home Travel abroad How much does it cost to travel around the world? A few simple rules that will help you travel the whole world without going broke

How much does it cost to travel around the world? A few simple rules that will help you travel the whole world without going broke

Traveling for free is quite difficult (but it is possible - there are many people who succeed). If you follow these tips, you'll soon see that wandering around the world can be cheaper than living in one place all the time.

As strange as it may sound, experience shows that people who go on long trips spend much less money than their friends who sit at home and complain that they cannot afford it. You may have different reasons for not traveling (family, work, health problems, etc.), but “lack of money” is not a reason (especially if you live in a developed country).

It's very simple: it can be done on the WorldNomads website for a certain period of time and for a citizen of any country. The best place to find cheap tickets is on the SkySkanner website.

Use your local equivalent of Groupon

If you have to splurge on something or want to treat yourself to something, find the local equivalent of sites like Groupon or Livingsocial. These sites are very popular in many countries. There you can find coupons for gym memberships and trial classes. various types sports, discounts for expensive restaurants, cheaper excursions and other great offers. If you can't find such a site yourself, ask locals or the Thorn Tree travel forum for advice.

Some countries have their own sites with similar offers, so read on the forums or ask locals what sites they use (this is a new trend, and not all countries know about it yet).

Learn to understand and speak the local language

By following this advice, you can save a lot of money. Unfortunately, most travelers do not want to get rid of their fears and make even the slightest effort to learn to speak the desired language, and prefer to make do with only English.

If you know the local language even a little, you won't have to pay the "foreigner tax" and be limited to only those expensive tourist places where English is spoken.

Ask locals for help (even if you have to pay them)

If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask locals on the couchsurfer forums. Don't be afraid to ask for advice from a hotel employee or the owner of the apartment you're staying at. They will tell you how you can have a good time without spending a fortune. Some tips cannot be found in guidebooks or the Internet - only local residents know them.

And if you really don't know what to do, why not pay a local who will solve all your problems for you? After all, his help will probably cost you less than the help of a travel agency.

Do not rush

If you want to go on an unconventional vacation, why rush and try to travel around the country in less than a week or 10 days?

Forget about the list of things you want to do before you die! It’s better not to rush anywhere and enjoy each country. This is the only way you can feel like a local and save money.

With some smarts, you can probably find a way to make money while you travel. It's not as difficult as it seems - especially if you can work on a computer or don't mind teaching English or your native language.

Stay in one country for long term. This is the only way you will be able to study local life more closely and look beyond the mountain of stereotypes and superficial impressions. And in another two or three weeks in the country you can learn the basics of the local language.

Stop drinking and smoking

Many travelers spend 50 percent of their budget on nicotine and alcohol.

If you smoke, remember how bad cigarettes are for your body and stop giving yourself and those around you lung cancer. Quitting smoking is difficult, but it will be the biggest gift to your health and bank account. The same goes for alcohol.

Travel for health and pleasure! Everything is possible!

Traveling around the world, seeing exciting places and not paying money for it is the dream of many Ukrainians. However, not everyone will decide to leave everything and go to distant lands without having a penny with them.

Max Burtsev and Leonid Kanter did this more than once. It is the lack of money, they say, that helps open a real country, without tourist routes and breakfasts in hotels.

INSIDER found out from travelers the pros and cons of such trips, where it is better to go and what to take note of when getting ready to travel.

Why go?

“For the first time I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and forget as much as possible about all clients, projects, contracts, taxes, etc. After spending a month in Scotland, I realized that no ordinary trip would give so many emotions, unexpected meetings and scenarios , experience and impressions, like a trip without money,” says Max.

Max Burtsev

In his opinion, you can immerse yourself much more deeply in the culture of a country if you travel without money. You start communicating with completely unexpected people and find yourself in unusual situations.

“We were traveling without money. Accordingly, we slept wherever we had to. At the Bundestag, in the fields. We ate wherever we had to. There was a case when we slept right next to the Bundestag. I don’t even know why they didn’t “tie us up.” We woke up surrounded by Japanese tourists. First they took pictures of us, then they went to take pictures of the Reichstag. The cleaners walked around us. We woke up in the foliage, and everything around was cleaned up. Very gentle, touching, cool," says Max.

Director and traveler Leonid Kanter traveled almost the entire globe as part of the cultural expedition "With a Stool". One of his trips lasted for a year - the guys walked around the entire Northern and South America, reaching Cape Horn.

According to Leonid, we are taught from childhood that money is needed for everything. At the same time, most people on the planet dream of two things: traveling around the world and having cozy home V beautiful place. But lack of money freezes these dreams.

“On my first trip without money, I went for self-discovery. After all, when faced with unknown circumstances, a person instantly sheds the masks he has acquired over a lifetime and begins to see who he really is. It is also an acquaintance with himself and the world in which he has the good fortune to live Drive. Finding yourself without money in a foreign country is a feeling similar to a parachute jump, or rather even a free fall. Every day there is an absolute feeling of “here and now,” says Leonid.

What to live on?

According to Leonid, there are no problems with work. After all, honest, hardworking, self-organized employees are needed all over the world. “Restaurants and cafes pay every day, which is very convenient. But you should remember that it is illegal to earn money without permission. This can cause problems, including deportation,” he says.

