What are some traveling tips to save money?

What are some traveling tips to save money?

I am not the type of person who will take the longest flights to save a few hundred bucks, and I don’t clip coupons while I am on the road. I believe it is better to spend time making more money, rather than saving. Frugal living should be a lifestyle, not just random things you do here and there. I don’t spend too much time worrying about saving money; instead I develop habits that will help me avoid wasting my hard earned money.

Here are some ways to save money and travel more without killing yourself in the process.

1.Check Out Sharing Economy Services

Last summer, my grandmother asked my family to take her to New York City for the first time. That wasn’t her only “first” during this trip.

My grandmother and mother took their first Uber, and asked that they never take a taxi again. My 75 year old grandmother who barely speaks English, enjoyed conversations with Uber drivers. She asked us to translate their stories. Every Uber trip was an interesting story she wanted to hear. Grandmother asked us to teach her how to call an Uber.

They stayed in their first AirBnB apartment and loved it. My mother told me to buy 2 condos when we get back and become an AirBnB host. They were in love with the concept and experience.

Shared economy services have changed the way many of us travel. And it is not just for the younger generation. It helps cut out the middlemen and connect the service providers to the customers. This helps improve customer service and reduces costs significantly.

Using shared economy services is a great way to lower your travel expenses, get better services and creates a more authentic experience.

You don’t need to be travelling to Uber. If you live in a busy city, using public transportation and Ubering is cheaper than owning a car in most cases.

It doesn’t stop there. Now you can find Uber for almost everything. For example, you can eat authentic food at the home of local chef usingEatWith. You get a richer experience at a fraction the cost of a fancy dinner in a tourist area.

Before you book a hotel, call a cab or make a reservation at a restaurant during your trip, check out the shared economy service options. It might save you some money and it allows you to get a more unique and authentic experience.

Get $15 off first ride with Uber

Get $27 CAD off your first AirBnB booking.

2. Leverage Business Trips

People ask why I have been visiting so many places recently. Most of my trips are business. I am lucky, because at ThinkRenegade, we work with a lot of travel brands. We often have the opportunity to travel to exotic places for work.

Sometimes I bring my family with me on business trips and extend the travel by a few days. They can explore the city while I am working. That saves me the cost of my flight; clients never have problem with it.

3. Don’t Wait Until The Last Minute

During the New York Trip, my grandmother was surprised that I knew all the best places to do everything. That wasn’t luck.

Before every trip, I create a Google My Map for every city I am going to visit. I added all the top attractions, the top restaurants, top bars — all the important places (hotels, airport, train station etc.)to Google My Map.

It is a great way to find affordable places while traveling and stay within your budget. Before a trip, you should check out review sites and top list articles for affordable restaurants and attractions. Add them to your map, and search when you need to find a place to eat. If you wait until the last minute, you will have to pay premium price.

Also don’t book your accommodations and flights last minute. They are usually much more expensive. Don’t book too early nor too late.

4. Plan Less

I love travel planning.I love researching the history and culture of every city I visit. Sometimes I think I like planning even more than travelling. However, the best part of travel is being spontaneous. It is about meeting new people, going to new places and trying new things.

If we plan too much, we lose the beauty of travelling. And over planning can cost you. If you have booked everything and have to cancel last minute, most likely you won’t get your money back. Plan the overall trip but don’t worry too much about the finer details. You should focus on enjoying the moments instead of trying to stick to all your plans.

5. Bring Less

My suitcase for a week trip and a month trip look identical. I just finished packing my clothes for my one month Asia trip. Five years ago I had four suitcases of clothes for a similar trip. This time, I have 10 dresses, a pair of flats and a pair of heels.All my clothes are low maintenance clothes. I can easily wash and hang them to dry everyday. It is usually faster than a dry cleaning service. I even took a few trips last year with only a carry-on. I still manage to look great with a minimal amount of stuff, and it’s nice not worrying about the possibility of lost luggage.

