As a college student traveling can sometimes seem like an unrealistic expectation to have. We are typically thought of as “broke students living off no sleep and Ramen”. Even if that is a little true, that doesn’t mean your dreams of traveling have to cease to exist. Knowing how to travel on a budget can help you make your dream become a reality.
The first piece of advice is to figure out where you want to go. It could be New York for a weekend, or Paris for a week. It doesn’t matter how far or close you want to go, you just have to pick somewhere to go.
Next is using travel sites to figure out the most cost effective way to get to place. On tip is using incognito mode on your prefered search engine. Companies will raise the price of flights when they track your cookies and see that you keep looking into traveling somewhere! I really like to start my search using a site called Rome2Rio because, it shows you all the different ways you can get somewhere, the average time using that method of transportation, and average cost. Sometimes you don’t even realize that you can take a ferry or a train somewhere and it can be cheaper! This can help you get a general starting place to know what your options are. One thing to be mindful of is that sometimes cheaper means it takes longer. If you are only able to travel for a weekend, a 9 hour bus ride on Saturday morning may not be the best option. Once you have a general idea how you want to travel, follow up by searching for trains, buses etc on Google. Sometimes there are great student or youth prices available. You just have to put the effort into looking for what is available. I like to use Google Flights to get a general idea of the cost of a ticket. Then I follow up on third party websites like Orbitz, StudentUniverse, or CheapAir to see if they offer flights for even cheaper. Which sometimes is the case! Some other sites to look for cheap flights for is Ryanair, EasyJet, Southwest, Allegiant, and SAS.
The next step is finding somewhere to stay! Hotels can be pretty expensive if you are on a budget. One option is looking for a hostel. I recommend using a site called Hostelworld. You can look to see the different kinds of places to stay. One thing to me mindful of is whether they provide towels and bedding or if you have to either bring your own or rent them from the hostel. Also look to see if they provide any meals for you. If you are nervous about staying in a hostel, look into the ones that offer semi-private or private rooms. Another housing option is Airbnb. You can rent an entire house or just a room in someone’s house or apartment. This can be a cheap option if you can get some other people to share the place with you. Also, you can use this code to save $33 off your first time using Airbnb: www.airbnb.com/c/abbygailb13.
Next comes figuring out a budget for what you want to do. If you download TripAdvisor, you can download information about the city you are going too! You can download information and a map to use if you are offline or don’t want to use data. The app is great because, you can get reviews of restaurants, museums and attractions, and other things to do. You can narrow your search results by price or things or places that are even free! Additionally, using the internet to search for free things to do this weekend or in general can really save you some money. Once you know where you want to go and the price, this can help you budget your money by knowing what things cost.
Another thing to keep in mind is how will you get around while you are there. Renting a car is a pretty expensive option but, useful if you want to go where public transportation doesn’t go. In most European cities, rideshare programs like Uber are illegal. So using a taxi service can also be expensive. One option is using public transportation. Most big cities have a transportation pass that you can buy to use as much as you want in a certain time span ranging from 24 to 72 hours. You can usually find that information by searching for that cities public transportation website. This can be cheaper than buying a ticket each time you want to ride the bus or train. Just make sure that you don’t throw your ticket away once you get onto the metro, because in some places you have to check out using your ticket also!
Then comes budgeting for food and souvenirs! One thing to be aware of is that places near big tourist attractions will increase the price of what they are selling. It is always good to be mindful that the price will be higher than in other places in these areas. When you are looking for somewhere to eat, especially in Europe ask to look at the menu before you sit down. Some places charge you to sit down, even if you don’t buy anything! Additionally, normal tap water cost in Europe so you can’t assume that it is free, or anything is in that respect! Plan to spend money enjoying things like coffee, ice cream, or pastries too. Even if you don’t plan to buy those things, you inevitably will. As far as how to save money on food and souvenirs, it is best to add up all the transportation, attractions, and housing cost first to see where you are at. Then decide what you want to budget to spend. Don’t rule out the option of going to a grocery store to find something to make for dinner!
If at the end of all the budgeting, you feel like it is not a realistic expectation of traveling don’t fret. You can see where else you can cut corners on your trip. Or you can decide to not go now and keep saving money to go another time! What ever you decide to do, own your experience! Be in control of what you want to gain out of your travel. Don’t be afraid to treat yourself if you decide to travel. While sticking to a budget is great, don’t forget to enjoy your experience! In 10 years will you remember the time you splurged for an expensive drink or when you drank hot chocolate in the most picturesque place you had ever seen?!