[Spike]

I wrote this for my website last year when i was still into hardcore cheap ass traveling.

The 3 major cost components:

1 - Accommodation

Accommodation is the number one cost of traveling, the more special or remote the city or place you’re staying is, the more you pay. The language barrier is also a problem finding a cheap place. Conning touts or taxi drivers will always take you to the place where they receive the most commission. The Lonely planet is a reasonable guidebook but as soon as those recommended guesthouses are in there, they start charging a lot more. Booking a hostel online is not bad either; most have pictures, prices and route descriptions on there. Costs will average between at least 3 to 12 dollar is poor countries to 12 tot 30 dollars in the more developed countries or special places.

Solutions

- When staying in place of minor importance (transport hub, or place where there will be no girl chasing) Swallow your pride and stay in the cheapest place possible. Nothing wrong with cold showers and squatter toilets, Man up !

- Try couchsurfing, free places to stay and most people will show you around and treat you as their guest, never turn away from free food and drinks.

- Stay in cheap dorms and guesthouses, also a place to pick up chicks. Banging in the dorm rooms is not uncommon but it doesn't happen as much as people say, just hang some sheets around your bed and keep it quiet.

- Find a girl who will accommodate you, spend money on her as long as it cheaper than getting your own place. Of course the girl herself is a bonus too.

- Share a double room with somebody, possibly a girl so you can have some nightly action too. It’s a great way to get in her pants, Ask her if she wants to share a room for the costs, work your magic and end up using the other bed to put your bag on. Yes, this works!!!

- Bargain for a room, it’s possible with most guesthouses and hotels. No guts, no glory.

- Build up a great network of Facebook friends, when in the neighborhood, they can accommodate you for free (and provide food and/or drinks) or find a cheap place to stay for you.

- Book a place for the night and start walking and asking around for better and cheaper places, check out next day and relocate



2 – Food and drinks

Food and drinks is the second most expensive part of traveling, especially drinking alcohol can certainly ruin your budget. In a lot of countries going out means spending more on drinks than on food and accommodation all together. In some places food will be costly also because there is just no cheap grub around or you sick of eating the same cheap food over and over. For example: rice and noodles.



Solutions :

Food :

- Eat lots of street food, you’re stomach will get used to it eventually; going to more expensive places is no guarantee for not spending a day or two on the toilet. Stop washing your hands every 10 minutes, build up some tolerance.

- Get breakfast included in your guesthouse, it will be a shit breakfast, but hey, it’s free right! Personally I can’t stand those toast with jam breakfasts and will eat out.

- Cook yourself if you are in more expensive countries, again I almost never cook and will go to a fast food place or street market to get my belly filled. I’m lazy and don't know how to except for pasta.

- Never refuse when people you meet offer you food, its rude and bad for your wallet.

- When dating girls is poor countries you will be the one paying for everything (exceptions apply), bite the bullet on this one, you can’t expect them to pay for their one food and drinks when they make 3 dollars a day. Its shows no respect if you ask them to split the bill, you will make a fool of yourself. Don’t go overboard with it either, when a girl eats rice 7 days a week and wants to go to a 5 star restaurant when with you, dump that gold-digger. She has to like you, not your bank account.

- Find places with cheap food, Chinese restaurants are a good option. Buffets and places where you get free food are another option.

- Take a girl out to Mac Donalds, just say you haven’t had a Big Mac in months and you’re craving for it. If the girl really likes you, she won’t mind. In some countries Mac Donalds is a high end place and girls love to eat there.

- Go eat at a cheap local place and say to the girl your with that you love her country and their tasty food, don’t mention you’re eating rice in every possible form for the last year. Look excited when reading the menu.

Drinks :

- As said before, drinking can kill your budget faster than a speeding bullet. Best solution by far is to stop drinking alcohol. This is also the most boring and unsociable solution.

- Drink water instead of coca cola during the day, its much cheaper, healthier and better for your teeth also. Stay away from fresh made juices also, they’re full of sugar and always pricy. And why drink coffee at a Starbucks when Mac Donalds sells it for a quarter of the price.

- When going out , drink in if you’re the heavy drinking type, if you want to pick up girls, drink moderate. Nobody likes a slurring ape-man. Stay fresh and focused.

- Don’t buy drinks for other (girl)backpackers, In fact never buy drinks for girls before you kissed them. Don’t get fooled by girls trying to get free drinks. Turn it around.