During the trip to Atlantic Ocean Leonid and his friends showed the theatrical production “The Goat” to local residents. And they, in turn, invited them to eat or spend the night.

Maxim Burtsev sleeps in the park in front of the Bundestag building

Max had virtually no problems with food and overnight stays during his trip to Denmark and Germany. He and a friend caught a car, started conversations with the drivers, who very often then fed them, less often - left them at their place for the night.

“In Scotland, I worked in many ways: a carpenter, a cleaner, a painter, a dishwasher, a snail collector, an advertiser. I even have a letter of recommendation,” says the traveler.

According to Max, all the work was unusual. The worst thing was to be refused when offering your services. “To find one place of work, I had to go through about 40-50 establishments. But hunger forced me. It forced me to meet a homeless person for the first time. But if you don’t know how to find a solution, just start communicating, it doesn’t matter with whom. And it doesn’t even really matter , about what,” he says.

You also need to smile. Even if your back hurts, even if you rub your leg until it bleeds, even if you are angry at the whole world from hunger - smile! “No one enjoys helping a person with a gloomy face,” adds Max.

Leonid Kanter with his wife and daughter. Family hitchhiker

What to take with you?

According to Leonid, you need to take everything. And if it doesn’t fit into one backpack, then you need to take two. The road quickly teaches you what is unnecessary.

“I took a tent, a backpack, a sleeping bag, a mat, a phone, clothes and a battery. Everything else appeared along the way. There are people who travel with small bags or no things at all. But this is aerobatics,” says Max.

Budget

“The decision about Scotland was made in a couple of minutes, and a month later I was already on a plane. We prepared for a trip to Europe and the USA for about a month. For example, a trip to Scotland cost me approximately $450, where low-cost tickets cost $350, + $100 for first breakfast, the way from the airport to Edinburgh and a SIM card. In Europe everything is simpler - there is no need for a plane," says Max.

According to Leonid, costs can be very individual. Some people can’t live without morning coffee, others can’t live without cigarettes or sweets. But if there are no dependencies, then the costs are minimal.

What to see

The world is beautiful in its own way. According to Leonid, of course, poor countries are more unique and authentic.

"I would advise you to see everything. Only when you travel do you begin to appreciate and love your country not for populist slogans, but with your own love. I would advise every Ukrainian to visit the Mongolian Gobi Desert. After that, they would understand that we and our black soils live like in heaven," says Leonid.

According to Max, you should definitely visit the Isle of Skye in Scotland, because the nature there is incredibly beautiful and there are no people. London is also worth attention for its atmosphere and visual culture. Amsterdam - for its canals and atmosphere of permissiveness. Chicago for its dog beaches and lake swimming. Michigan is surrounded by skyscrapers, as well as Georgian Sighnaghi, because it is so damn cozy and beautiful.

Benefits from travel

“For me, all this was a source of new experience and impressions. I can’t name a single minus. For some, the whole trip may turn out to be a complete minus - lack of food, uncomfortable conditions, lack of money, language barrier...” says Max.

Leonid also sees only positive aspects in his trips. After all, there are mostly good people everywhere.

“I travel with my wife Diana and my daughters by hitchhiking and on foot. We sleep wherever we have to, we eat the same, and at the same time we are absolutely happy, because life is beautiful. I have this principle: no matter where you spend the night, the sun will still rise and the morning will come anyway. So don't worry about it," he says.

“Once I swam in the Maronyon River in Peru. Local residents assured me that there were no crocodiles there, but they looked at my swim with caution and distrust. When I returned to the shore, I found out that the river was infested with piranhas,” says Leonid.

Next point

Now Leonid has gone to Africa. Last week he and his family flew to Egypt. My children, feeling the warm wind, took off their shoes and ran barefoot through the airport - towards the sea and Africa. The journey “On a visit to the Hamer tribe” began, Leonid shares.

"Lately I have been fascinated by small communities. A couple of years ago, I lived among the Indian tribes of the Amazon and islands Caribbean Sea. Learned a lot. Now I dream about Ethiopia. Their experience is not civilized, it is deeper - natural, and this is what I want to embody on our farm in Obirok,” he adds.

Max's plans include a trip to Iceland. “This is a northern country, and I love the north. Besides, it’s small enough that I’m thinking of getting around it on foot,” he says.

Who is this lifestyle suitable for?

“I don’t know who it’s suitable for. I think for those who have had a problem in their ass, for those for whom strong emotions and impressions are the main resource in life, for those who like to leave their comfort zone and see this as a source of their own growth. And anyone can go "The one who likes it will continue. The rest will understand that this is not for them and will do something else," says Max.

He is convinced that dreams must be realized, even if something gets in the way.

“No money, no time, stuck at work, a girlfriend/wife who won’t let go and throws tantrums, a dog who has no one to leave with, an unstable political and economic situation in the country, bad health, depression, opening her own company, bankruptcy, closure your company or stupidly just “it’s not time yet” or “... but it’ll take a while.”

