

Ask HN: How to travel cheaply? - tdfx

I'm in a position where I can make a living with just myself and my laptop.  With no limitations besides ATMs and internet access, I'd like to avoid the "nesting syndrome" that most people my age (25) seem to acquire and go see if there's some other place that I'd prefer to be.  There's really no part of the world that doesn't interest me, but my potential travel companions are much less gainfully employed and we need to get around for a lot less than the prices I'm seeing on international flights.<p>I'm looking for peoples' ideas and experiences in traveling on a significantly reduced budget and avoiding typical tourist traps.  Also, any ideas on local employment would also be great as I would not like to support my fellow travelers financially.
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bemmu
This applies at least in Vietnam/Thailand, but don't reserve rooms beforehand.
If a place has a website, it probably means that it's expensive ($50+ instead
of $10-$20), but doesn't necessarily mean it would be any better. Rather try
to travel off-season, walk along a beach and ask to see the rooms of
acceptable looking places. Check that the water heater and toilet etc. work.
If you need wifi, you can open your laptop before even going and see if it
picks up any networks.

If you fly in asia, don't trust Kayak/Orbitz solely to find flights. There are
some local airlines that are much cheaper that might not be listed there, for
example check out <http://www.airasia.com/> for some really nice prices
(Bangkok -> Vietnam costs ~30 euro). I don't have a solution for long haul
flights, except do a lot of searches on different travel sites on different
dates. Sometimes changing the dates by just a few days can take 30% off the
price. Airlines are already competing so fiercely with each other that I would
guess their tourist class seats are sold at very slim profits, so I don't know
how they could go much cheaper.

Two kind of obvious things: If you can find a reason to go to your destination
on business, you can deduct it as an expense. Depending on your tax rate this
could be a huge help. Hotels are always sold by room and not per person, so
sharing a room with a friend halves your cost.

~~~
mbenjaminsmith
I second Thailand. Just don't come here looking fer luv. I'll seriously track
you down and smack if you go to boobie bars and then blog about it. Nothing in
this world could be lamer than that.

If you're interested in beautiful beaches, great food and young city life,
you'd do well here. If you come to Bangkok shoot me an email at mbenjaminsmith
[at] gmail [dot] com. My co-founder and I will take you out for a night on the
town.

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gexla
Ditch your travel companions. The best way to travel is alone. You are more
free that way. Meet new people along the way, but ditch them also when it's
time to move again.

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billswift
A bit off from what you want, but for an extreme - see Steve Roberts's book
"Computing Across America". In the 1980s he outfitted a bicycle with computers
and solar collectors and so on and set out to ride all around the US.

His current project is setting up a sailboat to live on; he blogs about it
here <http://www.nomadness.com/blog/> . The book gives a lot more detail than
he does online; he has also done other projects and sells books about them
from his older web page <http://microship.com/> .

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gexla
Okay, I suppose I could answer the question, here is a way you could do
this...

Let's use Asia as an example. It's super cheap to live in a place like the
Philippines. I'm in a two bedroom house in a great city for only $120 per
month. I can get by on food here for about the same as rent or less. The visa
costs around $60 per month average but you can stay here for 16 months before
you have to do a visa run.

Want to travel more? That's another area where the Philippines shines. You can
fly anywhere in the Philippines on domestic flights for like less than $30 per
ticket and often much cheaper. You can get flights to places like Hong Kong,
Singapore and Bangkok for as low as $60 each way.

With cheap expenses like that, your travel companions could live with you in a
foreign country while you ditch them for other trips, while keeping your place
in the Philippines as a base between travels.

Working is tricky. Bad economy means most things have bad pay. With expenses
so low, it wouldn't take much to figure out how to get by with odd jobs done
remotely through sites like Odesk or Elance. I hear foreigners can get call
center gigs (likely some sort of language training / management) here. Also,
there are lots of Koreans who will pay to learn English (the reason many of
them are here) but they likely won't pay much. In any case, you really don't
need much to get by.

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patrickk
If you wish to travel around Europe internally, Ryanair can be quite cheap.
You can sign up for email alters here:

<http://www.ryanair.com/en/about/register-for-offers>

(I'm not affiliated with them in any way).

Just bear in mind it's best to have very little hand luggage, be mindful of
taxes and charges and that you will often get dropped quite far from your
destination (Paris Beauvais rather than Charles de Gaulle etc).

I remember seeing on TV how a young guy in the UK had signed up for last
minute offers (a couple of pence per flight in some cases) and he and his
mates would dash to the airport and take whatever flight was available to
whatever country at that time. They would come home again from Prague or
wherever after a cheap weekend away. One way to avoid the nesting syndrome you
mention.

Here's a map of all the destinations Ryanair fly to, you can cover Europe
quite cheaply as you will see:

<http://www.ryanair.com/en/cheap-flight-destinations>