- Do not go to expensive clubs with hefty entrance fees and 10 dollar drinks. It’s no guarantee for anything. Clubs like that are frequently used by prostitutes or bitchy gold-digger’s who are not looking for broke backpackers. (This theory is not rock solid. I recently spoke to a guy who went to such places in poor countries, invested in entrance fees and drinks and picked up a rich local girl/woman who paid every for him and spoiled him all the time. I did the same in Indonesia only in a cheap bar. I lived in a great free 5 star hotel and free everything + Cup E boobs and mad sex , actually now that I think about it, I didn’t even buy her a drink. )

- Don’t drink out of boredom in trains, planes and busses. Find somebody to talk to and you might get some free drinks.

- Find out when the happy hours are or even get drinks for free in some places.

- And last but certainly not the least: Charm girls into buying you drinks.



3 - Transportation :

Transportation is the last major reason why your wallet is always empty, the rule is the slower you travel, the cheaper it gets. Unfortunately we cannot teleport ourselves from one place to another so we have to take a bus, train or airplane to get there. You can live as cheap as possible but if a ticket to some destination costs 50 dollar, then you just have to deal with it.

Solutions :

- Hitchhiking is the cheapest way to get from A to B; I have no experience in it so far, so I suggest you read a book on it.

- Local,local,local , local transport is always the cheapest one and most of the time the most fun also.Taking a local bus with chickens,goats and smelly yelling baby's on it is the fastest way to learn about the local culture. Ask locals where to find the bus station and how much they pay for a ticket if its not posted. Avoid travel agents. The downsite is that it may take a lot of time and sometimes inconvenience.

- Bargain hard anywhere and anytime. Especially taxi and motorbike drivers are notorious for ripping you off. Walk off by the first sign of overpricing and most of the time the prices suddenly drop 50% or more.

- Walk around; you can easily do 4 or 5 kilometers an hour, a great chance to meet people on the streets and who knows how one thing can lead to another. You will not meet girls sitting in a taxicab.

- A bus is almost always cheaper than a train and a train is almost always cheaper than a airplane. Travel slow and save money. Read the stories and see how I met some girls on busses and trains.

- Plan ahead. Book airplanes online and as far ahead as possible, this is a great money saver. Use budget airlines and look for the hidden costs. Strange advice from a guy who always travels by the day or few days. I spend way too much money on this.

Does this all mean you can never stay in a fancy room, eat a descent and tasty meal, smash 50 Dollar on drinks? The answer is no, you are traveling to enjoy and have a good time, just keep in mind the more you spend the shorter your trip will be and the sooner you will be back at a boring job.


Me eating a free 18 dollar steak sandwich in a free 5 star hotel.
[attachment=4877]

[birth]

And the best advice? Get the finger out of your ass, stop giving yourself excuses why you aren't successful and actually start making some money. #justsayin.

Btw, another great way to save on accommodation: priceline's bidding for rooms system. I've gotten awesome 4* hotels in SoBe MIA and San Diego for less than 50$ a night. http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/ is a great way to compare what others are bidding.

[Roosh]

Nice tips, but if you have to travel in this way then pulling will be much more difficult. It's probably better to do short trips where you don't have to be tight with money than longer trips where you have to count every dollar.

[Hencredible Casanova]

I agree. Traveling like that is pointless unless you're on some spiritual quest to live according to Confucian principles.

I'll never forget when I was in Cartagena, Colombia some years ago standing in this public space with an attractive Swiss girl I was traveling with. Some female British backpacker type was there and trying to negotiate a price with a street food vendor for some kind of snack that was insanely cheap to begin with. She kept haggling and haggling and the vendor woman simply refused. This girl then goes and rallies other gringos who were also backpackers and returns to negotiate as a mob. I couldn't believe it. That was not only disrespectful to the vendor but also to herself. To behave like that when you come from a "first-world" country is ridiculous. Just stay the F home and travel when you actually have some money. Otherwise, you're really just being crazy.

[Roosh]

Israelis are good "negotiators".

[FretDancer]

Good post. But I was expecting to see some tricks regarding flights. Almost the reason why its so hard to get out of a hell hole.

[Hencredible Casanova]

(02-22-2012 03:58 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

Israelis are good "negotiators".

They have their own network, including Hebrew-only travel websites where they can find Israeli-owned hostels and businesses for when they travel (including discounts). I remember the city of Cusco in Peru and how many businesses there were owned by Israelis. I even found falafel shops out there.

