Maui: Vacations

How Do You Travel Around the World on a Limited Budget?
By Terrie Bryan

Are you a college student on a budget who would like to do a little traveling and immerse yourself in a variety of cultures? Or maybe you have just always dreamed of being a “world traveler” and yet you have never really had the means to do so. Maybe you think traveling around the world is only a pipe dream. It’s a goal that many people have but most never realize this dream.

The fact is, with some planning and careful strategies and a budget in mind, you can make your dream a reality. One way is to use couch surfing, the new wave of travel. What is this? It is basically an Internet website that connects travelers to each other. You can contact people personally and get help with your itinerary when you’re planning to be in their area, and in addition you can even meet up for coffee or a drink, or you can make plans to stay at their home on their couch, hence the name couchsurfing. Of course you don’t have to actually stay on their couch, but it’s just a term to mean an extra bed, the floor, or somewhere you can rest for the night.

Is couchsurfing safe? Well the members of the site have references sort of like feedback on eBay. But of course there is always a risk so you need to check things out pretty carefully.

Another way to travel the world without breaking the bank is to search out discount or student airfares to each place you visit and when you get there, get a temporary job to make a little money that you will use to head to your next destination.

You can also find a traveling buddy to share costs. Traveling will be cheaper this way as you can split everything except the airfare.

When possible, travel by train or bus. It’s not as fun or as quick, but you will actually see and experience a lot more by doing so. And you’ll save money too.

Be sure to plan your itinerary and try hard to stick to it. Impromptu excursions can be costly so limit those. While you may not want to stick entirely to less expensive locales, making shorter stops in expensive countries and significantly longer stops where the cost of living is cheaper is a great way to save money.

Search the Internet and stay in hostels for the cheapest rates. This is also a great way to meet other budget-minded travelers who may have some good ideas for you to save money.

Almost any city in the world has a lot you can do just by walking. So plan to do a lot of walking or make use of public transportation.

Last piece of advice is to have a great time and keep a travel diary with photos. You’ll want to remember every minute of this time in your life when you were able to travel around the world without breaking your budget.