Something always gets in the way. Always. That's why realizing your dreams is as much hard work as the work you do every day. Only in this case it is work to resolve all the issues that stand in the way of making your dreams come true. Dreams must be realized. At least to make room for new ones. And then don’t say, ‘Damn, I’m so jealous of you,’ to a stranger on a bench,” adds Max.

Somewhere in Mexico

In turn, Leonid believes that every person needs self-realization. "Thank God, there is no war, but I want to achieve feats. To prove to myself that you are capable of something. To carry stools to the four oceans... It is a very pleasant feeling when you achieve a goal that seemed like a fantastic dream. After that, you no longer want to be with anyone and nothing to measure against,” says Leonid.

All photos are from Facebook

It's never too late to get out of your comfort zone: Lynn and Tim Martin, a 70-year-old couple from California, proved this from their desperate experience.

One fine day they woke up in their house and realized that they did not want to live out old age, like everyone else, in familiar conditions. But they dream of something completely different - to travel around the world. And then they... sold the house, threw their backpacks on their shoulders and have since traveled halfway around the world (and this is not the limit!).

How did they do it? The answer is in the book Everywhere is Like Home. And some quotes and advice from these brave souls - right now.

Where to begin?

In 2010, the couple sold their house and went to long journey around the world. A couple of months after the idea was born, Tim and Lynn were already standing on board the ship that was supposed to take them to Europe. They were carrying two small suitcases and a couple of laptops.

We decided to stop being just retirees and find a way to travel around the world to finally see the things that have been on our bucket lists for a long time. I was already imagining how we were walking along the rows of fragrant tomatoes at the Italian market, how we were walking through the dark and mysterious bazaars of Marrakech; I saw myself on a French farm: I was whipping a soufflé, and Tim was opening a bottle of local white wine with a bright, fresh aroma. It seemed that we were given a chance to make up for everything we had missed in life and become completely free!

The endless plateau between boredom and contentment

Before we began our homeless lives, we were both living, emotionally, in what writer Jess Walter calls “an endless plateau between boredom and contentment.” We weren't unhappy, but we were bored.

Old age and emptiness nestled comfortably at the doors and under the windows. We never had to reach this plateau, and we never regretted anything. We are healthy, happy, living life to the fullest and we are perfectly aware of ourselves - and this is much more than we could dream of. We keep boredom on a short leash.

Incredible Mexico

Every time we drove into this town like that and turned the corner, it took our breath away. During the day, the lake, lying at the foot of the hills, shines in the sun, and this is echoed by the central city cathedral - it sparkles like a royal crown. There is hardly anything else like it in all of Mexico.

In the 1920s, the Mexican government declared the town of San Miguel a national treasure, and it has been protected ever since. There are no traffic lights, neon signs, or chain stores. In the city center everything looks exactly as it did one hundred and fifty years ago, and the amiable behavior of most of the residents also recalls those blessed times.

There is a set of rules of good manners here. For example, at the beginning of a conversation they always ask about the health of family members, men always open the door for ladies and stand up when they enter the room. And it's all part of life moving at a slower pace. Every time we come to San Miguel, we have to get used to these rules again, and we really like it.

Cheap flights, vintage and Irish mansion

The nomadic lifestyle teaches you to save. At the same time, the quality of travel does not suffer. Quite the contrary. And that's why:

There are ways to make a long flight quite comfortable, even without spending money on first class. Try to book seats in the very first row, right after business class: there is a little more space and you won’t have to look at other passengers.

Don't be shy about buying clothes that aren't new. In many countries, wearing vintage and second-hand items is considered especially chic. As the seasons change, you can replenish your wardrobe without much expense, and donate unnecessary items to some charitable society - then you will not have excess luggage, and show concern for the environment.

When you choose housing for rent, carefully read the descriptions of all options. This is your chance to live for some time in an apartment in a real Irish mansion for a reasonable rent.

Old crazy people

And now from time to time we meet people who, having learned about our way of life, take a defensive position, as if our decisions somehow threaten their usual existence: “Yes, I would never give up furniture, a dog, a car, my... " Sometimes we have to explain that a life as restless as ours really isn’t for everyone. But right now and just for us it turned out to be ideal.

We talk about our unusual life not so that someone suddenly decides to radically change theirs. We just want to show how great it is to expand your horizons, no matter which way you choose to do it.

Citizens of the world

The great thing about this story is that we don't have to do any quick sightseeing anywhere. By arranging our lives in this way, we received the most valuable thing in the world - time. We have freed ourselves from our home, and now our home is where we are.

We've learned to embrace change, switch roles for a while, meet thousands of new people and help some of them find a new direction in life, all of which just goes to show how to say yes.

To this day, we are convinced that nothing should be put off, because life is short and too good not to live it to the fullest and the way we like.

Live now

You need to live in such a way that you are not ashamed to die. This phrase very accurately describes how you feel when you choose a nomadic lifestyle. Nothing in the world will give you so many unforgettable minutes, enchanting discoveries and the best meetings. The only thing to be wary of is that you may never be able to live a quiet, measured life again.

A life without stability teaches you to be flexible, it helps you say “yes” to everything that you fear in everyday life. And most importantly, it makes you wiser. You begin to realize that life is too short to waste it on a stable but boring existence.

