How to travel cheaply – 25 tips for those who want to travel a lot on a small budget

Writer: Helena Bergström

How can you travel on a budget? After many years of travelling in many different ways, we have become better and better at keeping costs down while still enjoying many fantastic travel experiences. Here we share our best tips!

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Our experiences of travelling on a budget

Perhaps we should start by saying that, as professional travel writers, we are sometimes invited on press trips. This means that we occasionally get the opportunity to go on trips without having to pay for the whole thing ourselves. However, even though this is the case, we often have to focus heavily on travel costs.

Working full-time as a travel writer means we have a limited income, and after all, only a small proportion of our trips are press trips. So there's still a lot of travelling we need to fund, on a small budget. After all the years of RVing, backpacking and flying around the world, we've accumulated some experience...

Our best tips for travelling on a budget

Here we share our best tips for travelling on a budget. We're not saying that travelling doesn't involve costs, but if you make a little effort, you can get a lot for your money...

1. Prioritise

This report is about how to travel cheaply – not about how to save money – but it all starts with priorities. There may be a small group of people who can afford everything in life without thinking twice, but for most people it's about making choices.

For example, we don't have a car or a summer cottage, and we regularly avoid many different consumer goods. For example, we don't have any pay TV channels for most of the year, and when we do decide to temporarily subscribe to a channel, it's only one channel at a time. Everyone has different priorities, but you almost always have to prioritise certain things in order to afford others.

2. Budget

Budgeting is especially important if your travel budget is tight. You don't want to end up having to borrow money or pay in instalments – then there is a risk that the trip will be significantly more expensive than necessary. Calculate your costs roughly in advance and don't forget to budget a little extra for unforeseen expenses – you can't predict everything that will happen on a trip...

3. Travel to inexpensive countries

If you want to travel cheaply, it's a good idea to choose countries where prices are lower. In Europe, you get the most for your money in the eastern parts, and you can, for example, have an affordable experience in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey or Lithuania.

If you have the opportunity to travel to Asia – which of course means a more expensive flight ticket – you may also encounter low prices once you arrive. For example, you get a lot for your money in Vietnam and Philippines. Also Egypt can be mentioned as an affordable destination.

4. Avoid trendy places

A reasonably cheap country... but a trendy destination? Then it may not be so cheap after all. In popular tourist destinations, prices tend to be geared towards tourists rather than the local population. Try a slightly more unexpected place that not so many people travel to. Who knows, you might find a real gem!

5. Travel during the off-season

If you want to travel cheaply, it's a very good idea Travelling during the off-season. Of course, this can be difficult if you have children in school, etc., but if you have the opportunity, there are significant savings to be made here. It's not just airfares that go down. Absolutely everything is cheaper during the off-season: hotels, restaurants, attractions, excursions.

6. Read up – and compare, compare, compare!

When it's time to book your trip, it's important to read up and compare, compare, compare. If you want to find good prices – and good solutions for your trip – it can take a lot of research. You simply have to be prepared to invest time!

7. Be flexible about your flight departure time

Can you fly on Wednesday as well as Tuesday? Would you be willing to get up early for an inconvenient flight time or include an unnecessarily long stopover? If you are flexible and willing to accept less convenient flights, you can also find significantly better prices on flights.

8. Think outside the box when it comes to travel routes

Sometimes it can be a good idea to think outside the box when booking your trip. For example, could you fly to an airport other than the closest one and take a bus or boat from there (if it's cheaper)? There's almost always more than one way to get to a destination...

9. Collect points

Earning points is something that must be mentioned when it comes to travelling cheaply. Many travel companies, from airlines to hotels, operate with so-called loyalty points. If you are a loyal, returning customer, it can therefore be cheaper to book with the same company again.

Because we travel in so many different ways, we are not the best at this, but if you frequently travel with the same company, or could do so, it may be worth checking out the possibilities.

10. Keep track of promotions

Promotions are another thing we're not very good at – but worth mentioning. By subscribing to newsletters from various airlines and travel companies, you can keep track of different promotions, making it cheaper to travel.

11. Pack a water bottle and snacks for the flight

No, eating at airports is not cheap, nor is eating on aeroplanes for that matter. Just buying a bottle of water at an airport can feel painfully expensive...

You are often not allowed to bring water through security, but you can bring an empty bottle. Inside the airport, there are often places where you can fill your bottle with drinking water. If possible, we also like to bring a packed lunch with us to the airport or on the plane.

12. Use local transport

There are often alternatives to taxis. In many cases, you can travel affordably by bus, commuter train or underground. Sometimes Bolt or Uber can also be a very budget-friendly alternative to traditional taxis. And if you are in Asia, tuk-tuks or bicycle taxis may be the way to go...

13. Travel in other ways: car, camping, train, etc.

Flying isn't the only way to travel. Depending on where you're going, it may be cheaper to choose the car or train. Or why not go on a camping holiday?

