When you’re backpacking the world, every little purchase can add up at an alarming rate. Most backpackers that I’ve met live on a shoestring budget – and I typically travel in a similar frugal way. Recently I’ve backpacked through Spain, Morocco, France and Italy – and knowing that I wanted to stay out as long as I possibly could, I started cutting corners and finding ways to get by on as little as possible. Some of these tips may seem like no-brainers, but you might be surprised at how many travelers thought that my frugal tips were brilliant, and many began changing their own traveling lifestyles as well.
For each new place I visited, I cut out the cost of purchasing a map. I either took screen shots on my phone or downloaded offline maps with CityMaps2Go. Then I realized that I could just wander into any hotel and straight up ask for one of their maps. This typically will work every time – it only failed for me once, at one hotel, because they were all out of maps.
Purchasing drinks can become pricey if you’re buying a Coke here and a juice there, and the tap water in a lot of the places is something to fear. So I began holding out as long as I could for supermarkets and little groceries. Water at a little convenience store or a cafe in Europe can run you anywhere from 1€ to 3€, and that can really add up, but waiting for a supermarket and stocking up can really save you quite a bit – large 1.5-2 liter bottles of clean water can cost you as little as 0.17-0.40€.
I try to eat small, cheap snacks throughout the day, and then cook one nice meal in my hostel. Picking up a cheap bag of peanuts has saved my life more times than I can count while backpacking. I typically grab an apple, a banana or an orange (depending what’s cheap and in season) to tide me over until I have my snack for a late lunch. By doing this, I cut down on costs of eating out and having full meals multiple times a day. While this may not be the healthiest option, it will help you lose more body weight than wallet weight.
Purchasing drinks can become pricey if you’re buying a Coke here and a juice there, and the tap water in a lot of the places is something to fear. So I began holding out as long as I could for supermarkets and little groceries. Water at a little convenience store or a cafe in Europe can run you anywhere from 1€ to 3€, and that can really add up, but waiting for a supermarket and stocking up can really save you quite a bit – large 1.5-2 liter bottles of clean water can cost you as little as 0.17-0.40€.
I try to eat small, cheap snacks throughout the day, and then cook one nice meal in my hostel. Picking up a cheap bag of peanuts has saved my life more times than I can count while backpacking. I typically grab an apple, a banana or an orange (depending what’s cheap and in season) to tide me over until I have my snack for a late lunch. By doing this, I cut down on costs of eating out and having full meals multiple times a day. While this may not be the healthiest option, it will help you lose more body weight than wallet weight.
(This piece was written by Brandon Elijah Scott and originally published HostelsClub)
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