Illustrations used in the interior design: Altana8, everything possible, Igor Zakowski, In-Finity, Juan Nel, Ken Benner, Kutsyi Bohdan, mariblackhair, Meowu, Niakris6, owatta, Phant, polygraphus, qwl, Serz_72 / Shutterstock.com

Used under license from Shutterstock.com; kameshkova, owattaphotos / Istockphoto / Thinkstock / Getty Images

Instead of an introduction

Forward to adventure!

In recent years, I have quite rightly felt like a prehistoric creature, storing a lot of archaic information about the theory and practice of travel. A kind of vestige of hungry student years, when traveling without a penny in your pocket was commonplace inquisitive youth. Today, students casually stagger around summer holidays in China, volunteer in US national parks and write master's theses on the geography of couchsurfing. My stories like “But, I remember, in 2003...” are increasingly perceived as legends of troubled times, when a visa was still required for Thailand, people did not use smartphones, and Putin was not president.

In general, I felt like a mammoth who forgot to die out in time, and tried as best I could to retrain myself into a “civilized” traveler who spends the night in hotels, flies on planes, and carries a backpack on his shoulders only out of a sense of nostalgia. It didn't work out very well, but I tried. And then there is a crisis. How fashionable it is to say now - suddenly. The price tag for travel is climbing, and the public, accustomed to living abroad, is in a panic. And here we come onto the scene again, the dinosaurs of that era when only two types of marginalized people traveled independently in our country: those who had a lot of money, and those who had none at all. We have experience in budget travel, but the world has changed a lot over the past few years. The accumulated sacred knowledge about searching for cheap hotel areas is easily interrupted by the skillful use of search aggregator sites budget housing. And the skill of finding erroneous airline fares (thanks to which you can, for example, fly from Moscow to Brazil and back for a few hundred dollars) saves more than all the possible tricks of an old budget traveler.

Therefore, I hope that our book will also be of interest to experienced travelers (whether on a budget or not), although it is primarily intended for novice road explorers and those who have never thought about the need to save a budget when traveling.

Our philosophy is that saving money when traveling does not make it less comfortable; it makes the travel budget more rational and allows you to see more and even better for the same (or even much less) money.

The authors of the book are not only experienced travelers, but also people familiar with the travel industry from the inside. This primarily applies to my wonderful co-author, Maria Oleneva, without exaggeration, a legendary personality among independent travelers, who managed to travel, live and work in tourism industry on all continents except Antarctica.

The book is structured on the principle of moving from the general to the specific. The first chapters deal with general issues budget travel, and then its components are sorted out: information gathering, visa issues, accommodation, travel, etc. In order not to be unfounded, we have tried to give, where possible, a small regional overview on each issue.

We really hope that after reading this book, the Russian traveler will no longer be embarrassed to hitchhike, spend the night via couchsurfing, fly with a tricky combination of charters and low-cost airlines, and eat only street food. After all, from now on he is not a beggar, but an effective manager of his resources in a crisis. Come out of the darkness, colleagues of the Jurassic period and new types of Russian traveler. Get out onto the road. And go on the trip of your dreams!

Semyon Pavlyuk

The most important traveler's schedule

Usually, when talking about travel, we consider the ratio time and money. Supposedly, you can achieve anything by spending either a lot of money, or a lot of time, or some proportion of both. Lots of money, but no time - buy a plane ticket or take a taxi to your destination. Lots of time, but no money - write the name of your destination with a marker on a piece of cardboard and go catch a ride on the highway. Depending on the balance of money and time, you can take a bus or rent a car.

But no less important is effort resource spent on organizing the trip and achieving its goals and objectives. These efforts cannot always be reduced to a monetary or time equivalent, although they can save both time and money. For example, after spending a certain amount of effort, you can find a comfortable option for sharing the cost of a trip (see page 260), which will allow you to cover the required distance by car cheaper and faster than traveling by bus. If you search for a flight ticket for 4 months, it can be 4 times cheaper than if you search for a week. Spent several hours on arranging travel-friendly currency bank card They will recoup thousands of rubles in savings already on their first trip (after all, using a ruble bank card on a trip entails increased fees for currency conversion).

Efforts to prepare a trip take time and moral strength. Those who do not want to waste effort (as well as nerves) on obtaining visas and finding hotels on their own turn to travel agencies. Those who don’t want to go through the hassle of preparing a route hire a guide. Moreover, this is not a sign of weakness or busyness - even experienced travelers turn to travel agencies when obtaining a Chinese visa in Moscow. Collecting the required documents yourself takes too much effort.

Plus the resource of effort in it operating time and improvement. The effort to prepare for a trip is also a skill. And any skill can be developed, “pumped up”. The more experience, useful skills and knowledge about travel a person has, the less effort he has to spend on finding cheap air tickets, suitable hotels and getting tourist visas. The more effort put into preparing the trip, the less time during the trip you will have to devote to finalizing the route. This book will not teach you how to make money and will not find Extra time for the trip. But it will help minimize the effort to prepare and conduct a successful trip.

