (as opposed to five ways our family and friends think we save money):
1. By not throwing money around – No hot air ballooning, no kayaking, no fancy cooking classes nor any food tours. We filled our adventure lust by trekking up and down the Himalayas before travelling to South East Asia and as for anything touristy; we have no desire for it. We never splurge, not even once in a while. We hate the word splurge because splurge means that we may have to reduce our travel time and get back to our jobs. Life is perfect in a guest house room with a balcony and meals at local places. Fine dining and luxury resorts are for someone else.
2. By bargaining for accommodation – No, unlike what people travelling with us may want to believe, we do not bargain for restaurant meals or bottles of water (okay may be sometimes) but no matter what hotel it is in whichever part of the world, we have stood at its reception and bargained unabashedly and unfailingly for a lower price and on not receiving a better price we have walked out without much thought even if there was a hailstorm or typhoon outside.
3. By being attentive listeners – no matter what language the conversation around us is in, we always pick up the keywords and look for prices quoted. You see, to find a good deal you have to be a good listener (maybe even an eavesdropper) to hear what your fellow travelers paid for the day trips they did, onward travel tickets they bought or hotel they stayed in. There is nothing that drives me crazier than realization that I paid more for something than what others did. I always want the best deal. Always! And sitting around in cafes and overhearing conversation helps or sometimes just cornering fellow travelers to get a full report on what they did and for how much helps too.
4. By traveling to countries with cheaper cost of living – There is no way to stretch that buck (in our case rupee) in “developed” countries. On our round the world travels, we have so far only been to countries that have the cost of living similar to that of India. This has helped us travel longer. And also, being from India we have some idea of how much things really cost and that in turn helps us bargain.
5. By travelling slow and staying at places longer – On an average day when we are not travelling or doing anything (which is often) we spend somewhere between $20-$25 a day. Transportation and some freak tourist (read: Westerners) oriented activities take up the largest chunk of the money. So when we get to a place which we like, we stick around, which helps in negotiating the room prices and find great places to eat.
Interesting points. Especially the listening bit. I feel social media is helping make travel a different experience- cost and sightseeing wise.
richa singh recently posted…How could he forget?-Part 16
Richa,
The biggest lesson is budgeting is to be shameful. Recently a room which was quoted 2400, we started bargaining with 800. Besharmi is the key to budgeting.
Hotel owners will almost agree to any price
-Empty Rucksack
Empty Ruck Sack recently posted…Rajasthan Road Trip 6 Bundi Jaipur
Travelling has always been a distant dream or tales of long journeys and escapades. What social media can do advertise it a lot. Much of it is a good lie about how its such an unreachable goal for many reserved only for the corporate I guess? Nomadic Matt is a great example of how people are doing it nowadays. Its a great option for everyone anyways, if music technology and computers can be made available for everyone, travel also should have a common denominator.
However, I feel that democratizing everything, while making it more accessible to the general public, also diminished the perceived value.
Imagine if your local rickshaw-wala or doodh-wala returns from Sweden/Paris every weekend, where do you stand? What makes you cool?
However, a lot of it can be backed by education another sector which needs real reform. I guess even if the rickshaw-wala goes to EU for year, he wont be able to do much beyond earn a living at most. I have known people in the past who for some reason had to visit countries abroad and he could not even name the airports that he visited, let alone the local language, culture, music, movies, food and an intelligent conversation – just forget that part for sure.
Just like everyone can go to school but only the deserving ones get ranked by their own merit, this applies to everything, even travel. The “system” wants your money and control you by controlling resources, its really that simple. The schooling is mainly tailored to build in obedience so that the ‘system’ has less to deal with. Once you see the picture, things actually get a little difficult – till you readjust and the it all flows..
Travel can be hacked, just like computers – complexity breeds more vulnerability.
Interesting list on how you guys save money… From your comment on our blog you mentioned moving to Australia… What are your thoughts on the cost of living here? 🙂
Rosemarie,
We plan on working in Australia, and traveling alongside. Guess it won’t seem as expensive if we are getting paid in AUD 🙂
Empty Rucksack
Haha true! Good luck with the move! Give us a shout if you are down in the capital!