Seven Money-Saving Vacation Ideas for Budget Travelers
If your spirit of adventure is larger than your travel budget, these money-saving tips might just put your next vacation within reach.
1. Swap homes with other vacationers
If you prefer to mingle with the locals rather than other tourists, look into a home exchange vacation. One couple spent their eight-week honeymoon touring Europe without ever staying in a hotel; instead, they stayed in private homes while their European hosts stayed in their New York City apartment. Sound risky? Maybe—but tens of thousands of people have exchanged homes since the 1950s. For an annual membership fee (usually around $50), home exchange clubs help members arrange exchanges, as well as offering tips to make the exchange go smoothly. According to ExchangeHomes.com, a home exchange can cut travel costs by as much as half. More importantly, though, a home exchange vacation makes it possible for you to live like the locals, and perhaps make some life-long friends.
2. Rely on the hospitality of others
In a slight twist on the home exchange idea, look into joining a hospitality club that will hook you up with people willing to host you on your next vacation. The largest hospitality club has more than 23,000 members in 148 countries. Membership is usually free, although members are asked to provide hospitality to others (on a voluntary basis) in return sometime in the future. In addition to saving money, staying with others is a great way to meet locals who can give an insider's perspective on your destination.
3. Stay in a monastery or convent
Monasteries and convents have a long tradition of providing hospitality to travelers. Aside from being a lot more interesting (and affordable) than the local Holiday Inn, a monastery can be a great place to explore your spiritual landscape. Many monasteries and convents ask for a donation of $40 to $80 per night; others only ask for a free-will offering. In addition to simple accommodations, monasteries and convents often offer their guests simple meals as well as opportunities to participate in daily prayer and work. Reservations may be required in advance. You can research this vacation idea by looking up individual monasteries or convents online. Or get a guidebook such as "Europe's Monastery and Convent Guesthouses: A Pilgrim's Travel Guide" or "Sanctuaries: The Complete United States: A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats."
4. Win a free vacation
Nothing in life is free, the old adage goes, but the vacations many companies are giving away as part of promotional sweepstakes and contests come close. True, the odds of winning a free vacation are remote, but if you've ever played the lottery, you may as well spend a few minutes searching the web for "vacation contest" and related terms. The only cost of entering will probably be the time it takes to fill out online entry forms. (Be forewarned, though, that providing your e-mail address virtually guarantees unsolicited e-mail in the future.)
5. Sleep under the stars
Hoping to vacation in Hawaii or the U.S. Virgin Islands? Rather than spending a fortune on hotels or resorts, why not slash the cost of your accommodations by camping on the beach? Both destinations have parks that offer beachside camping for about $20 per night. Camping is an affordable alternative at virtually any destination, in fact. And camping doesn't necessarily mean "roughing it." Modern camping equipment can keep you as warm and comfortable as if you were sleeping at home (decent sleeping bags and sleeping pads are a must), and many campgrounds offer conveniences such as showers and running water. Some even rent basic but comfortable cabins.
6. Travel in the off season
It may be obvious to seasoned travelers, but those with less experience may not be aware of how affordable it can be to vacation in the "off season"—basically, any time other than when most people travel to your destination. Certain destinations' accommodation and airfare prices may be slashed by 30 percent or more during the off-season compared to the peak travel season.
7. Consider your airline alternatives
When booking airfare online, don't overlook discount and international airlines—some are not listed on the big travel portal websites, even though they might have a lower fare to your destination. Also be sure to compare rates for alternate airports within a reasonable traveling distance. You might live half an hour from a major airport, but the smaller airport a couple hours away might have substantially lower fares. Check for alternate airports near your destination, too. Finally, be flexible about your arrival and departure dates; the major travel portals all have options to search for the cheapest flights within a range of dates. Any one of these alternatives could potentially save you hundreds of dollars.
Jerry Windley-Daoust profiles cheap honeymoons at the Creative Honeymoon Ideas website.
Related Articles:
Business Internet Make Money Online Opportunity System - 4 Superlative Business Models for You
Are you looking for business that makes money on internet which is called business internet make money online opportunity system?
Is a Home Money Making Business Opportunity Too Good to Be True
Let?s face it; the internet has made life a lot easier for many people, for many reasons The internet and home-based businesses go hand-in-hand, and as the internet grows and evolves, so too do the business opportunities for those wishing to make money online
A New Way To Earn Money: How To Find Business Opportunities
The most successful businesspersons in the world are not those who were born with money, or who came by it because they won the lottery. The most successful businesspersons are those who knew what to do with the money they had. They knew where to invest the money, how to make it grow, and how to use it to help other people and themselves. In other words, the most successful businesspersons, and perhaps the richest people in the world, know how to handle money because they know how to recognize business opportunities when these business opportunities came knocking.
