Lynn And Tim Martin- Americans who sold their home at age 70 and became nomads. For five years they lived in Mexico, Brazil, Europe, Morocco and a dozen other countries. The couple released the book “Everywhere Like Home,” in which they talk about their “nomadic” life and give advice to travelers who want to travel around the world, even if they have very little money.
First things first, planes, or how to get to the place you need
The first and most important tip is to think about how you will get to your destination. Consider all possible options.
If you decide to fly, then buy plane tickets in advance, approximately 4-5 months before your planned trip. This can save you between $500 and $1000.Remember that there are ways to make a long flight quite comfortable, even without spending money on first class. Try to book seats in the very first row, right after business class: there is a little more space and you won’t have to look at other passengers. If the flight is long, it's worth it!
Also note that if you drink alcohol during the flight, you may have a much harder time adjusting to jet lag.
If it is possible to get to the place you need not by plane, but, for example, by ship, then consider this possibility. Sometimes other modes of transport are much cheaper. Take advantage of return cruise voyages: Twice a year, cruise lines move their ships from port to port, and tickets for these voyages are sold at very low prices. We recommend using these useful sites to track such information: www.repositioningcruises.com, www.vacationstogo.com.
Think about where you will live
If you decide to rent a private apartment, then check out the websites www.vrbo.com and www.homewaway.com. There you can easily find the best discounts on accommodation and immediately book an apartment or house for a long period.
By the way, make a list in advance of everything you need to know about your new apartment and ask the owner or agent to check everything with you. What could be on this list? For example, the operation of all devices; serviceability of locks on doors and windows. Also check the plumbing and cold/hot water. Such forethought will allow you to avoid misunderstandings and unplanned expenses (for example, to fix an air conditioner that was not broken by you) when moving out.
A curious barbarian..., or what to do with excursions
If you prefer to get the general impression and not go into detail, don't sign up for tedious all-day excursions. On average, a city tour costs from $30 to $150. But you can save this money too. Sometimes it’s more useful to see all the most important things yourself, without haste, and then just walk around the city.
If you still decide to purchase an excursion, first go “reconnaissance”: compare prices from representatives of different operators, ask those who have already been on such an excursion. As a rule, this allows you to save about $100 for a 2-3 week vacation.They greet you by their clothes. How to save money on tourist clothes and shoes
It seems like a small thing. But it is very important that you feel comfortable in your clothes and shoes. Be sure to read information about weather conditions in the region where you are traveling. Take a few warm clothes with you in reserve (even if you are traveling to warm countries): sometimes, even in familiar southern countries, the weather can give out very cold surprises. And local stores make good money from these surprises, raising prices on all kinds of jackets and sweaters by an average of 20%.
What's on your feet is also very important. Wherever you go, you will definitely need quality shoes that are comfortable to walk in. In many cities, the streets are paved with stones, loosely cemented together, often quite unevenly. The roadway is narrow and you can trip over the curbs. While you are walking, try not to lift your head or look around. And if you want to look at a shop window or a beautiful church, you better stop.
Remember: it’s better to buy good shoes once that will last you for several years than to spend endlessly on cheap knockoffs.
Be eco-friendly: Don't be shy about buying clothes that aren't new. In many countries, wearing vintage and second-hand items is considered especially chic.
Enjoy and benefit from communicating with other tourists
From other travelers, you will learn about interesting places that you may not have planned to go to, and generally gain some good ideas. Besides, dating is a good way to save money. Many places are more profitable to visit in groups, and restaurants offer good discounts for large groups. Don’t hesitate to ask the cafe representatives about this!
Meet your neighbors: if you're lucky, your neighbors will be interesting, knowledgeable people, who also have real homes with comfortable furniture. If one of your neighbors starts talking to you, invite them over for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. For example, the Irish love conversations and enjoy listening to other people's stories. You may find friends for life while traveling!How to save on transport
If you cannot do without a car while traveling, rent one that is smaller, just enough to accommodate your luggage. On narrow roads with a small car you will have a much easier time. You will also save on gasoline, and this is also important: in other countries, gasoline may cost more. When renting a car, use trusted companies: we recommend CarRentals.com in most cases and AutoFrance.net when you need a car for more than 17 days and the trip starts from France. There are very good offers here: you can get a new car for much less than what you usually pay for renting a European car.
Don't forget about your sense of humor! You may find yourself in difficult situations, but these are the ones that are especially interesting to tell your friends about over dinner. Try to find humor even in a situation when you find yourself in a completely different area of Paris than you were going to, or when harmless capers from a jar with a label in German turn out to be terribly hot green peppers and all your guests turn red and begin to choke. These may not be very funny incidents, but after a while your stories will be listened to with great interest!
