Fortunately, these are not exclusive terms.
I can't claim to have been everywhere, but my travels have brought me through the Provinces from Victoria Island to Montreal. New York, New Jersey, Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, several parts of Mexico, Cuba, Thailand, England, France, Spain, Switzerland & Italy.
I feel that traveling is an education & can change you as a person.
It doesn't even have to be expensive either! Here's some advise I have for stretching your dollars & getting to travel more.
Go where you know (someone)
This may seem like common sense, or might also seem like it wouldn't save you any money if you didn't want to stay with that person but think for a second of the hidden benefits...
A friend or family member (or a friend of the family or family of a friend) could give you tips on what is worthwhile seeing, good restaurants & direct you to a good neighborhood to stay in.
Side note, a lot of touristy areas will reduce their excursion/rental prices dependent on how many people are in your group. In Bangkok for instance, Having a group of 4 paying adults could bring your price down to half what you would pay in a group of 2.
This kind of logic applies to a lot of boat excursions, walking tours & rentals (a jet ski for example).
Meticulously plan your spending
And I don't just mean hotel & airfare. I suggest really thinking about what it will cost to run your operation both at your destination & at home.
If you are going all inclusive, lucky you! Everyone should experience the gluttony of all you can eat food & alcohol. Please keep in mind though that this doesn't cover everything.
Most destinations that offer all inclusive are third world & developing countries. It is important to understand the wage standards & tipping customs in the country. You will have a lot better & friendlier service when you tip in places like Mexico & it is expected by he staff. It's important to remember that a small tip for every drink (times the eleventy thousand drinks you order because you're cheap & really want to feel like you're getting your moneys worth) adds up. Budget for this.
Also consider how much excursions cost (don't be a sissy & sit on the resort the whole time, even I'm not THAT cheap). Once you've considered that, think about how you're going to get there & produce a spending budget for transportation.
Think about what kind of a limit you want to set yourself for buying souvenirs.
When I started traveling I used to not plan for this because I don't like clutter & was not interested in buying little keychains & knock knacks for myself... I learned my lesson after traveling to Europe, and indulging in clothes, shoes, books, art & purses. Souvenirs are not always junk & in the right places, they are very useful things that are commonly more expensive at home. Plan to spend some.
Also think about souvenirs for others. If this is not common in your family or circle of friends, at least consider a token of gratitude for anyone that has helped you to get to your destination (I.E. the person who drove you to the airport, babysat your house or switched shifts with you).
Buy the lonely planet book
This goes against my natural urges to save money & to just do internet research, but trust me, these books are worth the $24.00. Plus you can read them on a plane or take them with you when sightseeing.
A lot of them also have pull out maps & phrases in the local language, plus Embassy information if you're a rowdy.
They're also pretty cool to keep as a bookshelf souvenir in themselves. I enjoy going through the books & reliving things (Ermergerd, wer were therrre!)
Become familiar with your destination's layout
And I don't mean heaving out the map when you're on street-corners... in fact I'd recommend NOT pointing yourself out as a lost, confused tourist.
Open up Google maps & take a visual tour of the major streets. Enjoy getting a sneak peak of the neighborhood unscripted & unkept. Commit to memory the places where you want to go & where they are situated in the city.
We were only in Phuket for three excursion packed days so I didn't spend a lot of time getting familiar with the city layout.
The family & I looked up an Italian restaurant (we were having stomach troubles) in the city without having any idea where it was. We hailed a cab & negotiated the prices of 200 baht (less than $7.00 Canadian but worth about an hour in a typical metered Thai taxi).
Not knowing where we were going, we got in. The cab proceeded to drive up one block & pull in to the entrance of a hotel that housed the Italian restaurant. What can you do but laugh?
There are also taxis in Vegas & other scam cities that will ask you where you're from & if you've ever been to Vegas (or other scam city) before.
Using that information, they'll take you up & down the Highways wasting time while the meter is running to jack up the cost of your ride.
Trip Advisor
An unbelievable tool that has never served me wrong. Look at the reviews for excursions/hotels. People usually have no hesitation in voicing whether they feel the excursion/stay was worth the money.
Maybe I am a racist a**hole, but also take in to account where these reviews are coming from. I tend to put more weight on reviews from people in similar modernized countries & hence (hopefully) similar living conditions; the States, Great Britain, Australia etc.
Cheap flights
Very simply: Expedia & Flighthub (wholesale travel & Target vacations also worth a look) & If you want to get creative, I have also had good results going to low pressure travel specialists to see if they have any advice/alternatives (Sun Seekers on Academy is amazing). I can't decide whether advance booking or sell-offs are the way to go as I've gotten great deals with both. I'll figure it out though...
Cheap hotels
Expedia & hotels.ca (Agoda for remote villages & guest houses).
After you've found a hotel you like, look for a coupon code! Nothing is too small.
When I booked rooms for our most recent trip I found an Expedia coupon code for 5% off the regular price of the nightly stay. This worked out to only about 4.00. This amount is small but that trip we bought two hotels rooms for 14 nights, so the $4.00 adds up to $112.00 sliced right off my bill & that I can use towards another excursion or a really, really nice dinner.
Last but not least, the controversial timeshare
No, don't buy one silly! Consider hearing about one.
This is a tough call to make as a timeshare presentation is usually between two & three hours. You really have to decide if what they're offering you is worth your time.
For those of you that have never been proposed a timeshare presentation, a hotel, a tour desk or sometimes someone on the street will propose that you listen to a presentation about property owning/sharing. They always offer a free meal, free transportation & then an incentive...which also varies.
I know this sounds sketchy...trusting some random man on the street offering you something for free, but they usually have ID cards & are from major timeshare companies that do everything in their power to make you not want to leave.
I have not been scammed in the few times I've seen a timeshare & in fact it's pretty straightforward.
They take you to a lovely hotel, you have a good free breakfast & meet up with a salesperson. They show you around some very luxurious suites & common areas, show you a video, explain how the 'share' works & offer you a sales pitch. Once you've declined, they offer you a rebuttal on another deal & you reject that too. Then you leave with whatever incentive they've offered you.
In Hawaii, we were offered an incentive of the company paying $100.00 towards the cost of a whale-watching excursion we wanted to go on.
In Mexico, they played a little more hardball. In exchange for MaryAnne & dad going to a 2 hour time share presentation, the company paid for 6 of us to go on a jungle tour valued at over $100.00/person. Ruthless. But awesome. That being said, I would have no qualms having a free breakfast & listening to a sales pitch, especially after a long night when you'd just be sitting around recuperating anyway.
Happy traveling all!
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