Twenty or thirty years ago, backpacking was something of an oddity – a few hardy souls headed out on unknown tourist trails, before returning with tales of astonishing sites in far flung places. Now, however, it’s an acceptable alternative to a traditional holiday primarily because backpacking (not just carrying your bag, but the kind of accommodation and transport you use) is a much cheaper alternative.
That said, it’s not the only way of saving cash abroad, here are a few others that are worth thinking about.
A Global Bank
The British are fortunate because some of our biggest high street banks have truly global presences. Through Northern, Central and Southern America, for example, you can always find a Santander, and with it use your Santander card. Using local ATMs on cards is a great way of saving a lot of money, and if you can’t find a bank that’ll help you out, certain pre-paid services can do an even better job.
Hostel Not Hotel
Across much of the world, the line between hostels and hotels has blurred, places that would be considered high class local hotels, fall into broadly the same price category as most hostels would to European travellers. Check out sites like Hostelworld and pay particularly close attention to the reviews and the type of person who has left them.
Drinking Water
In most of the world you can’t drink from the taps, in fact, the list of countries where you can safely drink the tapwater is rather small. Although bottled water rarely costs a lot, over the duration of a holiday (or if you’re travelling in a group) the costs can easily run into the £100s without even realising it. A good alternative is to get a “tap safe” kit from a company like Drinksafe, these cost no more than £25 and turn just about any water source into pure, clean drinking water.
Finding Flights
The temptation for most people is to pop into a local holiday company and ask them to sort out your flights for you, but it’s not always the cheapest way of doing it. For a start, most earn a commission which is passed onto the customer, secondly, with a little research, you can sometimes get better deals yourself.
Good places to look are sites like Skyscanner and Kayak, both of whom claim to check every air company in the world to find the best prices. It’s also well worth switching between different currencies to look for flights as you’d be amazed how much cheaper it can be to buy in dollars than pounds with certain carriers.
Lots of research and a bit of forward thinking can shave hundreds off the cost of your holiday, but it is important not always to go for the cheapest option – particularly if you’re a long way from home.
