7 Creative Ways to Make your Travel Affordable and Memorable!

By traveldecorum | 7 Creative Ways to Make your Travel Affordable and Memorable!

Going on a vacation is a rewarding experience! The mere idea of thinking about holiday fills your heart with excitement. Be it a solo trip, family trip or a romantic trip with your partner, the joy is priceless. A vacation is the best way to build memories that will last a lifetime. However, if your financial condition is unable to cope up with the weight of an extravagant trip, it is better to plan wisely. Finding ways to travel affordably is the key to make the most of your vacation budget. With a little consideration, you could be the one envying your friends with your next holiday

Let’s find out how you can make the most of your vacation budget.

Set Your Holiday Priorities

This is one of the most important steps if you want to afford travel without extra burden. Define your travel priorities so that once you start turning the pages of brochures next time, you should not get influenced by each and everything these offer. If you are browsing online, you should have a clear idea about your priorities. If you want nothing else but a top-notch experience, you should save up before being extravagant. On the other side, if your major priorities include experiencing a unique culture, find about history or just relax, you are most likely to accomplish these goals on the cheap.

Here is an idea how you can go about by defining your holiday priorities:

• Experiencing the local culture of a place

• Simply relaxing in a tranquil location

• Savouring new delicacies

• Exploring a specific location

• Learning more about something new

• Visiting a popular beach or a historic site

• Wandering in a remote location

Plan a Travel Budget

If you are simply going to book travel without any budget in mind, you are throwing yourself into a dangerous situation. It is difficult to resist temptation by hotel reviews, cheap fares and variety of attractions. In such scenario, you could easily end up overspending without even realizing it. Don’t get influenced by the idea of how much an average family spends on their vacation as you don’t have to get tempted by it. There are different travel sites which facilitate you to set your own budget. It is a good way to restrict costly search outcome from appearing on your screen. You can try such sites where you are asked to input your location and how much you need to pay, which shows you places that fit your choice.

Try these ways to finalise your travel budget:

• Look over current budget

• Calculate your savings

• Consider fixed expenses

• Think of variable costs

• Make budget for transportation

• Plan for activities

• Any extra expense that you may need

Holiday in the Off-Season

You are fortunate enough if you have a flexible schedule in hand. Here you can save a lot by planning your trip during the off-season. As an added privilege, you can be benefitted with less crowded attractions. So, you can expect a less stressful holiday experience. Tourist seasons may vary according to the destination but usually, travelling during holiday breaks or summer means you end up paying more for everything. This includes airfare, fuel and accommodations. You can plan early in the autumn or early in the year which is considered as the best time to travel. Tropical destinations are usually more crowded during January and February because it is the time when people are looking for relief from the cold.

Here are few tips to consider if you want to stick to your vacation budget:

• Travel during off season

• Avoid long weekends

• Consider the deals available

• Avoid going during festivities

• Go on kids-friendly places in off season

• Watch out for holiday related prices

• Look for cheap airfare

Search for Hotel Alternatives

Another way to slash costs significantly is by discovering non-traditional accommodations. Believe it or not, there are some off-the-beaten-path hotel alternatives available which can help you cut the cost on your vacation budget. With a little consideration and prior planning, you can actually avoid paying for high hotel charges. If you can go without the luxuries of a star hotel, then there are options that may help you save a huge amount on your accommodation. Sometimes, it happens you are travelling alone then you can share the guest house with other travellers. You may require to share bathroom with fellow travellers but the bed will be yours. Vacation rentals help you get all the required amenities when you are flying with family to a different destination plus it reduces the cost as well.

Let’s find out the available options:

• Hostels for inexpensive lodging

• Vacation rentals for travellers

• Staying with friends

• Couch surf for a great saving

• Resorts or guest houses

• Gang up with best buddies

• Have a sharing accommodation

Prefer Shorter Trips

Sometimes, we have enough travelling experience that we want another vacation simply for relaxation. If you need to explore a location or just relax, you do not require to jet off for weeks to savour the experience you are looking for. Plan shorter travel because it may offer you the same sort of benefits like longer vacations. The best part about such trips is that they may cost you much less. Most of shorter trips can easily help you with recharging yourself and exploring different sites. You can always experience something new no matter which location you are. Sometimes, you can also plan to explore nearby places where hotels also offer resident deals if you carry along the proof. As an extra bonus, planning shorter trips means you can drive all by yourself instead of flying which means saving the airfare as well.

Look at the ideas to plan shorter trips:

• Visit your home state

• Travel to state capital

• Exploring a state park

• Visiting to a Campground

• Going to museum

• Wandering around local theme park

• Less-discovered attractions in the city

Booking Last-Minute Deals

If your financial condition does not allow you to go for a lengthy trip, just plan a long weekend or grab a last-minute deal. There are sites which offer you last minute deals for booking flights, hotels and attractions. It may need a little flexibility at you end but these trip can be lighter on your account. When searching for that last-minute deal, keep in mind that sometimes price wins out over places. Hence, this idea works wonders if you wish to go on a holiday, but aren’t that picky as to where. For last-minute cruise, airfare and hotel deals means leaving your home even after 24 hours of booking. You can save a little more by ensuring to include a Saturday stay in your travel itinerary, as hotels prefer to book vacationers for full weekends. Further, if you come across a price and destination you like, book it without delay because last-minute pricing can fluctuate anytime.

You may get benefited by booking last minutes with the following:

• Saving on airfare

• Less accommodation cost

• Offer group activities

• An unpredictable location

• Relaxing travel experience

• Last-minute affordable cruise

• Exciting and flexible trip

Travel with Groups

Sometimes it is better to consider “the more, the merrier” while going on a trip. If some of the members of your family are also planning travel, consider making it a joint effort. Group rates for flights, hotels and attractions are common, often getting you a 15% or more discount. You can also plan going for a yearly vacation with a group of your friends which may cost you less for lodging and activities as well. Most of the group rates begin with 10 people which means you can easily get 5% to 10% off on published fares by few airlines. However, it may require you to call the reservation centre to book ahead. You have the choice to score group rates if you want to book several rooms at the same hotel. Since online reservations do not always show up with the best group rates, so it is better to take initiative and ask them. You can also use sites for this which enable you to check all the group rates for your particular destination and number of travellers.

Traveling with group comes with a number of benefits such as:

• Housing

• Carpooling

• Dining in

• Planning ahead

• Booking large excursions

• Longer day trips

• More fun with groups