Travel budget

The travel budget primarily depends not on the country where you plan to go, but on the habits and characteristics of a particular traveler. Everyone has their own opinion about daily cash expenses. On a long trip, the average traveler spends about the same amount per day as at home. It’s just that in a cheap country he gets more comfort for the money than in an expensive one.

There are no universal rules for budgeting. Can you make a sample list? inevitable expenses(air ticket, visas, entrance tickets to must-see attractions, equipment that needs to be purchased during the trip). Then figure it out daily expenses: how much on average is spent on accommodation, food, transport and communications in the selected region, multiplying the resulting amount by the number of days on the road. At the end you need to add additional expenses- a certain constant for shopping, souvenirs, etc., as well as a certain amount of money for Unexpected expenses. If the final amount seems too high, adjust it downwards by abandoning expensive accommodation options in favor of cheap and free ones (see chapter “Accommodation”, page 183). Also think about how to save money on travel (see chapter “Moving,” page 231) and food (see page 220), or exclude the most expensive parts of the route.

Saving a budget is a separate art, which for some travelers turns into a kind of sport. Sometimes it seems that the purpose of some of them is to explore the limits of human capabilities. Is it possible to travel around this country on 5 dollars a day? How about 3 dollars?

The key to a successful journey is to see the line between healthy and unhealthy savings. It's one thing to give up an extra cocktail at dinner and buy a ticket for a reserved seat car instead of a compartment one. Another is to starve yourself and travel all night standing in a crowded carriage of the lowest class train possible.

Those who try to save a little often end up losing a lot. Travelers trying to find a hotel for a dollar cheaper risk ending up in a dubious rooming house where they will be robbed. Those who choose their dining location based on the principle of “as cheap as possible” increase the risk of food poisoning. The subsequent expenses for medicines and an unscheduled stay at a hotel during illness will cover the amount won many times over. The cheaper and more crowded public transport– the higher the risk of things being stolen. You can walk from the station to the hotel, be greedy, spend $10 on a taxi, contrary to the advice of the guidebook, and run into armed robbery. Is saving $10 worth losing a $500 camera and all your cash?

Create a budget for your trip:

Unavoidable expenses (air tickets, visas, entrance fees);

Daily expenses (accommodation, food, transportation, communications);

Additional expenses (shopping, souvenirs, etc.);

Unexpected expenses.

Saving is one of the fundamentals of long travel. However, we must remember that the basis of budget travel is not to spend as little money as possible, but to extend the trip through reasonable savings.

Comfort levels

Everyone who sets off on a journey must ask themselves what they need for a comfortable trip. Don’t get too carried away with making your trip cheaper, giving up interesting but expensive attractions, delicious food and convenient transport. In order not to go too far when it comes to saving money, it is important to consciously approach your needs. There is no need to go hungry or put yourself in a situation where the only emotions during the day are fatigue, frustration and irritation. Also, do not be lazy, indulging in momentary desires and not giving yourself the opportunity to try your own strength. Healthy asceticism combined with self-respect and caring for your body is the key to a harmonious journey.

Each person has his own minimum comfort level. Some people get by just fine with a plate of rice a day, while others can’t get a good night’s sleep in cheap hotels with uncomfortable beds. An acceptable level of comfort is not a constant value. You can get used to its reduced level if you have the motivation to do so. Young travelers usually have an easier time coping with this task.

Very often, it is enough to raise the comfort level by one step – and traveling will immediately become easier. An eerie-looking flophouse in Bamako (Mali) costs $10 a night, and a cozy colonial-style guesthouse costs $15. A spartan double room in a bustling Stockholm hostel costs $70, and an authentic ship-hotel cabin with a view of the city hall costs $75. . Only 5 dollars, and how different the emotions are.

If this is important to you, add 10-20 dollars to your daily budget and use hotels and restaurants of a slightly higher class. Travel should bring joy, and not be a constant source of irritation.

The meaning of travel and priorities of needs

Determining the meaning of a trip is no easier than answering the question why a person travels at all. There are about as many answers as there are travelers themselves. Some are looking for themselves, while others are running away from themselves. Some people want to see new countries and get to know other cultures, while others just want to have a good time. But, in general, all answers come down to two main groups: knowledge of oneself and knowledge of the world.

Try to answer the question about the meaning of your journey as honestly as possible. Leave beautiful words about supporting world peace for letters of recommendation and searching for sponsors. Listen to yourself. Why do you need to go to the other end? globe or go on a trans-Asian journey? Do you want to write this fact down in your biography? Are you trying to find a country with the most beautiful girls/men? Or, on the contrary, the most beautiful girl has already been found and this is just a way to impress her?

Depending on the answer, think over the route. If the very fact of accomplishment is important, choose the simplest and fastest trajectory possible. Or if the task is to find the perfect beach, do not move away from the tropics.

Don't have a pre-prepared answer? Come up with a travel “trick”. Travel to places of historical events or follow the heroes of your favorite books. Repeat the route of the Great Silk Road or the Grand Tour. Follow Marco Polo and Nikolai Gumilyov without letting go of them travel notes. Look for the answer to the question: “Who can live well in Rus'?”

Not in the mood to think about lofty things? Then let it be a walk from one football stadium to another. Or the search for the perfect cup of espresso. Or a daily selfie with a stranger you meet on the road. All this will add integrity to the trip and will not allow it to get boring ahead of time.