14. Do stuff with friends

Doing things together with friends can be a fantastic way to experience something extra, without it becoming too expensive. Perhaps you could rent a cottage together? Or visit each other's summer cottages?

We visited our friends in South Africa a few years ago, and they let us stay in their house and borrow their car. When they later visited us in Sweden, they first stayed at our house, and then they came with us. around Sweden in our motorhome. What experiences!

15. Stay in cheap accommodation

Accommodation is often one of the biggest expenses during a trip, so if you are open to inexpensive accommodation options, there are significant budget savings to be made. We have stayed extremely cheaply at simple places in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Vietnam. We have often paid around 150-300 Swedish kronor per night for a double room, in some cases including breakfast.

In South Africa, we also found affordable (and often cosy!) small guesthouses for around £60 per night for a double room including breakfast. We usually use the Hotels.com app and sometimes look for guesthouses or bed and breakfasts rather than hotels.

16. Dare to try other forms of accommodation

We would also like to encourage you to try other types of accommodation. One option is to book a house/cottage, flat or apartment hotel, which also has the advantage of allowing you to cook your own meals whenever you want. Don't forget that you can also book a cottage at a campsite, which often offers accommodation in a beautiful location. Here are some accommodation options to consider:

• Rent a house/cottage/flat
• Apartment hotel
• Cottage on a campsite
• Motorhome/caravan/van
• Tents
• Home Swapping (exchanging homes with another family)

17. Cook your own food

If you book accommodation with your own kitchen (e.g. a cottage, flat or caravan), there are even more budget savings to be made. Eating out at restaurants often eats up a large part of your travel budget. When we travel by motorhome, we eat around 98 per cent of all our meals in the motorhome, which means that dining out on our travels costs no more than at home (perhaps even less if you are travelling in a country with lower food costs).

When we travelled around by car in South Africa We also cooked our own food relatively often, that is, when we had the opportunity to cook. We drove around with a box in the car containing dry goods and canned food ...

18. Prepare your own breakfast or picnic

Even if you are staying at a hotel, you can prepare some meals yourself. A picnic lunch on the beach or in a park is often an excellent option. If breakfast is not included when we stay at a hotel, we usually buy something simple to eat in the hotel room: bread, cold cuts, yoghurt, etc.

19. use payment cards without unnecessary fees

There are many different payment cards available, and it's good to know that there are often fees associated with them. Most Swedish cards charge 2-3 per cent per purchase abroad. Some ATMs also add an extra fee on top of the bank's withdrawal fee.

Which card you choose can therefore make a big difference in your wallet. The Northmill card is an example of a card that is completely free of fees both at home and abroad. The physical card is also free of charge and travel insurance is included. You become a customer in just 3 minutes with BankID and can then Swisha into the account and start paying directly with the virtual card. The personal account is of course covered by the deposit guarantee and Northmill Bank has a banking license.

Click here to access the registration of a Northmill card.

20. Think carefully about what you pack – so you don't have to shop unnecessarily

By thinking through your packing a little extra – both before the trip and before various excursions during the trip – you can avoid unnecessary shopping. By packing a water bottle/snacks/towel/shawl/rain jacket or whatever else you might suddenly need, you can avoid panic shopping in an extra expensive shop to solve the situation urgently.

21. Always carry coffee powder in your bag

It's always good to have small packets of coffee powder in your bag. And why not some tea bags and a few pieces of chocolate? Hotel rooms often have coffee makers and sometimes even coffee powder – but not always! By making coffee and tea in your room, you don't have to go out and buy coffee at a café...

22. Enjoy free entertainment

Believe it or not, not all entertainment costs money. Here are some travel activities and experiences that are often free:

• Parker
• Sun and swimming on beaches
• Hiking and nature experiences
• Churches
• Free museums
• Architecture
• Public art
• City walk using a map or app
• ”Free Walking Tours (Tips are expected)
• Local markets and festivals

23. Be open to small adventures

It's not just the big adventures that count! A trip can also be an excursion to a neighbouring municipality, a camping weekend in another Swedish town or a road trip by car to Swedish nature areas. You don't always have to travel far away to have wonderful experiences!

24. Don't skimp on important things

Saving and being frugal is all well and good, but there are some things you shouldn't skimp on. Always make sure you have insurance when travelling (but comparing prices from different insurance companies can be a good idea!). Also, make sure you have the necessary health checks and get any vaccinations you need. After all, health is the most important thing!

25. Earn money while travelling

Last but not least. Are you planning to travel for an extended period of time? Then it might be a good idea to try to earn money while you travel. Here are a few different ways to do that:

• Rent out your home while you travel.
• Take a job at your destination: restaurant work, seasonal work at a ski resort, etc.
• Do your usual job, but remotely.
• Work digitally: translation, language review, proofreading, web development, accounting, etc.
• Generate income through your own blog, YouTube channel or similar.

Travelling on a budget – more tips

Do you usually think about travelling cheaply, or getting as much value for money as possible on holiday? Do you have any more tips for travelling cheaply?