Record your expenses. This will help you take control of your finances and make better memories. Sometimes the most powerful moments are hidden in small details, and over time you will definitely forget it all, so write down every day as long as you remember. Believe me: after a while you will be happy that you were not lazy and at least wrote something down! And remember the main thing: life is short and too good not to live it to the fullest and the way we like. Don't miss out on the most important things.
From the book you will learn how to properly organize a trip, buy the best tickets, find the best accommodation for your budget, plan a route and choose a means of transportation, choose a travel companion, buy food and organize your leisure time. You will learn to plan your trip and enjoy every day spent on vacation.
A series: Tourism in detail
* * *
by liters company.
Collection of information
Finding information is a key skill for a traveler. It is this that distinguishes a person who goes wherever his eyes take him from one who sets out on a meaningful journey and achieves his goals. This skill is trained both during the trip itself and in the process of preparing for it. The ability to use the Internet, paper sources, and find out what you need from other travelers and local residents can not only save money and time, but also make your trip more eventful and varied. A budget traveler who does not seek to learn something new is not much different from a “package” tourist.
Always be one step ahead of your route
Preparing for the upcoming trip is no less important than the trip itself. And this is the main way to reduce its cost. There is such wisdom among travelers: “As long as you go, that’s how much time you have to prepare.”. Although, if you are going on a long journey, it is unlikely that you will be able to make all the preparations in advance. Therefore, the process of collecting information continues along the route, with special attention to the nearest section of the route.
Gone are the days when you could rely on information from five-year-old guidebooks, and the Lake Tanganyika ferry schedule has been passed down by word of mouth for years. Today, any information can be found on the Internet, including the latest.
I don't want to deprive you of your pioneering laurels, but wherever you are going to go, it has already been done and passed. And just yesterday. And the day before yesterday. And there is a story about this on the Internet. Don’t be lazy to find it and save yourself a lot of problems. By checking the latest data for the next leg of your route, you can, for example, find out which border crossings have recently closed due to military conflicts or Ebola outbreaks. Or find out how the local currency exchange rate has changed in recent days and where it is now more profitable to change - in banks or on the black market, as well as which areas of the city should be avoided after sunset and much more.
The guide as the ruler of travelers' thoughts
Each traveler has his own set of things that he carries with him across seas and continents. Some people take with them half a wardrobe of clothes for all possible temperature conditions, while others only put a change of underwear in their backpack - everything else can be bought on the spot depending on the circumstances. Some carry kilograms of medicine, others carry a mountain of cosmetics. Many people fill their luggage with technology: iPod, iPad, iPhone, but there are also those who prefer to travel offline. Not everyone considers even a camera necessary. So, when you see a tourist wandering around the city, you can only say with confidence that he has a passport, a toothbrush and... a guidebook.
Guidebooks are called as they are: “travellers’ best friends”, “travel Bible”. And such statements are not far from the truth: people turn to the guidebook constantly, sometimes checking its pages almost every minute. Which museum should you visit first? Where to find cheap accommodation? What local dishes are worth trying? How to avoid being robbed? How to get to a distant attraction by public transport? And where the hell am I?
Sometimes this dependence becomes excessive. William Sutcliffe's humorous story Are You Experienced? offers a suspiciously accurate portrait of modern backpackers. Traveling around India, the main character constantly meets the same tourists wherever he goes: at a hotel, at lunch, at city attractions. Like the main character, they all read about these places in the Lonely Planet guide, calling it “The Book” among themselves. As a result, an independent traveler who came to “get away from civilization” finds himself in a kind of tour group, in which a popular guidebook has become the operator and guide.
In general, you should not limit your horizons and knowledge about the country to the text of the guidebook. We must not forget about general geographical and historical literature, travelogues, electronic encyclopedias and blogs. But this conversation is still ahead, but for now let’s focus on the main question: which guide to choose?
Gone are the days when Russian-language series of guidebooks could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and English-language books were sold in one or two stores in the city. Now, when choosing a guide to Finland or Turkey, the buyer looks in confusion at a dozen and a half brands. And this is only in Russian stores. Proposed typology will help you make your choice.
The market for paper guidebooks is very dynamic. Some series appear, others disappear. Over the course of 10 years (the author first compiled this typology in 2004), the set of popular brands has changed by more than half.
Lately, voices have been heard more and more often, asking why a guidebook is needed at all. Everything is available on the Internet - current hotel prices and public transport schedules. In many ways they are right. The array of useful information for tourists has expanded and updated so much in the last decade that guidebooks, especially practical ones, look frankly retrograde. The prices listed there are at best a year behind. And the author’s opinion about a hotel or restaurant is easily overwhelmed by hundreds of reviews from Internet users.
