Saturday, March 29, 2008

You have to be rich to travel for so long!

Alot of people have been saying that to us ever since we got back. It really pissed me off sometime. Its just seems to most people that we were on a luxury trip, staying in good hotels, eating out at restaurants... But Hello??? We were really on a very tight budget, trying to scrimp and save what ever amount of money we have, so as to prolong our trip as long as possible. Prior to the trip, we decided on a daily budget of 50 Euro per person, which include accommodation, sight, food and transport. At the end of the trip, we averaged about 30-35 Euro per pax daily. And its in Europe and not some cheap countries.

Well how did we managed to do it?

1. Everyday we will allocate 50 Euro each person, by hook or by crook, this is the only $ we have for the day itself. Whatever is left for the day, will go back to the weekly allowance that I will draw from the atm and kept in my money belt. This really kept us disciplined and lasted us so long.

2. Initially, we were staying in hostels. But we switched over to staying at pensions and BnB, as they were alot more affordable and offer more privacy compared to hostel.

3. Breakfast is usually cornflakes or bread bought from the supermarket. Lunch is always self made sandwich, with maybe a banana or nectarine. Dinner is normally our better meal, mostly kebabs, or MacDonald. Why kebabs? Its the cheapest food you can find in almost everywhere you go, range from 2.50 Euro. In the end, we developed a real phobia for kebabs! We had Mac because they have a 1 Euro promotion chicken or cheese burger. We will take away and have it with coke that we bought from the supermarket. Most of the time we had our meals in the park like the locals; that's what I really missed from the trip.

4. Initially at the beginning of the trip, we were visiting lots of museums and sights. Guess we were too excited, seeing all the famous monuments. Then we realize we have to prioritize on the various sights as it was getting too costly visiting all of them.


Tips
  1. Set your budget and work within your budget.
  2. Discipline yourself, it is always tempting to splurge on something. For example, souvenirs, drinks and restaurants.
  3. Do what the locals do, eat what the locals eat.
  4. Prioritise the places that you will like to visit.