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rok-sivante (75) in travel • 8 years ago (edited)

8 years ago by rok-sivante (75)

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nejc1107 (50) · 8 years ago

hey great post there ! :)

I travel a lot come and check on my blog i post some stuff ;)

Cheers !!!

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1 vote

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dvhaley (43) · 8 years ago

Your point is very well put. I've experienced some of these things myself -such as losing $800 on non-refundable flights due to a earlier flight delay by a different carrier. With more complex travel itineraries the importance I place on flexibility rises such that I'll at least consider paying more for refundable or at least date-flexible tickets. This whole concept of paying slightly more to avoid getting much less for your money is becoming more important in the US as some of the legacy airlines introduce basic economy fares similar to what we already expect from the low cost airlines such as Spirit, Frontier or Ryanair.

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2 votes

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rok-sivante (75) · 8 years ago

Erghhh, yeah, I could see situations like those as quite the pain. Great point to add in!

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codybitscott95 (47) · 8 years ago

So lucky!

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1 vote

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world-travel-pro (76) · 8 years ago

Great to stumble across a post like this. I've been living out of backpack for over 10 years and I know exactly what you;re talking about and agree with all your advice given here. Especially in certain countries when it comes to cuisine, paying extra for quality. Flying hub air port to hub airport will save people big too.

I like how you talk about travel as a learning experience....for me 10 years later all I know is travel. I consider myself and expert in budget travel and really like how your post is about cutting unnecessary expense and learning from experience.

I'm new on here compared to you. 3 month's and I'm still technically pond scum not even a minnow compared to some statistics I've read. That's fine, cause I have a growing following and people that really value my travel advice and posts.

Recently I've had some whales take notice of my excellent quality work and it's really made a big difference for me here. I think you'd like what I do on here. I certainly like what you just posted. Right up my alley.

From Koh Pha Ngan Thailand -Dan "World Travel Pro!"

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1 vote

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septim (32) · 8 years ago

In my humble experience, the best places to save some money are accommodation and the choice of the destination.
Saving money on food, as you very well said, is not ideal as experiencing the food is part of the reason you're travelling in the first place. Of course you don't have to overspend every day here, but make sure you try the local stuff in a decent place.
The cool stuff with Airbnb or similar is that you can save money and meet local people, at the same time. In my case this was a great money saver and source of happiness during the trip.

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1 vote

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corganmusic (53) · 8 years ago

My gf (ex) and I went to Scandinavia. We stayed at AirBnbs most the trip, a few hostels/campgrounds. It's hard to minimize costs while trying to adventure & still feel like you've experienced the city.

The most interesting local cuisine was eating Mexican food in Norway. Norwegian's opinion of burritos is awful lol.

We fell into the same thing lmao - we thought it was such a short distance on a map but was actually a few miles haha. we had to get an Uber.

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1 vote

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livinguktaiwan (74) · 8 years ago

Another great way to save a few pennies is to use the coupons from the free tourist booklets. Often they contain a lot of useless adverts but occasionally when I find a coupon for somewhere I was planning to go anyway, it is great.

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superhardness (63) · 8 years ago

nice post.

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happymoneyman (70) · 8 years ago

Some good tips. Do you ever listen to the Tim Ferris podcast. One of his tips kind of lines up with yours. He recommends splurging for a first class ticket on long air travel. When you get to your destination you're able to enjoy the first day instead of spending it recovering in bed.

There are some things that it helps to pay extra for and some places it helps to save money. It's all about being intentional and figuring the best angles. Thanks for your travel tips.

Cheers to you two on your trip. Enjoy.

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rok-sivante (75) · 8 years ago

Yeah, I concluded that'd be another essential factor for future trips as economy from Vancouver o Paris was NOT fun this time. Gotta stretch the income by next time, but WELL-worth it if possible...

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victorier (66) · 8 years ago

Cool! That's useful! I will definitely take note for that!

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juvyjabian (72) · 8 years ago

Its true, most of the time the cheapest things are not listed on the net. They are just around but the problem is we will find it out after concluded an action. Theirs a saying "better luck next time". But all in all traveling is amazing.

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harshallele (58) · 8 years ago

I think it depends on what you are looking out of that trip. If you are looking to get away from everyday life and relax, then sure, do it comfortably. But if you are a young person looking at having fun with your friends, then going into it without a plan can lead to a great trip.

Ultimately, if you are looking for material comforts, then spend what is required. But if you want an experience, then i think not having a plan, doing it ad-hoc can actually be better.

