With more than half of American workers now failing to take all of their vacation days in a year, one of the most commonly cited reasons is the cost. If you’re working a middle-income job, even full-time, you might feel like a vacation is out of reach. However, with some tips for living luxuriously for less, you can vacation like a pro without going beyond your budget.
Here are 4 of the most important things to remember when planning a luxury vacation on a budget.
1. Book Early
The biggest trick to traveling wherever you want for less is to book your trip early. Buying last minute tickets are always profoundly more expensive than buying tickets a few months in advance. Scheduling your vacation as early as possible means that you can also do all of your life planning in advance.
Whether you are working with a travel agent or going through an online marketplace, the sooner you book, the more options you’ll have. Sites like Airfare Watchdog offer deals that you need to take advantage of at a moment’s notice and book several months from now. While this doesn’t work for everyone, if you’ve got a flexible schedule or are your own boss, you don’t have to give up on the luxuries of travel.
When you book early, you can be flexible, adding or subtracting a day here and there from your schedule to get a better deal. Since flights are cheaper on Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you can take some extra days off or move your schedule around, you will save money.
Booking early means you’ll also be able to predict how much time you can take off. You can talk to your boss or your clients and accommodate them while giving yourself some much needed alone time.
2. Bring As Much As You Can From Home
Relying on buying everything when you arrive or when you’re in transit could mean that you’ll be paying a premium on everything. Buying things at the airport or in the downtown area of an expensive city means you’ll be paying twice as much for common things than you might be at home. Rather than rely on your destination to provide for you, come prepared.
Bring a reusable water bottle for wherever you’re going. If you’re going somewhere south of the border where you might have to rely heavily on bottled water, a filtered bottle could be a lifesaver. Even if you’re going across Europe, bottled water is frowned upon and so you’ll look like less of a tourist if you bring your own bottle.
Bringing things like a spare pair of underwear is not only practical but could save you money. If you get stuck for a day and don’t want to sit in the same underclothes, you could be compelled to buy a new pair at a local shop. If you take a second to cram one more pair into your suitcase, you won’t notice the weight difference and you’ll be proud that you made a smart decision.
Small food items like tea, granola bars, or chewing gum will come in handy in a bind. You should also keep a few aspirin so that you don’t have to navigate a drug store in a foreign country. While it might be cheaper to buy medicine in the country you’re in, you could end up with something that’s much stronger than you intended.
3. Research Restaurants and Accommodations
Doing your research beforehand is a great way to save money. Look for restaurants and see if Yelp or Google have any insight as to the pricing. If you’re going to be booking a place to stay, scheduling it ASAP means you’ll be able to do some comparison pricing.
When you look up where you’re going to be eating, you’ll have a better idea of how much you can expect to spend each day. If you’re going to be in one place for a few days at a time, you can scout out where you can buy some small groceries, fruit, and drinks to get you through the days. You can then budget for your evening dinner or where you’re going to be eating in the evening.
While you should always leave some flexibility, having at least one or two options that you know are going to be cheap will free up some extra money.
4. Make A Schedule
Making a schedule beyond your meals and into your sightseeing and entertainment will make your spending more predictable. Do your research as to what the area is known for and what locals enjoy doing. Rather than taking an expensive tour, you could just follow the residents to see what life is really like.
Why else do you vacation other than to get a taste of what it’s like to really live somewhere else?
Traveling like a local means that you’ll naturally go off the beaten path, or at least the one beaten by tourists. Emerging tourist destinations are even starting to come up with tours that are built exclusively for people who want to know what real life is like there. These off-the-beaten-path tours will also keep you from getting lost.
If you know people from the region, get some tips and suggestions so that you can have an outline of where you’ll be going and what you’ll be doing. That way you’re sure to get more bang for your buck on each day of your trip.
Living Luxuriously For Less Is Possible, Even On Vacation
With the comforts from home, the extra room in your budget, and a schedule planned out, you’ll be living luxuriously for less wherever you are. Travel is the great equalizer among us as human beings. We all love to take the opportunity to see the world and with adequate planning, you should be able to see everything you can cram into a lifetime.
If you’re a total techie, check out our guide for few things you might want to pack for your next vacation.