It is equally important to determine your own priorities of needs on a trip. What is more important: to see more cities and attractions, not to leave your comfort zone, or to get extreme sensations? Is it important good hotel every day or for a trip to a remote natural Park and visiting the pygmy tribe, are you ready to live in a tent for several days? Is individual transport important or is the prospect of public transport not a concern? Are you a supporter of gastronomic tourism and travel to eat, or, on the contrary, do you eat to travel? Correctly set priorities will help you create an adequate travel budget.

Travel duration

Short trips are the most expensive in terms of daily expenses. The cost of visa, airfare and other one-time expenses divided by 10 days in a daily budget will be ten times higher than when divided by 100 days. In other words, every additional day of travel, if not making the air ticket cheaper, certainly justifies it.

Also Every day you travel, your daily expenses decrease. A traveler spends more money at the beginning of a trip than at the end. He still doesn't know his way around new country, does not know the adequate price level, does not know how to bargain in the market, does not understand which products are cheaper. You have to buy some additional equipment. Street cafes for local residents they are frightened by unfamiliar smells - you have to go to a restaurant for tourists. You don’t want to walk in the heat – it’s easier to take an air-conditioned bus or a taxi. Savings have not yet been identified. Over time, you get used to the heat, the local food, the backpack on your back, and you want to spend the extra money less and less.

Any country becomes cheaper every day you stay in it. In the first days of getting to know Australia or Iceland, the only thing a traveler does is to be indignant at their high cost. After a couple of weeks, emotions give way to local knowledge and experience of saving. And it turns out that these countries are distinguished by free museums and natural attractions. It is easy to hitchhike here (and it is also common among the local population). If you search properly, you can find cheap housing, and food in a budget supermarket chain is no more expensive than in neighboring countries region. According to tourists' reviews about financial side stay in a particular country, it is usually easy to understand how long the narrator stayed in it.

Daily expenses drop even more radically when staying in a cheap Asian country or Latin America. In the first days, the traveler cannot get enough of the low prices, and therefore buys and orders a lot of unnecessary things in the cafe (“The whole table was filled with dishes for us, and it’s only 300 rubles!”). But gradually he adapts to the price level and thinks in local categories, comparing the cost of lunch or a taxi ride with local analogues, and not with Moscow ones.

Everything changes

This is the main rule of a traveler. With modern development dynamics international tourism everything changes at kaleidoscopic speed. The pace at which change is occurring has challenged the entire industry of practical guidebooks, becoming outdated before they even go to print. And we’re not just talking about the cost of accommodation or museum entrances. In cities of the Middle East and East Asia Skyscrapers and entire neighborhoods are growing like mushrooms after rain. New airport terminals, metro lines, and highways are opening. You can return to a country in a couple of years and not recognize it.

Look for the latest information. Better - a week ago. In some countries living in times of change (such as Myanmar, Nepal or Zimbabwe), the situation can change dramatically in a matter of months. For example, in the cities of Myanmar at the end of 2011 there was almost no Internet, and it was more profitable to change currency in person on the black market. And in mid-2012, Internet cafes and wi-fi were already widespread, and it became more profitable to change currency at state banks and exchange offices.

As the Lonely Planet guidebook, which is extremely popular among independent travelers, likes to write: “ Nice places become bad, the bad become bankrupt.” This is especially true for many developing countries, where it is not customary to spend effort on maintaining the infrastructure in proper condition. A friend working in the field of individual tourism once told us that when choosing a hotel for a client, Maldives It is customary to focus primarily on the year the hotel opened. If it has just been opened, everything will be great. But even a reputable hotel can no longer accommodate tourists as soon as it turns two years old. It is not customary to do repairs in the Maldives, and therefore, in a humid tropical climate, both the number and the state of the infrastructure may be unsatisfactory.

The same is true for public sector. Instead of hostels and restaurants “promoted” in guidebooks, where the level of service has dropped due to the flow of customers and prices have risen, use newly opened establishments with cozy and inexpensive rooms and excellent cuisine. Find out about them on travel forums, in online guides and from the advice of fellow travelers you meet along the way.

Traveling independently and not so much

Tourists and travelers

Tourists and travelers – the dialectic of the modern tourism industry. It would seem that everything is simple: the traveler is independent, the tourist is dependent on the travel agency. But in reality, everything is a little more complicated. These are overlapping categories, not two sides of the same coin. And sometimes a tourist is more of a traveler than an independent backpacker. Travel independence is only one of the possible characteristics, and not a sign of quality. But first things first.

Traveler

Travel must meet two main characteristics: movement and cognition. First, the traveler must move to geographical coordinates. This distinguishes him from the traveler on the couch, who explores the depths of Africa together with the characters of his favorite books and gets acquainted with the sights of Paris from pictures in a glossy guidebook. And also from a virtual traveler who can watch the sunset in the Masai Mara reserve or the panorama of Manhattan using web cameras installed at the right points.

