Seven Travel Budget Tips From an Expert Scrooge!

  Written by Ron Barrow on Mar 21, 2009 7:40 pm

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Seven Travel Budget Tips From an Expert Scrooge

International Living Postcards--your daily escape
Thursday, March 12, 2009

Dear International Living Reader,

The best buy from my winter trip to Southeast Asia? An airline ticket with AirAsia. Flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, to Penang island cost an equivalent $9.45. Taxes included.

That wasn’t a travel writer’s discount. If booked at the right time, those budget fares are available to everyone.

Although freebies and discounts are part of a professional writer’s life , you usually need a few stories published before you’re treated to "hospitality." When starting out, most writers have to make their dollars stretch as far as possible.

But even if travel writing doesn’t figure in your future plans, it doesn’t require vast wads of cash to explore exotic places.

Not if you start thinking like a cheapskate writer. OK, I lucked out and got a generous media discount (and upgraded to club status) at the Manila Hyatt. But although lounging in luxury is fun, I’m really a Scrooge at heart.

So if you dream of exploring Asia this year, here’s seven tips to slash your budget:

1. Scratch Japan, Singapore and South Korea from your schedule. They’re not inexpensive countries. High-profile beach destinations are also for well-heeled tourists, not starving poets or travel writers. Nice if you can afford it, but Thailand has far more to offer than the beaches of Phuket and Koh Samui. (Besides, White Beach on Boracay Island in the Philippines outdoes them both--and it’s better value.)

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2. Asian web travel agencies often supply better discounts than major U.S. booking sites or by contacting hotels themselves. Here are a couple of deals I got: Through www.asiawebdirect.com a double with breakfast at Kuala Lumpur’s Swiss Garden Hotel was $61. In the Philippines, Carmela de Boracay Hotel faces Boracay Island’s famous White Beach--a double with breakfast was $71 through www.agoda.com.

3. Budget accommodation doesn’t have to mean grungy backpacker hostels. On Borneo, I met a retired British couple staying in a Kota Kinabalu guesthouse for $18 nightly. Private room, air-conditioning, power shower, internet, free airport pickup--they had no complaints. For them, "flash-packing" throughout Asia for five months worked out cheaper than staying at home.

4. Eat with locals. Just because a meal only costs a dollar or two doesn’t mean it’s unsafe--or that a plastic-table joint is unhygienic. My only caveat is to avoid empty restaurants. They’re usually empty for good reason.

5. Vietnam is an exception, but organized excursions can be outrageously expensive. Can you make the same trip yourself using public transport? For example, I went snorkeling on Sapi Island, off Northern Borneo. Return ticket on a public ferry: $4.75. Hire of snorkeling equipment: $4.20. A seafood noodle lunch with fresh lime juice: $2.80. Total cost for me: $11.75. The same trip with a local tour outfit costs $36.40.

6. On the same topic, if you’re traveling in company, hiring a taxi for the day is often cheaper than a tour. Together with my husband, I’ve done all-day taxi trips in both Thailand and India for under $60.

7. Be creative and you’ll unlock lots of adventures for very little. Ride a jeepney in Manila--less than 10 cents for one of the most unforgettable rides of your life. Delve into a night market--you don’t have to buy anything. Try a fish pedicure--in Malaysia, it only costs $6 to $8. And why visit a fancy spa for a traditional massage? You’ll find many beaches where you can have for one for $2-$3.

Steenie Harvey
Roving Travel Writer, International Living

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