How to travel more with less money has become a bit of a game to me now, a bit like my budget. How to stretch my dollar far. Prior to the 7th of July 2018 travel was a priority but in my mind, I had plenty of time but then I got a change in my health and I realised life is short.
It was as I bundled the kids into the car that afternoon; I didn’t care that my health had changed. I only thought about two things. The first was I was eternally grateful my condition wasn’t genetic and two I had not fulfilled my dream to travel the world with my family. Despite the ‘gonnas’ I hadn’t taken my husband to America. I hadn’t travelled to New Zealand and showed my kids where I spent my summers. I hadn’t travelled enough; but then can you ever have travelled enough.
Now I think there is a difference between holidaying and travelling. This post is aimed at travelling. Holidays provide rest and relaxation. Holidays are fancy hotels and a kids club. Travel shows you the world. It gets you down to ground level and teaches you how the rest of the world lives. Its an experience. So, in my opinion, that day I realised we hadn’t ‘travelled’ enough. It was also something I felt an urgency to change- fast.
Since then we have travelled to Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and various places all over Australia. We are in the current planning stages of America with a trip to Darwin and New Zealand booked for in between.
I also have to tell you that we don’t put our travel on to a credit card or a loan. I have made the mistake of placing a holiday on credit card and will never do that again. Pay for it before you go, it makes it so much sweeter and whilst I know that we are in a fortunate position to be able to have leftover dollars this hasn’t come by accident either. It comes down to choices, much like everything in life.
So how to travel more.
Make it part of the budget. Making it part of the budget and having your own travel account is the easiest way to travel more. Whether its $20 or $50 a week, fortnight or month it will see you travelling before you know it. ING Direct has some great saving accounts that offer some of the highest interest rates on the net.
Make it a priority. Some people have ‘boys toys’, electronic toys or an incredible toy car set. We have travel goals. Everything we save for is travel. My boys save specifically for travel. Right now they are frantically saving for a trip to New Zealand we have coming up in February. We have started living even more simply because of our love of travel has grown.
Plan. Whilst some of our travel has been off the cuff the best travel plans have been made with a lot of research. Not only does it make on the ground easier, you get the best deal but everyone can get involved. The boys are responsible for finding one place or experience they want to see or go to.
Don’t be afraid to fly discount. Before the urgency to travel I wouldn’t travel a discount airline. I was simply too scared. However, without a discount airline, we would never have seen Singapore or Japan. You just need to be mindful that you are paying literally for just a seat and everything else is extra. Those extras just like a hotel minibar are crazy expensive.
Join a loyalty program. I am a lover of Qantas frequent flyer points. I am signed up to a credit card that gives me frequent flyer points and I also use the Qantas cash card for the points. We convert our Woolworths reward points. I also downloaded the Qantas wellbeing app for the points. Crazy? Is it worth it? I pay everything and I mean everything on the card and its only effective if you pay off your credit card each month and not making a loss for the sake of a point. Having said that we travel a lot on points but we book them early and can be flexible with our travel dates.
Travel to destinations you wouldn’t normally consider. Prior to my changed mindset, I didn’t really want to travel to Asia. Japan wasn’t somewhere I thought I would like or even love. Singapore more than a stopover now way. These though have been our best travel spots providing some of our best adventures.
Do weekend vacations in your own country. Never discount travel within our beautiful country. Australia has some of the most beautiful spots in the world and its so easy to travel across the country for the weekend and feel like you have been in a different world.
Sign up to Cashback sites. I have raved about these before and while things seem to good to be true; it really is great stuff. Simply book your travel via the cashback apps (you will be redirected to the travel site from there) and it will track you back between 3 and 10% of the total cost of your purchase. It will then deposit into your account which you can withdraw via PayPal or into a bank account. And whilst it might be $2.00 here and $5.00 there everything adds up my friends!! Take a look at these two sites Shopback and Cashrewards.
Use booking sites for your hotels. The introduction of booking sites has made booking so easy. Prior to app’s I was shy about using apps and would always book direct however using a booking site really does find you the best deal. I still recommend checking directly with the hotel but my favourite booking site is booking.com . Air BnB has also been a gamechanger for accommodation options but I’m still a newbie at Air BnB.
Use relocation rentals and house sitting. These are great for when you really need to save a few dollars and don’t mind doing a little work in return for a great deal. We have used relocation rentals with Apollo several times and have loved it. We are hoping to house sitting when we go to America.
Use flight scanner for finding the best deals. I like to use flight scanner to find the best deal but I prefer to book with the airline direct. Going direct means you have full control of the booking whereas if you go via a booking site its much like using a travel agent; they control the booking, which during a problem can make things more difficult. having said that if you aren’t comfortable booking yourself use and agent.
Do you travel much? What are your best tips for travelling more? Comment below and let us know.
xx Deb.