However, the more important has become the one way or another presented section “What to see?”, in which the author of the guidebook selects the most interesting from the information deluge that has covered modern society. The guidebooks themselves become all the more interesting - after all, now they are not just information directories, but full-fledged companions of the traveler, telling him little-known interesting facts and providing verified data. Nowadays electronic guides and GPS guides are becoming more and more popular. Some of them have already spoken in a human voice, making the travel companion metaphor a reality. But still, there is nothing better than sitting down in a cozy city cafe, opening a tattered volume and saying to yourself or hearing from a travel buddy: “Well, what does the guide tell us?”
Guides for the curious
Many of them can be bought without going anywhere at all. Just like a book with good text and illustrations. Such guidebooks are suitable as visual material for geography and art history lessons, and some are quite serious scientific research.
They are cleared of vain husks such as a list of hotels or bus schedules. Illustrations and depth of elaboration of the text are brought to the fore. It’s good to get acquainted with such series if you know little at all about the country (not only a textual, but also a visual image of the object of study is presented here). Many of these guidebooks weigh quite a lot due to the high-quality paper, so not every independent traveler will decide to weigh down their backpack with them, preferring to get acquainted with them before the start of the trip.
Visual guides
The main emphasis here is on color photographs and diagrams, and text is often provided only in cases where it is impossible to replace it with an intelligible drawing.
The most striking representative of the subtype is the series Dorling Kindersley (« Dorling Kindersley » ). These books are works of art that are not ashamed to put on the shelf along with albums on painting and architecture. City attractions, the historical section, and even practical information are presented in a highly visual, illustrative manner (only here is an intelligible, in pictures, explanation of the most mysterious and perplexing process for the traveler - using the local metro). The disadvantages of the series are high weight and price.
Other subtype series – National Geographic Traveler and Insight Guides (“Window to the World”)(the latter has not been translated into Russian for a long time).
Information guides
In the first place in this subtype is text, and it is of very high quality. Guidebooks are essentially reference books for tourists. But in this case, they go beyond their scope, becoming interesting both to regional experts and lovers of beautiful printed words.
For example, series Odyssey, in fact, a collection of individual popular science works about the Cambodian temples of Angkor, the Silk Road, and the American Civil War, disguised as a guidebook. Russian series are distinguished by a huge amount of information (including cities and objects that are unlikely to interest a tourist). "Historical Guide" as well as out-of-print series "Come after me" And "Your Guide".
But the main representative of the subtype is city guides "Poster". In terms of format, the series should rather be classified as a guidebook for tourists, but the quality of the text does not allow this. This is not just a description of city attractions, but a declaration of love to a particular city disguised as a travel essay. Usually a guidebook is a book that helps you along the way. You can read the “Poster” to want to go on a trip. In recent years, the line of the series has expanded greatly (now there are not only cities, but also countries), and not all new releases meet the initially set high quality standard. But the texts of the “first wave” guidebooks have not gone away.
Guides for tourists
The most numerous type is aimed at middle-class tourists, which is easy to notice from the list of hotels and restaurants offered, which do not have a budget segment. The practical information section in such guidebooks is generally rather poorly presented. This is especially true for transport. The reader is expected to book a tour of a remote historic site or nature reserve rather than travel there by public transport.
Holiday guides
Oriented either at organized tourist holidaymakers, or, in principle, at rest and entertainment without a serious excursion load. The description of the country is given rather superficially and comes down to the main attractions and resorts. Often such guidebooks are small in volume so that there is more space for souvenirs in the vacationer’s luggage.
The subtype includes series "Polyglot", "Le Petit Fute", "Through the Eyes of an Eyewitness", "Thomas Cook's Guides", "City in Focus" etc. The above does not mean that these books can be safely skipped. The Polyglot city guides perfectly describe the route part, and the vintage editions of Le Petit Futet for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation have no analogues at all. Plus, the brevity of the presentation and emphasis on the most important thing in the tourist image of the country is useful for those who know nothing at all about this country.
Tourism guides
Aimed at actively traveling members of the middle class. In Western countries, this subtype is the most numerous. Tourists who grew up as backpackers prefer quiet trips away from piles of 100-liter backpacks and noisy groups of young people. Their ideal is traveling by car with overnight stays in hotels with a couple of stars and breakfast on flower-covered verandas. And they need guidebooks to match: elegant, convenient, with color photographs and maps, where all the necessary information is clearly presented, as if in an encyclopedia. These are the series Fodor's, Frommers and translated into Russian Michelin.
Most Russian series of guidebooks also belong to this type. Except that they place more emphasis not on the practical, but on the informational component. Market leaders - series "Orange Guide", "Around the World"– they don’t spoil you with a choice of budget hotels, but they inspire you with an abundance of cultural and historical information and special box texts that provide interesting information “to the point.” In the author’s opinion, these are the highest quality Russian brands today. "Guides with Dmitry Krylov" also have a high level of text (the popular presenter is only the face of the series, the authors are professional journalists and travelers), but lag behind in design, cartography and weight.