Making Money With Home Business Income Opportunity.
There are many ways to make money with a home business and some of them even live up to their promises. No matter what type of work you do there is a home business income opportunity for you. Whether you work at home or from home, you can find a line of work that you can do and make money doing it.
Business And Earning Money Online Opportunity
We all have to ear money, right? Okay so most of us have to earn a buck. There will always be the Paris Hiltons of the world, who are fortunately blessed from birth. As for the rest of us mere mortals, an income of some sort is imperative. Our society is designed this way. Of course it would be sweet if we could all just have what ever we want, when ever we want. Then we'd have oodles of free time to travel and enjoy life. Now, back to reality. It's important to find something in this world that you enjoy doing. Chances are you will be doing it for 30 or 40 years. Fortunately the opportunity spectrum is not quite so limited these days. Take the current business earn money online opportunity. This is becoming all the rage.
Learn How To Earn Continuous Money With A Residual Income Business Opportunity
The majority of people earn what is called a linear income. However, many people have realized there is a better way to earn money. They have started earning a residual income. Everyone is looking for a way to make more money and a residual income business opportunity is a great way to do so.
Small Business Financial Advice: New Online Tool Demonstrates Opportunities for Saving Money
Owner of GetMyTime, a web-based time tracking and expense tracking application, offers advice for small business owners.
Affiliate Program Business Opportunity: An Opportunity That Will Make You Earn A Lot Of Money
It didn?t take long for the internet to become one of the largest income generating businesses today. Even regular people, such as yourself, will have a chance to make a lot of money by just using the internet.
How You Can Make Money Many Ways Online Business Opportunities
Every community has local businesses. The Internet is no different in that there's a place for businesses there as well. The advantage of online businesses over local businesses is speed... low cost start-up... reaching customers world-wide... work from your own home...You can start earning money with an online business for $100, or even less and sometimes at no cost. The Internet has no national boundaries. You can do business all around the world as easily as you can in your own neighborhood.
Internet Home Business Opportunity - Start to Earn Money With Zero Cost Investment Plan
Would you like to earn more cash with internet home business opportunity?
You Can Make Money With An Online Business Opportunity
There are many times in life where you are going to want to make more money. Think about what you are doing now, and think about ways that you could make that just a little bit better for yourself. For instance, if you are able to, you might be just the right kind of person to find a great deal for a job that allows you to make lots of money, and that allows you to be the boss, as well. Many times they?ll be a make money business opportunity that comes out of nowhere, and if you are to take it and if you can do well, you might just find that you are able to make more money than you have ever dreamed of making.
Finding The Best Business MLM Money Home-based Opportunity For You
In various publications and on the internet, there are numerous offers to make an income through home-based opportunities. When selecting the best opportunity, it?s already known that one?s options are limited. The reasoning behind this situation, there?s limited facts on business MLM money home-based opportunities out there. A person would assume that the limited facts would indicate that not enough people have made an income on such an opportunity. The prospective respondent to a business MLM money home-based opportunity should proceed with caution and thoroughly investigate all information to obtain the most effective success from it. The prospect should employ all sources available such as those at any public library which usually offer...
How To Make Money With A Business Opportunity Online
If you are looking for a way to make money, you might already have thought about turning to the internet. The internet can be something that you can use in your search to make money ? it?s a business opportunity online that you simply can?t pass up.
An Internet Opportunity Does Not Normally Require A Lot Of Business Start Up Money
Starting a home based business is something many people dream of doing. They may have a great idea for a unique product or a revolutionary new service but there is one thing they lack. Without business start up money, your dreams of being your own boss may stay a pipe dream forever. There are different ways to find the funds needed to launch your new business and it?s simply a matter of knowing all your options.
SEO Ways To Make Money Online For Your New Internet Online Business Opportunity
Search engines are not the only way through which visitors get to your website. But I have read that most people say Google analytics for their sites show about 50 percent of visitors came from searches. The rest of their visitors came from referring sites with about 10 percent already knew their link. Optimizing your site for search engines, therefore is very important if you want to maintain a steady flow of visitors to your site. In this article we will discuss how seo can influence ways to make money online for your new online business opportunity.