Secondly, the traveler should be aware of the space through which he moves. Or yourself in this space. It doesn’t matter whether he is engaged in knowledge of the world or knowledge of himself, but the journey should lead to an increase in knowledge. There must be a reflection of what was seen and felt. After all, travel requires meaning, or at least an underlying search for meaning. Otherwise we're just talking about vagrancy– a state when a person no longer cares where he is moving and what surrounds him. The tramp is interested in other things: what to eat, where to sleep, how to get money. In fact, he leads the same life as most of us, only, unlike the overwhelming majority of ordinary people, he does not have a home. Movement in space is his everyday life, his routine.

Tourist

Over the past quarter century, the concept of “tourist,” at least in our country, has changed its meaning. IN Soviet times distinguished " tourist" And " vacationer" The first one walked through the mountains with a backpack, while the second one rested “in the south.” With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the emergence of travel agencies, the concept of "tourism" from the image of sports and active rest(now increasingly being replaced by the fashionable word “extreme”) has transformed into something relaxed and hedonistic. A tourist now, in the modern sense of the word, is a vacationer. A person who spends his vacation in a different geographical location than his work and everyday life.

Among those who shudder at the words “travel agency” and “mass tourism,” “tourist” is a dirty word. This is supposedly such a weak-willed type who cannot take a single step without a guide, and in general rarely takes any steps. Often he does not even leave the territory of his hotel, which provides an all-inclusive program. The antithesis of the antihero-tourist is the hero-traveler.

But is such a division really fair? Of course, a person who comes to Antalya on a package holiday and does not leave the hotel is not a traveler. He came not for the sake of knowledge, but for relaxation. But a tourist who also arrived on a pre-paid voucher, but actively uses the excursions offered at the hotel, is already a traveler. He strives to see the world and wants to know more about him. And such a tourist may have a million reasons why he chose sightseeing tour, rather than an independent trip: for example, ignorance of the local language, or an age when traveling alone is already difficult, or a habit of comfort, or it seems to him that with a guide he can learn much more than on his own. Finally, organized tourism is sometimes simply cheaper independent trip to the same places.

In the end, even the most famous travelers We couldn’t do without the services of local guides. It is unlikely that Livingston would have discovered the Victoria Falls, and Stanley would have crossed Africa from ocean to ocean without native guides.

Everything that doesn't kill you makes you... more interesting! First of all, this concerns travel. For real, the more we learn, the more interesting we become, and the better interlocutors we are. Traveling doesn't always require money - you just need a few basic ingredients: desire, a plan of action, English and a little courage. Let's say you already have English in your pocket (with us, of course) - now it's a small matter! In this article we will talk about travel options, if not completely free, then with minimal costs. You need to read it and we"re ready to bring it! C"mon!

First of all, you need to believe that it is absolutely possible (especially if you decide that you can teach someone English yourself). Of course, you will most likely have to forget about convenience, but you will be able to adapt and the risk will fully compensate for itself. Forget about being picky and remember about self-control. Be friendly and appreciative, but bold and brave, and remember to be flexible.

Unforgettable impressions and emotions await you in different parts of the world! Wherever you decide to go, the whole world is at your feet. Believe in its beauty and wonders, your ability to adapt, and you will succeed.

How to pack a bag correctly

Throwing a pair of socks, a toothbrush, inflatable skis and a sleeping bag into your travel bag does not mean packing luggage. Things need to be collected stylishly, beautifully and rationally. To do this, we offer you a few simple steps:

Socks and underwear must be rolled up and placed in shoes (saving space and protecting shoes from deformation). In addition, you can stuff a watch, glasses, and a tie into the latter. Rock on, ladies and gentlemen! The shoes make a great case! Tightly packed items will not wobble during transportation and will carry your trip with ease.
Do not stack shoes in pairs. Each shoe must be placed in its own bag and placed in different places. Remember: there is no trip on which you would need more than three pairs of shoes. Trust us!
It is better to lay straps and wires along the walls of the suitcase. Rolled up, they will take up more space.
Any clothing will take up less space and wrinkle less if it is also rolled up rather than laid in the usual layers. If there are a lot of such rollers, and your bag-suitcase-backpack is deep, then you can fold the first layer from them.
We recommend placing plastic bags or sheets of paper between your items. Clothes will slide rather than rub against each other and suffer less damage. Less suffering for your clothes = more pleasure for you!
If anyone still doesn’t know how to quickly fold a T-shirt, then here’s a lifehack for you:

With shirts, things are a little more complicated. Fasten the buttons, then do everything as in the video on link and don't forget to pat yourself on the head when you get through it. Shirts can be used as a second layer, after the rollers.
Do not put cans of foam, cream, gel, etc. in one bag! Once you've made sure it's tight, stuff all these things into different nooks and crannies. It will be safer this way.
To make pants wrinkle less in luggage, place them at the bottom of the suitcase so that the legs remain outside. Stylishly place rolls of t-shirts, shirts, etc. on top, then cover the piece of art with the rest of the pants. If you suddenly have 2 pairs with you, place them so that the legs hang in opposite directions. And don't forget to take your keys and coins out of your pockets, otherwise they may damage your pockets!
Compacting things is a gamble, but a rewarding one. Try to think carefully about your collection of essentials and be smart about it. No one wants to carry a Ruckzilla around with them, but without the things you really need, problems can arise.