Travel guides
They are distinguished by an abundance of technical and practical information, which is aimed primarily at saving money. Particular attention is paid to cheap hotels and eateries, as well as public transport. Often the game is played on the verge of a foul (the secrets of the black market for currency and the peculiarities of getting into closed areas are revealed). The routes proposed in guidebooks are aimed at long-term acquaintance with the country (1-3 months); they often contain the phrases: “Give this city a week and you will see its real face.” Particular attention is paid to responsible travel, i.e. travel ethics. Any violation of the environment and traditional way of life is considered a serious crime for a “real” traveler. In general, these are books for those who set off on a journey for a long time.
For 35 years now, this category of guidebooks has been based on “three pillars”: Australian Lonely Planet, British Rough Guide and American Let's Go. The first two episodes have recently been translated into Russian. All of them grew out of the “garage” romance of samizdat and the hippie trail and over three decades turned into the world-famous “Traveler’s Bibles”. These are thick books, filled with various information in small print: everything from the best rock bands in the country to a detailed description of the contents of street stalls in the capital's market.
Usually, first there is general information about the country (history, geography, economics), then practical information necessary for a tourist (from how to get a visa to how to avoid contracting an intestinal infection). This is followed by a general section on transport (how to get into the country and how to move around it) and, finally, regional sections describing cities, national parks and other interesting places. Information about the city includes sections on “what to see and do,” “where to live,” “what to eat,” and “how to have fun.”
Also interesting are the series that retain the spirit of the good old Lonely Planet. This Bradt– the best guides for traveling around Africa, the “unhinged” series Trailblazer and “Russian Lonely Planet” – series "We travel on our own".
Maps - which ones to take?
Electronic cards
Due to the proliferation of tablets and smartphones, paper maps are gradually becoming a thing of the past. For most modern devices, there are applications that allow you to download maps of all regions of the world for free and use them both in navigator mode and separately. Many maps (for example, Google Maps) can be used even when the phone or tablet is not connected to the Internet - to do this, you need to select the “download offline map” option and download a map of the desired region. If the offline map is not downloaded, you will have to go online and only then use the application.
If you have GPS in your device, you can determine your location on an electronic map by simply looking at it or selecting the “locate” option. For this feature to work, you need to allow the application to see the location of the device. The application itself will request such permission, or otherwise it can be done in the settings.
Thanks to electronic devices, you can manually select the scale by zooming in and out of the map. The map search and route planning function allows you to quickly find the desired place and understand how to get there. Many electronic maps combine the functions of a navigator. With some of them, it is also possible to take a walk around the city in 3D and look at photographs taken in the desired location.
The main disadvantage of electronic cards is the need to recharge the device. For car travelers, this drawback does not play a big role, since devices can be recharged from the cigarette lighter by purchasing a special charger or a USB adapter at any cellular phone store or electronics store. Those who travel by public transport, hitchhiking or on foot will have to regularly take care of the timely charging of their devices. There are drives that charge phones and tablets in the absence of an outlet; you can purchase one of them. If a tablet is used as the main device for maps, then it would be a good idea to play it safe and install the map on your mobile phone as well.
In disadvantaged countries, many people are afraid to use electronic devices in front of the local population, believing that they might be robbed. In general, this is true for those places where you shouldn’t even use a camera, but their number is very limited, and for such cases it is better to have a paper map. Where everything is more or less calm, a person using a smartphone or tablet looks less like a tourist than someone bending over a map.
Navigators
For car travel in some regions of the world, classic navigators are more convenient than applications for mobile devices, but in general, the spread of free applications has noticeably squeezed the navigator market. The advantages of classic navigators include their greater ergonomics and familiar design, as well as the ability not to purchase such a navigator in advance, but to order it in addition to the rental car.
Paper cards
Paper maps are useful not only for those who plan to travel to places where there is no electricity or it is very dangerous to take out even the cheapest smartphone in front of the natives.
Those who use paper guidebooks receive a minimum set of paper maps in addition to text and photographs. Most guidebooks are equipped with general maps of the region and detailed maps of tourist areas of cities popular among tourists. Such maps are useful when planning a trip and in the process of finding your way around the city center. General regional maps tend to be very sketchy, and city maps are limited to the center.
Individual paper maps of cities and regions are sold in travel stores and gas stations, and are also available free of charge at tourist information kiosks in most developed and some developing countries. Free maps from such kiosks are often much inferior in quality and detail to those that can be purchased.
Pros of paper maps:
Visibility. Many paper maps show attractions and tourist routes.
