Budget Travel For Dummies shows you how to get the most from your adventure while spending as little as possible. From transportation tips to accommodation advice and more, you’ll find money and time-saving ideas that will help you not only reduce the cost of your next vacation, but let you afford more frequent travel in the months and years to come. This guide is full of practical advice and entertaining stories from the road that will help motivate you to take that trip you’ve always dreamed about but never thought you could afford.
Inveterate_Adventurer: The author on Instagram.
@GeoffMorrison: The author on YouTube.
Crossing 3 countries in 14 hours on 4 trains and a bus: The story about getting from the UK to Spain by train.
Chapter Two: My favorite hostel in Japan (location in this chapter purely a coincidence!). Check out the view!
Home Hostel: If you’ve never stayed in a hostel, you probably don’t think they can look like this incredible, cozy hostel in Lisbon.
The Jacobite: The Harry Potter Train.
Sailing Uma: Great travel/sailing channel by a couple who live on a sailboat they rebuilt.
Best Travel Cards: A list compiled and regularly updated by The Points Guy. They recommend a few too many AmEx cards in my opinion (which aren’t great for international travel), but it’s a good starting point for your research.
7 Best Banks to Avoid ATM Fees: A list compiled and regularly updated by Nerdwallet for cards that don’t have ATM fees.
Google Pay: Info about setting up Google Pay on your Android phone.
Apple Pay: Info about setting up Apple Pay on your iPhone.
Best Travel Insurance Companies: Nerdwallet’s list for best travel insurance companies.
The best travel insurance policies and providers: The Point’s Guy’s list for best travel insurance.
Insurance Providers for Overseas Coverage – US Department of State: The State Department’s recommendation about travel insurance.
Google Flights: A great search tool for flights. More on this in Chapter 4.
Rome2Rio: A handy search tool to help you find the best transportation option, including bus, train, ferries, and more.
Google Maps (also on iOS) and Apple Maps: Get to know the map apps that come with your phone. I know a lot of people who use Google Maps on their iPhones, but to each their own.
Download Google Maps for Offline Use: Google’s page for how to download maps. Make sure you do this before you leave your home/hotel/hostel.
Download Apple Maps for Offline Use: Apple’s page to do the same.
Uber (iOS and Android): Ride sharing, available in many countries. Also check out local taxi apps.
Google Translate (iOS and Android): Probably the most useful travel app of all time. Not only translate words into another language but speech as well. Using your phone’s camera, it can even translate signs, menus, and other written words into your language in real time.
GAdventures: A company that specializes in small group tours. Not as cost-effective as booking something yourself, but not as disruptive and rigid as large tours. A good potential option for new travelers nervous about venturing out on their own. I’ve done 3 trips with them, in Africa and Asia, and I had a great time and met a bunch of wonderful people.
Intrepid: Another company that specializes in small group tours. I haven’t traveled with them, but I’ve heard good things.
Google Flights: A great search tool for flights including historical data, and easy-to-understand graphs to show prices on different days. Generally, you don’t book on the site, it directs you to the airline’s website to do so.
SeatGuru: Shows you the best, and worst, seats on every aircraft for every airline. Does your window seat actually have a window? Can your seat recline?
'Skiplagging' your airline ticket might be legal, but it comes with major risks: Why “skiplagging” or “hidden city ticketing” is risky at best, and a bad idea at worst.
Why Flying is So Expensive: An extremely well-researched video about the behind-the-scenes costs that make up each ticket.
How Airlines Price Flights: Another video from the same YouTuber about why tickets vary in price. The channel is Wendover Productions, and they have a bunch of fascinating videos about the logistics of travel and other things.
How Much Are Travel Points and Miles Worth?: Nerdwallet’s breakdown of the estimated value of different airline’s frequent flyer points.
Hostelworld.com: A booking site specifically for hostels.
Hostelz.com: Another booking site that specializes in hostels.
