Travel Guide

Travel is seemingly becoming more accessible with the dropping of flight prices and the exposure to different destinations via social media. Even so, there is always the added element of planning the trip, executing and still thinking of finances.

I had this duality within that wanted to travel, but wanted to wait. I thought that maybe if I waited a bit longer then I can "do it right" or have a little more capital to play with. The other half prevailed and I planned a European adventure at 18 with some high school graduation money. I stayed in hostels, rode public transportation everywhere and found local spots where I satiated my hunger. I had the time of my life. I was exposed to so many different cultures, cuisines, parties and, of course, men. I met locals and other travelers. It was during this summer when I realized that this was the time to travel, since I had the energy to rally all day and night, yet not having to worry about bills or a family to tend to.

Another thing I realized was that no matter how much money I had or will have, I wanted to stay in hostels. That was the crux of my fun: they helped plan my days, engage in local activities and meet other young travelers. As I became more experienced, hitting new countries and expanding to other continents, I became more savvy. I would spend hours on my incognito window, playing with different algorithms to find the best flight prices. I feel like I found the best recipe to planning a budget friendly trip, without being tied to only eating in markets and hopping public transit turn-styles.

Tips

1. Google Flights, Incognito Window: Play around with different nearby destinations or even multi-city (sometimes that's cheaper than a regular RT). When I was in South America I wanted a one way from Lima to Cusco and a one way from Cusco to Santiago. I played around and found that it was cheaper to buy two roundtrip tickets and skipping one of the legs on each set of flights. Another time I had a twenty hour layover in Tokyo on my way to New Delhi and humored myself to see how much more it would cost me to buy an extra flight and spend a couple extra days in Tokyo. By adding that flight, it actually lowered the overall price by $150. I got a flight from JFK to Tokyo, Tokyo to New Delhi, Jakarta to JFK for just shy of $800.
2. Download apps like Hitlist if you want to plan a spontaneous trip or Hopper if you are planning ahead of time.
3. Stay in hostels! Even though sometimes hostels have a bad rep, I will say that I have never had a bad experience. Hostels are for young people who want to save some money, meet others and travel. Likeminded people. I stick to Hostelworld suggestions. They are featured for a reason. If for whatever reason you do not like those ones, I pick the ones closest to the city center. Never forget the three rules of real estate: location, location, location.
4. Don't freak out when calculating how much food costs. Instead of nickle and diming a budget for food, you should look at the difference between how much money you will spend at home vs. abroad. In reality, from my experience as bicoastal between LA and NYC, food anywhere else in the world is cheaper and I save money on food when I travel. Also stay away from restaurants close to big tourist destinations. My motto is buy it to bite it!
5. You're not married to taking trains and buses. There are a lot of low cost airlines. A flight between Madrid and Barcelona can be cheaper than the train!
6. Use public transportation: A lot of taxis will jack up prices if they can sniff out a tourist. Buses and trains are easy and cheap. There are a lot of people willing to help if you're lost. If you are in one place for an extended period of time, look into an unlimited pass.

These are the main points I tend to focus on when I save money for a trip. There are a lot of work/travel programs available. For me, it took time and experience to figure out the little things. Buy memories, not things.