Ease of reading. The viewing area is not limited by the screen. You don't have to strain your eyes when reading text from the screen.
Easily take notes.
Safety of use. Rarely will a robber want to deprive you of your card. If a paper map gets mechanically damaged, you can seal it or buy a new one. Doing the same with a tablet or smartphone is not so easy.
Disadvantages of paper maps:
The need to purchase separate cards for each region. In case of a long trip, at the start you get a heavy briquette of cards.
Difficulty finding maps for undeveloped regions. In many countries in Africa and Latin America, finding a good map can be quite a challenge.
Price. The price of a card for one European country often starts from 20 euros.
Useful sites
There is an opinion among some people that the Internet is a big garbage dump full of lies and disgusting waste of the collective unconscious. However, this is, of course, not the case. In fact, it is more appropriate to compare the Internet to a mine, where diamonds of knowledge can be found among the slag and waste rock.
The main thing you need to understand when setting sail through the vastness of the Internet is that any information should be treated critically, checked and passed through the sieve of your own experience and awareness. This statement is true for all other information.
Search engines
The main tool for searching the Internet are search engine sites (google.com, yandex.ru, etc.). The pages that appear in response to a question are sorted by relevance: first, the search engine displays sites that, in its opinion, are most related to the query. In addition, advertising links are shown. They are usually at the top of the list and highlighted in a different color or font.
Some tips for using search engines effectively:
1. When forming a request, you need to think about the words that will appear on the sites you are looking for. For example, if you are searching for a medical site, it is better to search for “headache” than “I have a headache.”
2. Specification of the request allows you to cut out unnecessary information. A more general query, on the contrary, allows you to get more options.
3. Capital letters and prepositions have virtually no effect on search results.
4. For academic purposes, there are special search engines that use only competent sources (https://scholar.google.com).
5. There are a lot of operators that allow you to specify a search. For example, by putting a search query in quotation marks, we get links to the exact quote. By placing the “&” sign between words, we get the result with documents where these words are used in one sentence. A complete list of such tricks can be found by typing “how to use search engines” in any search engine.
Electronic encyclopedias
Wiki-based electronic encyclopedias dedicated to travel are an alternative to a guidebook for many modern tourists. The information in them is presented in a much more condensed form, and many important details are omitted, but in a situation of lack of time they are irreplaceable.
http://www.wikivoyage.org/
http://wikitravel.org/
Herself Wikipedia is also a good resource for obtaining general information (country geography, economy, etc.). Information about attractions on Wikipedia is less structured than on travel wikis.
Parody encyclopedia "Lurkomorye"(http://lurkmore.to/) sometimes also turns out to be quite useful - the ironic tone of the articles and impartiality allow you to look at the topic from a new angle.
National aggregator sites
Many countries have websites filled with information relevant to that country. For example, the website http://www.craigslist.org/ is very useful for the USA. It contains offers for short-term rentals, work, selling and giving away things for free, finding travel companions, etc. For Australia, such a site is http://www.gumtree.com.au/.
Travel forums
Online travel forums often contain more up-to-date information than websites because it comes from first-hand sources. This is also their main disadvantage - information is often distorted by the perception of the person sharing it. When reading forums, it is useful to compare opinions of different people and pay attention to the dates when posts were written. The world is changing very quickly.
Before asking a question on any of these forums, it is useful to read the FAQ section. There is a high probability that the question has already been asked before and the answer to it can be read immediately. Many forums have a built-in search option that allows you to search for posts on a specific topic.
Travel forums:
Vinsky Forum: http://forum.awd.ru/– the most popular Russian forum for travelers.
Russian Backpacker: http://www.bpclub.ru/– a forum for budget travelers.
Thorn tree: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree– a travel forum on the Lonely Planet guide website – separate forum threads for all countries of the world. In English.
In addition to forums about travel in general, there are forums dedicated to individual regions of the world. Groups on the social networks VKontakte and Facebook, as well as public pages, are usually less informative, but they can be a good addition. Special questions about a country can sometimes be asked on pages like “Russians in (country name).” People who love a particular region are often happy to share information about it.
Some regional forums and sites:
http://www.gday.ru/forum/– Australia
http://polusharie.com/– China
http://www.indostan.ru/– India
http://www.jordanclub.ru/– Jordan and Syria
Travel blogs
Travel blogs and LJ communities can be useful in the process of choosing a route and planning a trip. Each blogger has his own character, value system and view of things. This allows readers to choose those who are close to them in spirit, interests or travel style. Blogs of Russian expats living in the country of interest often tell interesting details from the life of this country and write about things that a traveler may not notice due to the short duration of his stay in it.