~~~
edge17
I'd second that, but the pricing can be inconvenient sometimes. I remember I
was in Spain trying to get to Morocco, and I found a Ryanair flight for .01
(yes, that's 1 cent) with about 40 or 50 bucks worth of taxes and stuff. The
trouble was, the flight back was like $400 or something. For me, it wasn't a
huge deal since I was just buying 1-way tickets, but I can see how it might
not be convenient at times. I ended up not going to Morocco for other reasons,
but Ryanair's pretty great if you're cash strapped and don't mind a little
discomfort on the road.

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ramit
A full-time traveler wrote a massive guest post on my site describing how she
travels for $14,000/year: <http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/cheap-
travel/>

~~~
augustflanagan
$14,000 a year is actually a ton of money when you are traveling. I
traveled/lived for two solid years in Central/South America and Asia for less
than $20,000. It's pretty easy to do. Just don't fly much, stay in cheap rooms
$5-6 a night was usually my limit, eat the cheap (and delicious) food you find
on street corners in so many other countries, and plan to take the cheapest
transportation you can find. That's about it.

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edge17
I bought an around the world ticket once. The bang for buck is pretty darn
good, atleast when I bought it. Last I looked the prices had gone up a bit,
but it was still an excellent value if you have the time to utilize it. If
you're interested in it and want more details, i'm more than happy to provide
you with more info. There's a lot to see so you might as well get started
sooner rather than later.

It's a couple of grand for the ticket itself, but if you enjoy being on the
road then it's a small cost. Time's much much harder to come by, so if you've
got that and the drive and excitement to spend it well you're a rich person :)

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hajrice
Based on my experience, the cheapest way would be:

1) Airbnb for a affordable room / stay at friend's house

2) cheapflights.com

3) PACK minimalistic - [http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/11/how-
to-trave...](http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/07/11/how-to-travel-
the-world-with-10-pounds-or-less-plus-how-to-negotiate-convertibles-and-
luxury-treehouses/)

4) Try everything you can to pay for bills(such as internet). If you're going
to any US city, it shouldn't be a problem.

Oh and have fun!

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KateKendall
I'm trying to do exactly the same thing - I recommend using Adioso for flight
search and Airbnb for accommodation.

~~~
edge17
If you know how long you plan to travel and it's enough time to see a lot of
stuff, an around the world ticket is worthwhile. Cost has gone up a little
since I bought one, but if you've got the time and the drive, it's worth the
money.

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dtegart
If you are eligible, you can look into working holiday visas (here is info on
Australia's <http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/462/>). Rent a
camper and follow the harvest. Just work a few weeks on a few weeks off.

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CyberFonic
If you really want to travel cheaply, don't use airlines.

If want to cross oceans you can work your way on merchant ships or pay a
little bit if you want to just chill. Train is good in many parts of the
world. And of course, if you have a solid bike, then there are few limits.

~~~
rdl
I've never seen "work your way on merchant ships" as an option, but the "pay
your way on a merchant ship" is actually more expensive than flying in most
cases, since it takes a long time. I'd still like to try it one day.

Crewing a yacht, if you have sailing, cooking, etc. experience, is also an
option.

Trains in the US are more expensive than flights (for long haul routes), but
in other countries, are a good deal. However, even in Europe, low cost
carriers are price competitive with trains. Costs a lot more per minute, but
the flight is much faster.

~~~
dagw
Actually I've found that if you're travelling between European capitals,
trains are basically always more expensive than airplanes. The only time
trains can really compete on price is if you're travelling between places
without a reasonable airport. The cheapest way to get around Europe is
probably still bus, but that is hardly a comfortable way to travel.

~~~
edge17
That's interesting. But what about after factoring in the cost of transporting
yourself from the airport to your destination?

I'd imagine trains mostly go to the city centers while airports are more on
the outer limits.

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mschaecher
<http://www.airbnb.com>

~~~
joss82
<http://www.couchsurfing.org> is similar but free. If you're the social kind
(or want to be) then it's the best way to travel on the cheap and fun.

