BEFORE YOU START PLANNING YOUR BUDGET, YOU SHOULD have a little convo with yourself about what the word “budget” actually means to you. Staying true to broke-ass backpacker ideals by always choosing the cheapest option may take its toll after several months of sleeping on the ground for free and eating $2 street-meat. As such, factoring in a little cash to treat yourself to a nice room and a sit-down meal may be something to think about. Keepin’ it real with yourself about how low you’re willing to go is essential in determining how much money you’ll need once you get to your destination.
Besides plane tickets, your backpack can be the most expensive purchase of the entire trip. Make sure to try on a bunch and do some comparative shopping before you say “I do” to the one you love. A backpack with a day-pack can be worth the extra money. And, do yourself a favor: spend a few extra bucks on a lock—at the very least, it’s $10 well-spent to protect your big travel investment.
Although keeping your dirty parts clean is key, you don’t need a bunch of eau-de-what-not products to do so. Buy a few basic travel-size items to get you started and remember that people all over the world get by just fine without $25 shampoo. Bringing a few items like aspirin and anti-diarrhea tablets along could be a lifesaver if you get the runs on the road and don’t know where the local drugstore is.
You don’t want your trip cut short by an incurable disease. So, once you decide where you want to go, check out the Centers for Disease Control website at Cdc.gov. Click on your destination country (or countries), and you’ll find a list detailing all diseases present in that region and the vaccinations you’ll need to get. Call around to several travel clinics and doctors to see whose stab rates are the lowest—and it’s worth asking if you can bargain a price for a one-stop-shot. Don’t put off getting stabbed until the last minute: some vaccines take up to eight weeks to start working their magic.
Passports and visas are costs you cannot avoid. Certain countries require their own special visa, so factor that cost in, as well. You won’t get very far across any border without a passport; so make sure that all of your documents are up to date. Make copies of and scan, then e-mail yourself all important papers before you leave.
If you’re a full-time student, buying an International Student Identity Card (ISIC) could save you much more than the price of the card itself (around $22). Having one of these cards gets you discounts on a variety of things, from museums to train tickets. If you’re not a student and under 26, you can apply for an International Youth Travel Card (IYTC), which gets you all the same benefits as the ISIC. For $28 you can become a member of Hostelling International and get discounts on hostel bookings, museum admissions, and travel services.
We get why some people would skip travel insurance to save a few bucks, but unless you plan on traveling in a bubble while wearing a padded suit, consider travel insurance a priority if you’re visiting slightly sketchy places. The fact is that you never know what could happen—and while we’re not trying to be your mother, we doubt you have an extra $10,000 to $100,000 lying around in case a major medical emergency happens. Travel insurance will also cover bag loss (or theft), and offers 24/7 phone support if the shit hits the fan.
There are more websites to help you find cheap flights than there are airlines. But, remember to read the fine print of ticketing restrictions before you click “buy”—some sites will charge you a booking fee that can be avoided by going to the airline website directly. Factoring in all the costs of planes, trains, and automobiles can be tricky, so plan on overestimating just in case you want to splurge on a cab back to the hostel. Some hostels rent bikes for minimal fees, and nothing beats the price of walking.
BEFORE YOU HIT THE ROAD, make sure to find out the current exchange rate for the country you are visiting. We recommend consulting Xe.com when gauging how far you can stretch your dollar.
Consider hostels your new home away from home while traveling. Cheaper than even the most budget-friendly hotels, most hostels will sleep anywhere from two to twenty in a room (private rooms are available in most for more money) and will offer some of the best opportunities for meeting like-minded travelers, or hot, temporary bed-mates. Depending on where you are traveling, the time of year, and exchange rates, the price of hostels can vary significantly. If paying $5 for a bed seems like too much, check out Couchsurfing.org.
In general, this is a cost that varies according to how much you like to eat, how restrictive your dietary needs are, and how many drinks it takes you to get a sufficient buzz. In many countries, eatin’ on the streets is the most authentic and least expensive way to grub. Finding a hostel with a kitchen can be a win-win situation that saves you cash and scores you ass. Everyone knows that the fastest way to any hottie’s heart is through the stomach, so hit up the local market for some groceries and whip up a cheap meal that will impress the traveling tail.
While your nights may be filled with bars and clubs, your days will likely be filled with cultural activities. Decide which sights you are willing to pay to see and for which just snapping a pic and moving on will suffice. Staring at the Eiffel Tower from afar is free, while getting to the top will cost ya. Most museums will have one day of the month when they are free for all, so it’s worth doing a little investigating before you plunk down a wad of cash on admission fees. Many museums will offer student discounts, while others will suggest a donation. With so much shit to see in every country, fees can add up quickly—skip some of the touristy places with pricey admissions in favor of smaller attractions—everyone visits the Louvre in Paris, but how many can say they’ve been to Le Musée des Vampires? Check out the first section of this book for quirky inspiration (page 10).
Get your party started right by doing some pre-gamin’ in the hostel. You can split the cost of a bottle with your hostel mates and play some international drinking games before heading out to save some in-bar cash. Many hostels will have their own bar with cheap drink specials—and the added bonus of being close to your bed for those moments when you meet a “special friend.”
Outside of checking in with Moms and Pops to let them know how responsible you’re being (wink, wink), this is one cost that can be kept to a bare minimum. You didn’t travel across the world to be on the phone, so let people know you’re alive with a quick e-mail from a cheap Internet café. If you’re dying to see the boyfriend you left behind, get some face-time for free via Skype. Or, you can also purchase an international calling card upon arrival. Remember that you can tell everyone about your trip for free when you get back.
Many hostels will have laundry facilities on-site for a small fee. If not, ask the front desk where the nearest coin-operated Laundromat is. Otherwise, buy a small box of detergent and make a sink your new washing machine—use your bedposts as an overnight air-dryer and you’ll have a nice, clean pair of skivvies by the morning. The straps on your backpack also make a great dryer when times get rough. If you’re on foot and it’s warm out, loop a few things through your straps to give them some fresh-air time.
Bringing back a trinket from your trip can be a nice gesture to say, “I was somewhere cooler than you were.” Steer clear of the tourist shops that will jack up all the prices on lame, touristy crap that no one wants. Instead, check out local flea markets or artist fairs to score one-of-a-kind tchotchkes on the cheap. Saving your shopping until the last day or two will save you from hauling other people’s shit all over the world with you.
You want to have a little cushion money for things that may pop up that aren’t necessarily essential expenses. For times when you find out about a concert or festival you’re psyched about while on the road, you unexpectedly run out of shampoo because the chick you’re hooking up with used it to wash her lion mane, you feel like tricking out your backpack with hydraulics, or whatever it may be, having a bit of extra spending money not reserved for anything in particular is nice. Just don’t consider this a spike to your drinking budget, or you’ll end up in the gutter, penniless.