Travel agency websites
Most of the texts that are posted on such sites are created in order to sell a tour to a specific country. If the text mentions epithets like “exciting imagination”, “bewitchingly exotic”, etc. several times, you don’t have to finish reading the text - it’s unlikely to contain anything useful.
First-hand
Public lectures on travel are held in many major cities, as are travel festivals (see “Finding a Travel Companion,” page 64). Most of them are free for listeners. Lecture announcements appear in various communities and websites:
Lectures at the Debarcader in Moscow (regularly held since January 2007): https://vk.com/debarcader(online broadcast and video of past lectures)
Lectures at the landing stage in St. Petersburg: https://vk.com/debarcaderspb
Travelers club “Worlds”: http://club-miry.ru/
Lecture hall of the ZIL Cultural Center: http://zilcc.ru/
Lecture hall of the Center for Photography named after. Lumiere brothers: http://www.lumiere.ru/
The advantage of this method is the opportunity to directly ask a question of interest without wasting time searching. The downside is limited time. You can spend a long time on the Internet, as far as circumstances allow, but lectures last only a couple of hours and take place once a week, or even less often. Since there will not be much time to ask questions to the lecturer, it is useful to come to the lecture prepared. It is not worth asking very general questions, even if they were not covered during the story - it is better to get answers to them on the Internet and ask something more specific that is difficult to find in other sources.
Electronic encyclopedias for travelers:
www.wikivoyage.org
www.wikitravel.org
Travel forums:
Vinsky Forum: www.forum.awd.ru – the most popular Russian forum for travelers
Russian Backpacker: www.bpclub.ru – forum for budget travelers
Thorn tree: www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree – travel forum on the Lonely Planet guide website – separate forum threads for all countries of the world
Public lectures on travel:
Lectures at the Debarcader in Moscow: www.vk.com/debarcader
Lectures at the landing stage in St. Petersburg: www.vk.com/debarcaderspb
Travelers club “Worlds”: www.club-miry.ru/
It must be taken into account that anyone, even the best storyteller, is subjective and not knowledgeable in all areas at once. A cyclist may not know where to go to dance in the cities he visits, and a hitchhiker may have no idea how to rent a car.
* * *
The given introductory fragment of the book How to travel around the world on one salary. We travel cheaply and well (M. Oleneva, 2015) provided by our book partner -
On October 10, 2013, 34-year-old Danish resident Thorbjorn Pedersen left his house and promised to return only when he had traveled all over the world without ever setting foot on an airplane. Wanting to complicate the task, Thor pledged to spend at least 24 hours in each country. And in order not to leave the race halfway due to lack of money, the former logistician set himself one more condition: not to go beyond the budget - $20 a day.
In his blog, the traveler calls himself the first to dare such an adventure. Formally, you can argue with him. In 2015, Artemy Lebedev ticked the last item on the list of 193 UN-recognized countries - however, he was not so limited in funds, took breaks between trips and used air transport. Even earlier, in 2012, news spread around the world about the end of the journey of Briton Graham Hughes, who visited 201 countries without using an airplane. But Graham counted countries no matter how long he spent in them—even if only for one minute. In 2013, the title of youngest person to visit every country in the world was won by Norwegian Gunnar Garfors. He saw 198 states while traveling on weekends.
203 - how many countries Thor will see before he can visit Denmark again.
Thor does not plan to take breaks and intends to strictly adhere to the conditions he has set for himself. Having excluded most of the territories with a disputed status from the list, he settled on the number 203 - this is how many countries he will see before he can visit Denmark again. According to the traveler himself, he will return to a settled life in his native kingdom as a 40-year-old Viking who has gained experience - a difficult test for his girlfriend, who has to go to a new unfamiliar country every time she wants to see her loved one.
Thor uses public transport or free rides (sometimes even a pie can be a ride), prefers to spend the night with new acquaintances he makes on the road, and is not picky about food. But his most effective way to save money is by avoiding air travel. The idea seems especially sensible if your trip has been going on for three years, during which time the modest $20 per day limit has added up to a daunting $21,900.
But what if the next point on your route is on the other side of the Earth? Over the years, Thor has traveled long distances on container ships nine times. Thanks to cooperation with the Red Cross, of which he acts as an ambassador on his trip around the world (he talks about the organization’s work to journalists and shares the stories of its volunteers on his blog), almost every time he was able to negotiate free loading onto the ship. However, on one of the trips he still had to spend $60 on insurance, pay for lodging and meals on board ($15 per day) and, in addition, promise a cheerful article about the delights of this trip. And although this method of crossing, say, the Atlantic may take two weeks instead of a tolerable 10 hours by plane, Thor does not regret the experience. “The entire time this project lasts, I have almost no breaks. I sort out visas, figure out how to cross the border, make new friends, meet with the Red Cross or the press. When I travel on a container ship, it's like I'm taking a vacation,” he explains in an interview with Vice.