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rok-sivante (75) · 8 years ago

Amen. Many different strategies appropriate for different people at different times...

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myrockandocean (57) · 8 years ago (edited)

I agree! We have all saved a budget leading up to our big trip and no matter how prepared we are, how careful we did with the bookings & reservations, something will just come up and give us lessons.

I may not as lucky as my clients who can afford travel advisors to tailor made their trips but I did enjoy mixing some skeleton planned visits with some ad-hoc experiences. We did it with our honeymoon in Sicily.

Checking the travel distances between places are always useful and for some of the days we let it carefree and book the hotels when we were actually on the island (this might not work when traveling in high season though!). We ended up staying longer in some places and shorter in others. It's very relaxing specially when you like to sleep in and do pretty much nothing on certain days. But hey, you're on holiday 🥂🌴🏖

Thanks @rok-sivante for this inspiring story! Cannot wait for the next one!!

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wrongjohn (54) · 8 years ago

Sometimes we get so caught up trying to save a few pennies that we miss out on the joys and pleasures of life. Relax a little. Enjoy a lot. You have one life.

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rok-sivante (75) · 8 years ago

True dat.

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nealeana (43) · 8 years ago

Thank you so much for the tips! They are really useful. When I travel for 3-4 days, try to live in a hostel, but more than four days, it's hard to live without a private shower and toilet. Paris and Venice are on my wish list, so your advice will be especially necessary to me!

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mikeshuh (57) · 8 years ago

I think your biggest additional cost is not monetary. It's missing out on an hour here or there in a place that you may never get to enjoy again. The cheapest option is definitely not always your best one when traveling.

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rok-sivante (75) · 8 years ago

YEP.

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1 vote

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travelgirl (77) · 8 years ago (edited)

Some great tips there especially the food and attraction tickets section. Also depends where you are going, you can try reading up some past experience from travelers as I find sometimes tips from others help make your travels a lot smoother.

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nedspeaks (59) · 8 years ago

I have travelled most of my life and I must add one simple tip. On your travels don't try to save money EVER. It's more costly to deal with the troubles that come with "savings". Travel first class, stay in the best hotel and eat great. How often does one go on vacation? Save on day to day life and splurge on vacation.

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rok-sivante (75) · 8 years ago

If can afford the best of everything, absolutely. Of course, not everyone has the budget for first class and five star all the way so some trade offs may be necessary, though certain small differences are definitely worth a slight cost increase...

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1 vote

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world-travel-pro (76) · 8 years ago

Not everyone has money for first class and high end hotels. Have you traveled most you life, or a lavish vacation once a year. I've been liing out of a backpack traveling the world for 10 years, and couldn't disagree with you more. You look very wealthy and a great earner in your suit and tie photo. But I think you are out of touch with the average westerner who can't come up with an extra 500 dollars if they tried and are on average 5k in debt. For many the only way to travel is on a shoe string budget. Much respect -Dan "World Travel Pro"

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magicmonk (73) · 8 years ago

I'm one of those that always go for the cheap option :( must re-think my ways. thanks.

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stacydewet (34) · 7 years ago

GREAT post and some very good tips and advice!!

As someone who has travelled on a shoe-string budget in my youth, I have experienced much of what you mentioned, but as you clearly pointed out, cutting costs CAN actually cost you in the end (time spent travelling/possible missed connections etc), and though in some cases the cheap flight websites may seem like a good option, they are not LIVE realtime, so often additional costs are added, and often the traveller doesn't notice that there is a SUPER long layover or two, which is what makes it cheaper.

though us travel agents can't always beat the website prices, most of us have deals with the airlines (if not, a small service fee is charged by the agent - to cover cost) and hardly ANY of us mark up or charge extra for car rental, accommodation, packages, cruises or attraction tickets as we GET comm, and usually have negotiated rates CHEAPER than the rack rates online....... the added bonus is our knowledge of visas/minimum connection times and destination information.

JUST this last quarter I had 4 different "new clients" request various quotes on various dates, routings and numerous variations of the same package.... 2 weeks later they booked all on the net (saved the equivalent of $60 USD per person on the flights....... not only were connections missed, visas were not applied for in some cases (in which case you are refused entry) - 100% cancellation period for hotels and land arrangements so no refund and had to PURCHASE new tickets home as their cheapie tickets were non-refundable too, and the website connections given were UNDER minimum connection time for he relevant airport

ALL worst case scenarios, yes, but the equivalent of approximately $60 is well worth the time, care and effort your agent will spend making sure your itinerary runs smoothly and all components booked through reputable operators :)

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