Booking, Kayak, Orbitz, and many other booking sites have some hostel listings as well.
Generator: A chain of high-end hostels, mostly in Europe. It’s worth checking out this website to give you an idea how nice a hostel can be.
Star Hostel Taipei Main Station: A gorgeous hostel looks more like a high-end hotel. The food all along the street outside is incredible.
Chapter Two: My favorite hostel in Japan. Check out the view!
Home Hostel: If you’ve never stayed in a hostel, you probably don’t think they can look like this incredible, cozy hostel in Lisbon.
Mantaray Island Resort: A Fijian oceanside mini-resort with a surprisingly affordable dorm room and shared bathrooms, aka a hostel. A bed plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner was around $90 per day.
Gilligan's Backpacker Hotel & Resort: The quintessential party hostel, often amusingly referred to as a nightclub with a hostel attached. It’s a wild ride, if that’s your thing. Otherwise, there are quieter places in Carins to stay while you dive the Great Barrier Reef.
Nomads Queenstown: An extremely cozy hostel in this incredible town in New Zealand.
Hostel Miran Mostar: A delightful family-run hostel in this historic city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Best Travel Backpack: I’ve been updating this Wirecutter guide since 2016. I’ve tested a few dozen travel backpacks and traveled for months with several.
Doggo POV: A short video featuring Booker, the unofficial star of Chapter 6.
The best packing cubes: Wirecutter’s pick for the best packing cubes.
The best noise canceling headphones: A guide for the Wall Street Journal by yours truly.
The best true wireless earbuds: Another of my WSJ guides which includes several noise-canceling earbuds.
SoundStage Solo: A headphone review site edited by me.
Mains electricity by country: A surprisingly thorough Wiki page on plug and power types.
Ceptics: The brand of plug adapters I’ve used the most.
My typical kit (as shown in Chapter 7, Figure 7-1). Everything on the left fits inside the main travel backpack shown, everything on the right fits in the accompanying daypack. Left side, starting at the top:SIM lock: An overview of the process of locking your phone so it can’t be used on other networks.
Unlocking your phone at Verizon
Unlocking your phone at T-Mobile
What is two-factor authentication?: An overview from Microsoft.
Two-factor authentication for Apple ID
The Best Password Managers From Wirecutter.
Best Cloud Storage Options From CNET.
Download Google Maps for Offline Use: Google’s page for how to download maps. Make sure you do this before you leave your home/hotel/hostel.
Download Apple Maps for Offline Use: Apple’s page to do the same.
The US National Parks system’s America the Beautiful pass
JR Rail Pass, KR Rail Pass, Eurail: Various regional multipasses. Make sure you’ll definitely use the pass enough to make the cost worthwhile.
Highways to the horizon: A 10,000-mile road trip around the US: My biggest road trip to date, all in a Mazda Miata RF.
CityMapper: Like Rome2Rio but for cities.
AllStays: A fantastic resource for finding inexpensive places to stay in the US, from campgrounds to rest areas, overnight parking-friendly retailers and more.
Walmart camping rules: Walmart’s corporate FAQ about overnight parking at their locations. Some Cracker Barrel, Cabela's/Bass Pro Shops, and some other major retailer locations might also offer this. Always check with the store manager.
How to haggle: By legendary traveler Rick Steves (or at least, his staff).
Worldwide local emergency numbers via the U.S. State Department (pdf)
Do you need a visa?: By the U.S. State Department. Mostly for US citizens traveling abroad. Check your own country’s department of state/ministry of foreign affairs/department of foreign Affairs/etc. or search “Do [your nationality] need a visa for [destination].”
Guide to the 6-month passport rule — what is it?: A great overview from the Points Guy.
The business of voluntourism: do western do-gooders actually do harm?: Via the Guardian.
High on Helping: The Dangers of Voluntourism: Via the New York Times.
Digital nomad visas: A list of compiled by VisaGuide. Check a country’s own website for the most current info.
