One of the cornerstones of being in college is a sense of newfound independence, and what better way to embrace it than to travel? Unfortunately, a student budget can be restrictive and doesn’t always allow for your dream vacation, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t travel! It may mean exploring a different area of your country to keep costs low or traveling in the offseason. No matter what you do, the main goal in planning your trip should be to cut costs and budget where you can.
When I plan trips, I have a routine that I always follow: flights, accommodation, food, entertainment, transportation, and miscellaneous.
Flights
This will likely be your heftiest expense, though it all depends on where you’re going and for how long. Google Flights is my go-to tool for finding the least expensive flights. It’s widely accessible and extremely easy to use. All you need to do is input your local airport (or whatever airport you plan to fly out of), your destination, dates, and voila! You’ll have multiple flight options with different airlines and times. If you’re unsure of where to go, the site has a discovery tool that allows you to search for inexpensive flights to random places based on your airport and dates of travel. And, if you’re anything like me, you may not have a single idea of where or when you want to travel. In this case, you can search sample dates for random locations that pique your interest. In the drop-down calendar in the dates form, the site shows the lowest flight price for each day for your location. With a college budget, you can’t always pay for the flight immediately after finding it, so Google Flights has a tool that allows you to track flight prices and whenever the price changes, you’ll get an email. This is an especially helpful tool because it allows you to keep your options open when you’re deciding where you want to go.
Accommodation
Depending on the type of trip you’re taking, accommodation will more than likely be the second-highest expense on the list. One way to cut costs here is to stay with friends, family, friends of family, family of friends, friends of friends, you get the picture. If you’re going somewhere and you know that you or someone you know has a connection, exploit it as much as you can. No matter where you’re going, it’s always helpful to cut down on accommodation costs where you can. Plus, you can use the money you saved to see a show, eat an expensive dinner at a famous restaurant, take a boat tour, or do any number of other costly activities. One of the best ways to stay somewhere for less is to use Airbnb. Hotels can get expensive and usually don’t have a kitchen. When you rent an Airbnb, you’re paying less for more space and you’ll have the option of grocery shopping and cooking at home to save money on food. Hostels are another, even cheaper, option for accommodation abroad, especially in Southeast Asia and Europe. For backpackers and budget travelers, hostels are the best, most cost-effective option for accommodation. They often also have communal kitchens, so you can still shop at the local grocery store instead of eating out.
Eating
Just because you’re traveling, you aren’t obligated to eat out for every meal. Eating at restaurants is notoriously expensive so you’re better off only going out to restaurants you’ve been excited to try and when you’re absolutely dying for food and cannot make it to the nearest grocery store and back to your accommodation to cook. An easy way to save money on food is to eat breakfast before leaving to explore for the day and to take snacks with you. One fun and inexpensive option for lunch or dinner is to pack a picnic and take it to a local park or another spot to eat. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a meal outside of your accommodation while still saving money on food.
Entertainment
The entertainment part of your budget should include any activities you’re planning on doing, like museum visits, castle tours, ice skating, national park passes, etc. Oftentimes, cities and countries have special passes that allow you to do various activities for a lower price. These passes are only worth it if you plan on doing enough of the activities. If you only want to do one or two of the activities the pass covers, it’s better to buy individual tickets to those places. You can get creative in how you cut corners on entertainment. Instead of an expensive river cruise, take a walk along the river and park yourself riverside with a basket of food and a bottle of wine. This can be just as fun as, if not more fun, than sitting in a boat for an hour or two. Instead of paying for a guided tour around the city, simply walk the area yourself. If you have a maps app, you’ll be able to find whatever places you want to go free of charge.
Transportation
Depending on where you go and how you plan on traveling, you may need your own form of transportation besides public transport, which tends to be very inexpensive across the board. If you’re going long distances, trains and buses are usually available but if you’re on a time crunch renting a car may be your best option. Taxis and rideshares are generally expensive and not worth the cost, so you’ll be better off with a train or bus schedule, or even a rental car. Once you figure out which types of transportation are available in the area you’ll be in, it’ll be easier to lock down a budget.
Miscellaneous
This section of our budget covers anything not mentioned above. That included shopping for items for your trip, souvenirs, shopping during your trip, etc. It’s best to set an amount ahead of time so that you know how much you can spend and can plan better.
One important tip to note for all categories is that researching prices and average daily budgets for your travel destination will help you immensely in setting your budget. Make sure that you set your budget as early as possible to allow for adequate time to adjust your itinerary and save up for the big trip. It may seem impossible, but you can travel on a student budget!