Israelis get criticized a lot from other backpackers for being aloof and reserved. They don't seem to try to make friends with people who are not Israeli. I think it's that most of them just got out of an unpleasant experience doing compulsory military service and can't relate to other people. I don't know.

But I have also heard complaints about them being cheap and single-minded in disputes.

I remember meeting this Australian guy who told me that when he stays in hostels, he'll immediately pack up and leave if Israelis are assigned a bed in his dorm. He said they are the worst travelers and don't reciprocate or share backpacker values.

[el mechanico]

(02-22-2012 02:39 PM)birth Wrote:  

And the best advice? Get the finger out of your ass, stop giving yourself excuses why you aren't successful and actually start making some money. #justsayin.

Btw, another great way to save on accommodation: priceline's bidding for rooms system. I've gotten awesome 4* hotels in SoBe MIA and San Diego for less than 50$ a night. http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/ is a great way to compare what others are bidding.

I have money but no time. When I had time I had no money. I traveled poor.

I would enter Mexico in my car with maybe $200 tops and stay for months.

1. I would sleep on the hood of my car if I couldn't pull.

2. Siphoned all my fuel from garbage trucks

3. Would work on scooters in exchange for weed/beer

4. Surfed everyday(free) girls at beach(free) what was in their coolers(free)

5. Restaurant? never. Tacos? sometimes. Stuff you pick yourself? all day

Wouldn't trade the experience for anything. So I say go if you can while you're young and available. It will all work out.

[thegmanifesto]

(02-22-2012 04:33 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

I have money but no time. When I had time I had no money. I traveled poor.

I would enter Mexico in my car with maybe $200 tops and stay for months.

1. I would sleep on the hood of my car if I couldn't pull.

2. Siphoned all my fuel from garbage trucks

3. Would work on scooters in exchange for weed/beer

4. Surfed everyday(free) girls at beach(free) what was in their coolers(free)

5. Restaurant? never. Tacos? sometimes. Stuff you pick yourself? all day

Wouldn't trade the experience for anything. So I say go if you can while you're young and available. It will all work out.

Good post.

Hell, when I was younger I camped out in the jungles of Panama at the beach for a few months.

No running water.

Surfed perfect waves everyday.

Ate Mangoes from the tree.

Some of the best memories of my life.

Just make it happen.

[el mechanico]

Watch out for fresh Mangoes they could be worse than poison ivy. I found out the hard way..
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJ...7233390405

[thegmanifesto]

(02-22-2012 06:15 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

Watch out for fresh Mangoes they could be worse than poison ivy. I found out the hard way..
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJ...7233390405

Wow. That is funny you posted that.

The exact same thing happened to me.

I think its from the skin of the mango.

After that, I switched to Papayas. Sucks. I used to love mangoes.

[el mechanico]

(02-22-2012 06:17 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(02-22-2012 06:15 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

Watch out for fresh Mangoes they could be worse than poison ivy. I found out the hard way..
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJ...7233390405

Wow. That is funny you posted that.

The exact same thing happened to me.

I think its from the skin of the mango.

After that, I switched to Papayas. Sucks. I used to love mangoes.

The fucked up thing is I couldn't figure it out and was messed up for a month. At the same place my back was covered in welts and I thought I had a disease. I woke up and had an eye open and watched these tiny tiny scorpions falling from the wood slat roof. I would roll on them when I slept and get stung all night.

[Pilgrim37]

(02-22-2012 03:58 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

Israelis are good "negotiators".

I've heard some establishments on the backpacker trail are so fed up with them they refuse their custom point blank!

[Deb Auchery]

Good tips for budget travellers, although, to be honest i've always been a bit appalled by the ultra cheap backpackers. I mean why half starve yourself and drift around like a waif just so you can extend your time away from home? What's worse is when these people criticise you for doing something frivolous like renting a jet ski, they will say "whoah dude $20??!, that's like my entire food budget for a week!!". Or perhaps you're staying in a hostel, and someone is cooking, then broke ass comes along, they offer him some rice or something, and he is like "wooowwww, are you sure?" and they never stop saying how delcious the boiled rice is. This guy always turns up at dinnertime too.

Or maybe they will try and make out they are having a more cultural time then you(only because they are broke and can't afford to do shit), you say "I've been doing my Open Water PADI diving cert", they say "We've spent our day with a hill tribe knitting socks for disadvantaged kids"

I'm heading to Goa for a couple of months very soon, the place is going to be full of cheap ass hippies, I have nothing really against hippy culture, but I don't find the chicks attractive on the whole, unless they are way young and new to the scene. The hippy girls are usually way skinny and undernourished surviving on a staple diet of weed, beer and rice. And dreadlocks are a huge NO, I wouldn't go anywhere near a dreadlocked person, in case they have cholera spores trapped in their hair.