The traditional name for the boats of the Indians and peoples of Oceania. Derived from the name of boats common off the coast of the Caribbean islands, South America and Africa in the 16th–19th centuries.
During the journey, Thor suffered from malaria, almost got lost in Greenland and was preparing to say goodbye to life on board a container ship during a storm.
Sometimes these trips even turn out to be luxurious. Some ships offer Wi-Fi, and most recently there was even a sauna and indoor pool on board. Among the added bonuses Thor lists is the chance to see dolphins, whales and the northern lights, although "most of the time you only see water."
During his travels, the Dane suffered from malaria, became closely acquainted with the bureaucracy that flourishes on the borders of some African states, almost got lost in Greenland, said goodbye to life on board a container ship during a storm in the middle of the ocean, attended a Muslim wedding in Sierra Leone and a funeral in the Adventist Church seventh day in Sao Tome, met with Pentecostals in Nigeria, attended a synagogue service in Nairobi and proposed to his beloved at an altitude of 4,985 meters - on one of the highest peaks in Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro (by saying “yes” ", she began to cry and was immediately afraid that the tears would freeze right on her face).
One of Thor's main goals in this project is to show that the world is better than the news headlines make it seem.
Thor explains the decision to devote several years of his life to this project for several reasons. First, tired to death after years of office work, he one day decided to do something that no one had ever done before and inspire others by his example: “I’m not sure that at the beginning of this project I was driven by anything other than a thirst for adventure. I really liked what mountain climber George Mallory said when asked why he wanted to climb Everest: “Because it’s there!” Secondly, as an ambassador for the Red Cross, he cites disseminating information about the organization’s activities as an important part of his mission.
But one of Thor's main goals in this project is to show that the world is better than the news headlines make it seem. “Although the world is full of horrors, most of those we share this planet with are good people... And every country in the world has the right to be considered the best.” Thor does not hide the disappointments that are inevitable for a traveler with a very modest budget and the goal of visiting even the most unpopular corners of the Earth. And although sometimes, he says, he wants to give up everything, order a good steak and relax, he has come too far to give up.
Participant of three British expeditions to Everest (in 1921, 1922 and 1924), he is considered the first person to attempt to climb its summit. He went missing during the ascent on June 8, 1924, along with his teammate Andrew Irwin.
Traveling for free is quite difficult (but it is possible - there are many people who succeed). If you follow these tips, you'll soon see that wandering around the world can be cheaper than living in one place all the time.
As strange as it may sound, experience shows that people who go on long trips spend much less money than their friends who sit at home and complain that they cannot afford it. You may have different reasons for not traveling (family, work, health problems, etc.), but “lack of money” is not a reason (especially if you live in a developed country).
It's very simple: it can be done on the WorldNomads website for a certain period of time and for a citizen of any country. The best place to find cheap tickets is on the SkySkanner website.
Use your local equivalent of Groupon
If you have to splurge on something or want to treat yourself to something, find the local equivalent of sites like Groupon or Livingsocial. These sites are very popular in many countries. There you can find coupons for visiting gyms and trying out various sports, discounts for expensive restaurants, cheaper excursions and other great offers. If you can't find such a site yourself, ask locals or the Thorn Tree travel forum for advice.
Some countries have their own sites with similar offers, so read on the forums or ask locals what sites they use (this is a new trend, and not all countries know about it yet).
Learn to understand and speak the local language
By following this advice, you can save a lot of money. Unfortunately, most travelers do not want to get rid of their fears and make even the slightest effort to learn to speak the desired language, and prefer to make do with only English.
If you know the local language even a little, you won't have to pay the "foreigner tax" and be limited to only those expensive tourist places where English is spoken.
Ask locals for help (even if you have to pay them)
If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask locals on the couchsurfer forums. Don't be afraid to ask for advice from a hotel employee or the owner of the apartment you're staying at. They will tell you how you can have a good time without spending a fortune. Some tips cannot be found in guidebooks or the Internet - only local residents know them.
And if you really don't know what to do, why not pay a local who will solve all your problems for you? After all, his help will probably cost you less than the help of a travel agency.
Do not rush
If you want to go on an unconventional vacation, why rush and try to travel around the country in less than a week or 10 days?
Forget about the list of things you want to do before you die! It’s better not to rush anywhere and enjoy each country. This is the only way you can feel like a local and save money.
With some smarts, you can probably find a way to make money while you travel. It's not as difficult as it seems - especially if you can work on a computer or don't mind teaching English or your native language.
Stay in one country for a long time. This is the only way you will be able to study local life more closely and look beyond the mountain of stereotypes and superficial impressions. And in another two or three weeks in the country you can learn the basics of the local language.
