Long-term travelling can be a wonderfully enriching experience. However, it can also be very expensive. If you want to go on an extended holiday but are concerned about the costs, read on for some tips which should help to make your travels more affordable
Make sure you can prepare your own food
Most people who go on short holidays prefer to eat most, if not all of their meals in restaurants. However, if you intend to travel for several months and are on a tight budget, the cost of dining out every single day will drastically increase your overall expenditures. As such, one of the simplest ways to keep your expenses to a minimum is to ensure that you stay in accommodation which enables you to prepare your own food.
Ideally, you should seek out budget rental accommodation that comes with self-catering facilities, such as a cooker, a microwave, a fridge and some basic cutlery and utensils. This will allow you to prepare plenty of tasty meals for a fraction of the price that you would pay at a restaurant.
If there are no self-catering apartments in the area you intend to visit, the next best thing is to book a hotel which is located within walking distance of a supermarket. Whilst you won't, of course, be able to make hot food, being so close to the supermarket will enable you to pick up inexpensive ingredients at the start of each day, and then take them back to your hotel, where you can make simple things, such as sandwiches, salads, and cereal.
Stay in accommodation on the outskirts of the town or city
The owners of centrally-located hostels, hotels and holiday apartments tend to charge much higher prices than those who own holiday accommodation on the outskirts of a town or city. This is because central accommodation is more convenient and allows people to quickly access the area's attractions, bars, and restaurants.
If money is tight, however, it might be worth enduring a little bit of extra daily travel and opting for a slightly less conveniently-located hotel or hostel. Over the course of a few months, this approach could save you a substantial amount of money.
If you do decide to stay in accommodation which is on the outskirts of the area you'll be visiting, with the aim of saving yourself some money, you must be prepared to opt for low-cost forms of transport to get in and out of the town or city each day. If you decide to use taxis to ferry you back and forth, you overall expenditures will probably be just as high as they would have been had you stayed in a central hotel.
As such, you need to be willing to use public transport. If the climate of the area is quite warm, it might also be a good idea to rent a bicycle for the duration of your stay. Rental bikes are usually inexpensive and are great if you don't want to rely on buses and trains to get you where you need to go.
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