My plan is to rent an expensive apartment near the beach if possible, have some kicks ass parties, an Indian chauffeur, maid, the works.

[Deb Auchery]

(02-22-2012 06:29 PM)Pilgrim37 Wrote:  

(02-22-2012 03:58 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

Israelis are good "negotiators".

I've heard some establishments on the backpacker trail are so fed up with them they refuse their custom point blank!

Yep came across this in Thailand, Isrealis were banned from many resorts.

[bengalltigerr]

Street food is very unhealthy when eaten daily, unless of course you are used to diarrhea.

Nonetheless, those were some great tips.

[Soma]

(02-22-2012 06:43 PM)bengalltigerr Wrote:  

Street food is very unhealthy when eaten daily, unless of course you are used to diarrhea.

Not true - depends on the place. I eat it everyday in Thailand with no problems but wouldn't touch it in, for example, neighbouring Myanmar (did once, got sick.)

[Spike]

(02-22-2012 03:18 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

Nice tips, but if you have to travel in this way then pulling will be much more difficult. It's probably better to do short trips where you don't have to be tight with money than longer trips where you have to count every dollar.

Money has always been my biggest cockblock.

Quote:

Roosh Wrote:
Israelis are good "negotiators".

Hencredible Casanova Wrote :

They have their own network, including Hebrew-only travel websites where they can find Israeli-owned hostels and businesses for when they travel (including discounts). I remember the city of Cusco in Peru and how many businesses there were owned by Israelis. I even found falafel shops out there.

Israelis get criticized a lot from other backpackers for being aloof and reserved. They don't seem to try to make friends with people who are not Israeli. I think it's that most of them just got out of an unpleasant experience doing compulsory military service and can't relate to other people. I don't know.

But I have also heard complaints about them being cheap and single-minded in disputes.

I remember meeting this Australian guy who told me that when he stays in hostels, he'll immediately pack up and leave if Israelis are assigned a bed in his dorm. He said they are the worst travelers and don't reciprocate or share backpacker values.

I met a few nice israeli guys in a cordoba hostel but i agree that most israeli backpacker are NOT fun to hang out with, they will travel in groups and behave very arrogantly, like they own the place and haggle for every dime. They are also very loud and don't give a damn if you are sleeping in a dorm. They just turn on the lights and start talking loud. I have seen people form other countries do this too sometimes but with Israelis is a 95% guarantee you'll have a bad night sleep.

I have seen the NO Israeli signs too and some Israelis complained about racism/fascism not able to see its was their haggling and overall obnoxious behavior that got them banned in the first place.
I wrote this post when i came for Asia and Australia last year. I'm not a ultra cheap backpacker myself and i dislike those leechers or people walking around in hippie pants and eat veggies all day. But you have to be cheap sometime to stay on the road for a long time. Why should i pay a lot for accommodation if i'm already sure a bang is not gonna happen in that town. I'm not a ultra haggler either, idon't mins paying a bit more than the local price but hate it when i'm clearly getting ripped off and have almost gotten into fights over it.

[HotShit]

Neil, when you were getting ripped off, did it help to get angry and confrontational? Do they expect you to smile when they rob you? I guess it depends on where you are.

[Spike]

(02-24-2012 10:05 AM)HotShit Wrote:  

Neil, when you were getting ripped off, did it help to get angry and confrontational? Do they expect you to smile when they rob you? I guess it depends on where you are.

Yes, i confront them. I got in into arguments or near fights over a few dollars. i don't like getting ripped of just because i have white skin.

In Manila i nearly got into an accident because they pulled the hand brake ( correct term??) next to the driver when i was getting fucked over with the price. I pulled it twice and i threatened him i would punch him in the face if he wouldn't let me out of the car. He let me out and i never paid him a dime. I was already half way to my destination when he stopped.

I have thrown money in peoples faces or gave them half the price they asked and walked away.

In Chile, i was getting ripped of by a taxi driver but i didn't have time to find another one. I found money in the door on the passengers side and grabbed it when he didn't look. It was like 10 dollar in pesos. I paid the ride with it and he gave me 5 dollars change of his own money back. i had a free ride and 5 dollar in my pocket. I loved how he smiled at me thinking he made a fool out of a dumb foreigner while i had paid him with his own money and he given me change back.

