“Cheap Traveling” options will save your money and you will enjoy more while traveling. Usually, people dream about flying business class, or in ultra-luxurious private jets to faraway destinations to spend their vacation time. They’d like to check into the largest and most posh hotel in the country they’re visiting, taste exquisite dishes, and shop from the shiniest stores. Chrome, gleam, riches, and glitter – stuff that make up the dreams of most travelers. But there are travelers who work right in the opposite way too!
A growing number of millionaires are preferring hotels and home stays to large hotel chains, especially if they’re traveling to a different country for holiday and not business purposes.
- One reason they prefer to do so is because they get the authentic feeling of the place they’re visiting, and not just a second-hand impression from their golden, expensive glasses (read hotel rooms!).
- The next reason for them to do so is because the food at such places tends to be more delicious than the food served in three, five, or seven-star hotels. Locals know the food that the people of the land prefer, and they cook them in just that way. Using fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats, there are mouth-watering dishes that can be found in these small hotels, unlike most large ones which serve staple tourist fares such as pizzas, burgers, and cookies.
- The global traveler is now finding it easier to get modes of transportation at shorter frequencies. They get almost all the amenities they need even in small, quaint, hotels, and the hospitality at such places tends to be more personal and warm. What’s to hate in them!
- Last, but not the least, smaller lodging places charge reasonable rates of their customers rather than hosing them just in the name of AC, wi-fi, bed coffee or tea, or even bottled water! These places offer almost all the services and amenities found in larger hotels (not the really small, cheap, and risky lodges though!) and their cost is a fraction of what you’d have paid in hotels booked by travel agents.
Making Your Choice
While it is true that saving, money has its own appeal, there are many who have the belief that costly is better. Here are a few reasons why an avid traveler however feels that travelling cheaper is a much better option rather than opting for costlier travel and accommodation alternatives:
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- Convenient – Lesser cash and lesser number of cards, the easier it would be for you to carry your wealth around! All you need is a small purse or a wallet to carry enough to get you through the day. Instead of lugging about large purses and wallet camouflaged with something bigger, use as many cards and traveler check as possible and pre-book things such as tour rides, meal reservations, etc.
- Exploration – If you are going backpacking or taking a gap year, when your budget is modest, you tend to look for modestly prices establishments, be it thrift stores or restaurants. There are a much larger number of those with an authentic, local flavour to be found in any place than the expensive varieties. For example, there are several craft emporiums to be found in Rajasthan selling clothes, jewellery, and artefacts at double or triple the price that you’d find on small lanes running through forts and other small shops found throughout the state.
- Safer – When you dress, shop, and travel simply, you attract lesser attention. You don’t become the target for thugs and robbers who prey specifically on tourists who walk around flashing very expensive things and splurging money on every costly thing they can buy. Dress and behave like a true traveler, and chances are you may pass off for a local and not come in the radar of such people.
- Shopping trick – it’s usual human mentality to try and con outsiders for anything as soon as tricky tradesmen know they are from another state or country. It’s not just in India; every tourist destination in the world has a policy of slightly overpricing things when they see affluent outsiders or people who really have no clue about the true worth of the service or product they’re about to buy. When you show that you travel simply and have simple needs, they automatically adjust their inflation accordingly, and you stand a better chance at beating down the price to a much more reasonable one!
- More and more – Another advantage of traveling cheap is that you get to travel more and cram in more things and opportunities on your expeditions. Let’s understand this with an example. Let’s say you’ve saved INR 50,000 in one year just for traveling purposes. You’re a single female and you thoroughly enjoying exploring new places on your own. One friend of yours suggests taking a trip to an exotic place such as Thailand or Singapore. With that budget, you can get cheap airfares if you book your tickets in advance, and you can fit in a spot of shopping and sightseeing too. But you have to compromise on the accommodation because they are quite steeply priced. Another friend of yours suggests taking a trip to a north-eastern state such as Meghalaya, Shillong, or Manipur. They are amazing places to travel in, with delicious cuisines and an amazing array of things to shop. Now, to confuse you even more, one of your relatives calls you up and asks you to attend a wedding in Delhi, which is also a happening place! Confused? Rather than opting for just one place – Singapore, you could fit in 2 trips – 1 to a north-eastern state and the other to Delhi, and explore two new, diverse places. Plus, you save a lot on accommodation as they’ll be taken care of in one place by our relatives! Save the Singapore trip for a later time, when you’ve saved enough again, and explore as many places as possible in this way!
Traveling without a truckload of cash gives you a carefree attitude. You subconsciously don’t have to worry about the cash or valuables you’re carrying. Instead, you can fully enjoy the experience of being a tourist and make the most of your journeys! So, say cheers to budget traveling!
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