- Eat local
There is no better way to save money than eating like a local, beside that you can also experience what the local cusine taste like and when I mean eating local, I don´t mean expensive restaurants in in the main square, but hawkers in places like South America or South East Asia are a great option, or check what the supermarkets have to offer, then they can give you a small idea how the cusine in some places are. Now almost every hostel has a kitchen that you can use and meet travelers like you that want to save some bucks on a meal.
2. Couchsurfing
Couchsurfing is a platform that conect travelers with locals and also a great way to save some money while you are on the road. Popular worldwide, couchsurfing is an alternative to meet new travelers, have a drink with a local or crash by someone, who is happy to show you their home town. If you want to get better chances in a Couchsurfing request, check my article „Tips to get a couch in Couchsurfing“
3. Free Tours
Photo Source: Trip Advisor
I love the free tours and I recomend them everywhere I go; free tours are very popular all over Europe and United States and it´s an excelent way to learn a lot about a new city and make new friends who are traveling as well. A free tour is a tour that is based on tips; you have a well informed, friendly and nice guide that will lead you to the main spots in a city and tell you the history of those places in exchange for tips if you enjoy your tour. These tour guides make such a great job, so they can get tips, that this kind of tours end up being much better for those you paid in advance.
4. Rent a bicycle
Probably the best trasportation method when it comes about discovering a new city, bicycles are getting popular all over the world. From old cities in Europe, to ancient towns in Thailand and Laos; bicyles are available to rent almost everywhere and if you are traveling in sommer in Europe, I would recomend you to get a bike card for 3€ a month, which you can use to travel with a bicycle for 30 min free and save a lot of money in transportation.
5. Forget the souvenirs
The truth is that nobody uses that keychain from Paris that your aunt gave it to you after her trip in Europe and you shouldn´t feel bad about it. Souvenirs is a great way to keep memory of the travels you had, but if we think a little bit about it, we are not going to use some of this stuff in less than 2 months. Better save your money and make photos with messages for your lovely ones or send postcards with personal experiences. I´m sure they will apreciate it much more than that ugly tshirt of Amsterdam that cost you 10€
6. Get lost
Once I heard „Getting lost can lead to unexpected adventures“ and I can´t tell you how true and motivational this quote is. Discovering a city doesn´t mean to go to the places you know they are, but going to place that amaze you and the best way to find those places is having no idea where you are going. Getiing lost in a city brings you excitement and this feeling that you are controling your travel and not the opossite way.
7. Travel by bus
From all transportation methods that you can use while traveling between cities, the bus is the cheapest you will find. When I say -travel by bus, some people imagine really old buses filled with stinky people and a horrible experience, but traveling by bus is actually very confortable and most buses have now electric plugs, wifi and media galleries with movies and series to make your experience better than expected.
8. Check travel forums
Travel forums, facebook websites, Couchsurfing forums; there are 1000 posibilities to find amazing travel deals or fun events to spend your time in a city you don´t know. From language meetings to parties without entry and free drinks, checking a travel forums in the place you are might make the difference between a boring night or a night to remember. I found a pillow fight event in New York City and an awesome party in Shanghai thanks to this tip and those are experiences that I will never forget.
9. Carry your student id
Everybody tells you that a student card will save you some money, but you never know where. Maybe the problem is that you probably don´t ask enough about it; student ids can get you discounts in hotels, flight tickets, tours and museums, you just need to ask and inform yourself.
For a long holiday inform yourself about the International Student Card, which have discounts and coupons in almost every city around the world.
10. Plan in advance
This is probably the biggest tip I can give you in this article. Planing in advance will save you more money than you think; we are now living in a world where internet is a great travel agent and you just need to wait until your dream deal comes out. Check websites like Skyscanner or ITA-Matrix, where you can set an alarm that inform you when your wished tickets have the cheapest price; this websites will also redirect you to the cheapest website where you can buy them.
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