Stop drinking and smoking
Many travelers spend 50 percent of their budget on nicotine and alcohol.
If you smoke, remember how bad cigarettes are for your body and stop giving yourself and those around you lung cancer. Quitting smoking is hard, but it will be the biggest gift to your health and bank account. The same goes for alcohol.
Travel for health and pleasure! Everything is possible!
Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thank you for that
that you are discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us on Facebook And In contact with
27 year old Cassandra De Pecol in 2017, she managed to set as many as 2 records: she became the first woman in history to visit all 196 sovereign states, and the first person to do this in just 1.5 years. Surely many of you also dream of traveling around the globe, but not everyone can afford it. Especially for you, we have collected tips that will help you travel more and spend less.
We are in website We are sure that almost anyone can travel if they really want to. Knowing some little tricks, you can do it much cheaper, and most importantly, without compromising your impressions.
1. Give preference to night travel by buses and trains
Night travel on trains and buses will make travel more budget-friendly. This option can be used as a good opportunity at the same time save time and money on a hotel It’s better to take 1st class tickets: you may overpay a little, but you’ll get a good night’s sleep.
Traveling on buses is not so convenient, so you should not plan daily night trips - this will make you feel overwhelmed. The only exception is slipper buses, which feature recumbent soft berths instead of standard seats - this is a good way to travel on a budget without sacrificing comfort.
2. Set up flight alerts
If there is a specific place you want to go, sign up for AirfaireWatchDog. Every time You will receive emails when there is a price reduction for the destination you have chosen. In addition, there are other sites that send similar notifications by email for a small fee. This method often helps save hundreds of dollars on a ticket.
3. Secret hotel offers
If time and money to find a hotel are limited, pay attention to sites with secret offers from hotels - hotwire and priceline. You will not know for sure which hotel you rented a room in, but The discount can range from 30 to 80%.
The closer the check-in date, the greater the likelihood of getting a good discount - it is more profitable for hotels to rent out a room at half price or lower than to earn nothing on it. So if you have a free travel schedule, the hotel brand is not important to you and healthy adventurism is not alien to you, these sites are for you.
4. How to return a non-refundable ticket
If your plans suddenly change and you need to return your air ticket, you should know that this can be done in several cases:
- your flight has been cancelled;
- you were not put on the flight you paid for;
- the flight was seriously delayed and this changed your plans;
- you or a close relative with whom you were planning to fly fell ill;
- a family member or close relative has died;
- if you change your mind about flying or overslept your flight, try to get at least part of the money back.
First, you will need to cancel your reservation with the airline, and then prepare documents to confirm your words. But in any case, the requirements need to be clarified with the specific airline.
5. Look for an alternative
Pay attention to countries and resorts that are less popular among tourists. This does not mean that your holiday there will be significantly different and will disappoint you. For example, you can try to replace Montenegro, Bulgaria or Thailand with Albania, Romania and Cambodia. After all these countries have a similar climate, there is a sea everywhere, but prices are significantly lower. In addition, there are not many tourists in these destinations, which makes these countries even more attractive.
6. Look for a ticket for 1 passenger
If you are flying with your family or just a large group, first find tickets for 1 person. The fact is that airline websites will try to sell a higher class ticket if you are looking for tickets for 2 or more passengers.
The difference in price is not always obvious, as you only see the amount for all the tickets and may miss the fact that 1 or 2 of them are higher class tickets at a higher price. It is worth first finding out the minimum price and then making sure that the cost of each ticket is exactly that.
7. Buy tickets online in incognito mode
If you went to the site just to look at a ticket for the desired date, and were distracted by business, after a while it may become more expensive. It's not that all the tickets are sold out, it's just that the airline already knows that you are interested in buying this ticket and will try to sell it to you at a higher price.
All this can be avoided if you search for tickets in incognito browser mode. So you will not leave traces on the Internet, and the airline will not make you unfavorable offers. Each browser has its own ways of setting incognito mode. For example, for Google Chrome this is the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N.
8. Don't use a MacBook when buying tickets
The websites of many airlines are based on the model of your computer or other device from which you place an order to purchase an air ticket. In addition, they can determine your region and the operating system of your computer. For example, if you book a ticket using a MacBook, you will most likely be offered expensive options. The best choice for ordering tickets would be a personal home computer or an Internet cafe.
9. Use stopover as an additional opportunity
A stopover flight is similar to a transit flight, but its main difference is that the transfer can take more than a day. But its main advantage is that during downtime you can see the country in which you will have a layover. For example, if you have a flight from London to Ankara, but you have a layover in Rome, then you can take a walk around this city too.
Do you like to travel? Do you have your own secrets for budget travel?