10 ways to stretch your budget while traveling

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When you’re seeing a place for the first time, you still have much to explore, and you don’t feel like cutting short your holiday after only a few weeks but you’re budget is stretching thin, what can you do? Many travelers dream of having access to unlimited travel funds, but unless you win the lottery, you need to think about your budget and how to make it last longer.

Fortunately, with a but of planning you can do big things with  little money and have a fun holiday without annihilating your bank account completely. Here are 10 ways to stretch your budget while traveling.

House sitting, house swapping or couch surfing

Budget hostels are a good way to save money, but if you are planning to stay more than a couple of weeks, there’s something else that you can do: swap houses or house sit. You can rent out your home for short term, and offer to house sit for someone at the destination where you intend to travel. Websites like Mind My House or Caretaker allow you to search for house-sitting jobs by country and city.

Another option is to swap houses, which means that you can live in a comfy house and live like a local. If you want to stay for a shorter time, you can surf for couches. CouchSurfing is a networking site that helps you find people who offer up their couches for travelers, so if you like meeting people and socializing it might work for you.

Camping

If you are going to the countryside or to a resort town, staying at a hotel can be expensive. Find a campsite and learn to live in nature. Putting up your own tent and spending a night under a canvas roof is tons of fun, if you are into this sort of thing. You can picnic, eat marshmallows or swap stories with other travelers around the camp fire. Camping is quite safe and most camping grounds have security guards, and the fees are very affordable.

Save up on transport

Traveling first class on the train is surely comfortable, but it will cost you much more than second class. So give up on a bit of comfort, and instead mingle with the locals – in many countries, first class carriages are almost empty. In any case, buying rail pass is a good idea if you don’t plan on staying in the same place for long.

If you taking the plane, start hunting for deals, and either buy your ticket way before your travel date, or just before it. And when you’ve arrived at your destination, try to use public transport as little as possible, and rent a bike if you get tired of walking. Biking is a great way to see the countryside too, especially if you are visiting scenic places like the Italian coast.

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