I have become softer near the end of my trip but still don't like to pay the double or triple prices for tourists. If a taxi driver or vendor is honest and asks me a normal price i usually give him a bit extra.

[pitt]

I respect the way you roll Neil but fuck travelling in a extreme budget.

Usually when i travel, i dont like to think about how much im spending, although i never spend more than 1500 dollars a month anywhere that i fly to. I usually stay in affordable hostels and just eat out in normal places.

I never like to stay in peoples house, i always prefer to get my own place and i cant see myself searching for free food and drinks.

Neil most of jobs in Netherland pay good money, i hate to be advocating jobs but if you are on that tight budget, work for few months then travel. Just my 2 cents.

[SVK]

When I was 18 and 19, I spent 2 summers traveling around Southern Europe, on a extremely low budget of about $200 or so. I was a poor Eastern European student and simply couldn't afford more. This was in the late 90's.

Transportation - fake Interrail pass, a guy was making these and selling for about $40. Allows you to travel on trains in all of the Europe + Turkey and Morocco for 1 month. Regular trains (no sleeping coach or speed train) are without surcharges. Real pass cost even back then around $500 IIRC. I heard later the train conductors really cracked down on the fake Interrail passes and lots of people got caught - this wasn't a big deal usually (no jail time), but you would lose it which when you have no money means painful hitchhiking back home.

Sleeping - we tried to plan the route to catch overnight trains over long distances so that we can get a good night sleep and be hundreds of miles further (example: Barcelona -> Cadiz, Vienna -> Paris). If we didn't sleep on a train we would sleep in parks or beaches. Beaches were particularly great since sand is soft and public beaches have often showers, toilets, etc. In Morocco the hotels were so cheap, and we were afraid to sleep outside, so we 'splurged' on the $2-3 hotel room.

Food - that was the most expensive part of the budget. Usually we would get some cheap groceries and eat them wherever we were. Sometimes we splurged on fast food or street food. Overall we didn't eat much, combined with heavy walking with backpacks and bad diarrhea I got in Morocco I lost almost 20 lbs in a month, and I wasn't fat at all to begin with. As for booze - all southern European countries have some very cheap wines, not very good, but $1 for a liter or even less. In Morocco we would smoke up all the time since hash is so cheap and there's almost no alcohol at all.

We were basically living just a little bit better than bums. We got sick. Friend got robbed when we got too f-ed up on a beach in Barcelona one night. I have woken up a couple times, sleeping in a train, somebody patting me down looking for my wallet. But it was great experience. Even in these conditions I managed to get laid twice, with backpacker girls of course.
But I don't think I could do it again, I grew too comfortable with age, and there's no reason - I'm in the situation where I have decent money but little time. But these memories of travel and adventure motivates me to leave the shackles of corporate America and get out there on the road permanently again...

[ehs5040]

Traveling on a thin budget is actually pretty fun, it's a challenge as long as you have a few thousand as a safety net. Staying in some shitty barrio hotel is much more memorable (to me) than some nice joint in the tourist neighborhood or some hostel with English and Irish dudes.

Some supposed-big rollers on this site imply (of course they do) that cash is needed to get quality, but I never found that. Being confident, interesting, good looking, and clean are more than enough for a good number of quality girls, especially when traveling - as they know you aren't sticking around to raise their children.

[Greek kamaki]

In my experience you have to have at least 1000 euro to spend on any one week travel.If you do not have this amount just travel for one weekend.

For example if I had 1500 euro I would go to Kiev for 3 days or to ukrainian province for 10 days.

If I had 1000 euro I would travel to Kiev for a weekend or to ukrainian province for a week.

If I had 600 euro I would travel to Poland for a weekend.

If I had 2000 euro I would hit Russian province.
etc

[pitt]

(02-25-2012 07:21 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  

In my experience you have to have at least 1000 euro to spend on any one week travel.If you do not have this amount just travel for one weekend.

For example if I had 1500 euro I would go to Kiev for 3 days or to ukrainian province for 10 days.

If I had 1000 euro I would travel to Kiev for a weekend or to ukrainian province for a week.

If I had 600 euro I would travel to Poland for a weekend.

If I had 2000 euro I would hit Russian province.
etc

You must have lots of money, thats a lot of money to be spent, A LOT.

Usually when i travel around europe, i spend around 400 to 600 euros per month and i always have a good time.

I think some of you guys may have spending issues, i dont really understand how you can spend so much money when you travel, i never spend that much, never.