The more things you bring with you on the road, the more likely you will become a slave to them. Many budget airlines will charge extra for checked bag. Also you will waste a lot of valuable time waiting in baggage check lines.

And if the airline loses your luggage, you will spend more money to buy things on the road. It is a risk I cannot take when traveling for business; I cannot speak at a conference wearing a tshirt and jeans. It’s fine, but it doesn’t align with my personal brand.

Bringing fewer things will make your life easier. Less is more.

6.Get A Local Or Roaming Sim

The first thing I ask when I get to a new country is INTERNET. I lose more money being unplugged. If you stay long enough in a country, it is a good idea to get a local prepaid card or a roaming Sim.

I have two roaming sim cards for US and Mexico travel. It allows me to check my emails and use any app services such as Uber on the road. The amount of money I save and make from having unlimited data while travel is much more than the cost of a roaming card.

7. Make Local Friends Before You Travel

Whenever I go to a new city, I always hang out with local people. Twitter makes the world much smaller. I have friends everywhere I go. It is the best way to explore a new place like a local and get an authentic experience. By avoiding all the tourist places, you will have a much better experience at a lower price.

Tinder isn’t just for dating. I use it as a way to meet local people to hangout with on the road.I have met some of my good friends on Tinder.

8. Dress Polished

I always make sure I look extremely polished on the road even if I am tired. Looking my best is important to me, I take pride in my home country Canada, so when I’m working abroad I want to represent. You would never bump into me wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt at an airport. Always a nice comfy dress, black heels and oversized sunglasses.

I always get nice treatment from the TSA, free upgrades and lots of free perks on the road. People treat me much nicer when I look put together.People are more likely to be nicer to people they like.

Dressing up doesn’t mean wearing uncomfortable clothes. You just need to wear stretchy and breathable material. I like to wear black on the road.

9. Stock Up On Snacks

Growing up with so many kids in the house taught me this valuable habit. Once we were on a road trip to an island. It took three hours to find a restaurant. Luckily I had a lot of snacks in my bag. We just snacked while searching for a restaurant.

The first thing I do after I get to a hotel is buy healthy snacks. If I get hungry at night and don’t like anything on the room service menu, I always have some snacks.People always come to my room for food.

This can help you save a lot of money when you cannot find an affordable restaurant to eat at. Stocking up onhealthy snacks can also help you avoid junk foods and weight gain, we’ve all been there, it’s a challenge keeping on track while travelling.

10. Download Offline Versions Of Apps

If you don’t have a roaming sim card, don’t forget to download offline version of your travel apps. Did you know that you can download an offline map from Google?

It will save you a lot money, data roaming is very expensive.

Download all the offline versions of your favorite app and turn off your data while you are travelling.

11. Do Free Stuff

There are plenty of free things to do on the road. Many of which are much better than paid activities. Coco Channel once said, “’The best things in life are free. The second best things are very, very expensive.”

Many cities offer free or ‘pay-as-you-wish day’ for popular attractions.Usually a quick Google search will give you a full list.

Free Museum Days In New York City

Free Museum Days in Paris

Free Things To Do In Rome.

I have heard Free Walking Tour By Foot is much better than paid tours.

12. Spend More Time In Fewer Places

Often times people try to visit as many attractions as possible when they are travelling. But that is not the best way to see a country. To see all the hidden beauty of a place you have to take your time to discover and fully immerse yourself in it.

By spending more time in a fewer places, you will getdiscounts for accommodations and save money on transportation.Don’t be a travel slut, take your time to enjoy your journey.

13. Don’t Buy Things You Don’t Need

The best way to save is don’t buy. Simple.

It is easy to collect random things on the road. I purposely leave almost no room in my suitcase. It is almost impossible for me to buy things unless I buy a new bag and check it.

I don’t check bags. That simple trick keeps me away from impulsive buying.

Spend less time buying material things, and more time buying experiences.Interesting experiences will last much longer than random souvenirs.