Traveling without money is more fun and your life needs an adventure!

When you travel the world, your goals can be very different. We are confident that what you need most are the following 4:

To see remarkable things(see amazing things);
To meet beautiful people(meet wonderful people);
To experience the world(experience this world);
To not end up in prison(don't end up in jail).

Ways to travel without money

Pet sitting and home care (housesit). The idea is simple: you stay with someone while they are away and run errands for them, i.e. feed the cat, water the flowers, wipe off the dust, etc. They know that their house is not falling apart thanks to you, and you get comfort and a roof over your head. And it's free! There are a lot of sites that you can scan in search of suitable “clients” for you, of course, first having thoroughly learned English with us.
Tents have not been canceled (camping). Yes, weather It’s not always to our advantage. But it's romance! And, if you have already discovered that very flexibility in yourself, then this is where it will come in handy. You can always find a suitable place for your small temporary fabric house. You just need to develop the ability to find such locations. There's no shame in pitching a tent in places where people wouldn't normally do it, be brave.

Walk, run or bike. Have you heard of Dave Kunst or Steve Newman? They both walked around the world on foot. And Rosie Swale-Pope completely ran around him! Surely they had money with them, but they certainly did not pay for transport. Cycling can be demanding unless you're a master of using tools to fix your steel (or aluminum) steed ( master of improvised jerry-rigging). But such a trip is not excluded!
Hitchhiking. Probably the most popular way to travel without money. The point is that the driver is already heading in the direction you need anyway, and besides, he pays for gasoline. So why not let you down too? You are good! Destroy the constraint in your head, be persistent ( unabashed) on the side of the road and it will work for you. And if you offer to be part of the crew on a ship, you can cross over by water. Jeremy Marie, Ludovic Hubler, Alyssa from opendestination.ca - these individuals shamelessly hitchhiked around the world alone. The devil is not as scary as his paint!

Don't forget about BlaBlaCar. They have drivers in 19 countries! Here you can find a travel companion who will take you to your destination (not for free, though...), but be careful and listen to your heart. Don't forget to remove the pistol safety.

Voluntourism(voluntourism). Tourism with elements of volunteer activity, in fact. You can teach someone (not necessarily English, but, for example, yoga, fitness or chopping wood), build something in exchange for housing or food, work for cruise ship, help homeless children in the shelter, giving them all your love and support. While traveling, you can also work remotely if you are ready to combine leisure and work. Then you have every chance to become location-independent worker, i.e. location-independent worker.

Organic is everything to us. There is also the option to work and live on an organic farm. There is an organization called WWOOF, and it has nothing to do with dogs. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (global opportunities on organic farms) - this is what it stands for. And it has a network of non-profit organizations around the world that can connect you with local farmers. Well, isn't this a dream? The idea is that you go and work on the farm as much as you want, and the farmers pay for your stay there.

Watch out! Helping local aborigines is a fairly popular activity among travelers. However, first make sure that you can actually provide real help to people. Sometimes it turns out that this method is absolutely not beneficial to those who are being helped. Do what you know how to do well. And share with us in the comments! What are you good at?

Crowdfunding (crowdfunding). Or public funding, i.e. collecting funds from the public for some good (or not so good) cause. The idea behind this method is to get other people to pay for what you want. For example, pay for your trip! It's simple: write an inspiring and endearing story about how much you want to travel, be sure to indicate the purpose of the trip (maybe you want to write a book or help someone with volunteer tourism), because people will only respond if they really feel you. Then create a page on kickstarter.com and cross your fingers. Good luck!
Excursions on foot (walking tour). Not all of them are paid! Many will be available to you absolutely for free if you know where to look. For example, you can choose a country and a city where such free trips take place. Think you can try that?

There are only 6 things you need to survive:
Air/Water /Food /Sleep/Health /English.

How about something to eat?

The ability to cook will definitely be useful to you, but, in fact, people are not so greedy! Many of your possible people will not let you go without first feeding you! But you are, however, part of a certain population group, because... read this article, surf the Internet, and understand English. You already have skills that you can normally use and exchange for food almost anywhere in the world (except for Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen - there are tensions with this matter, so there is no need to travel there).

How else did you expect to get food? For free? Ok, you can eat for free. In many (polite) countries, if you offer to work for food, and if people don't have work for you, they will feel uncomfortable, unable to turn you away, and provide you with food. In case they don't, try another place, or another... or another. Do you understand what salt is? Do you understand why you must overcome your embarrassment? That's it! And, for that matter, is it worth being ashamed of the desire to eat in principle?

We offer for your viewing (and research in our Video Workshop) a video from a person who has experienced everything himself and is proud of it. Inspirational speeches and videos are waiting for you! Check it.

Conclusion

The question is: will you ... or will you not? This idea is definitely not for everyone. Things can go wrong, and now you're standing under a bridge in the rain at 4am, somewhere in Vietnam. But the rain will pass, and you won’t remember about it later, which cannot be said about the impressions and most pleasant moments that you could experience during the trip and remember for the rest of your life. It’s just that some people are ready to challenge themselves, while others are not. This article is just a seed for your imagination. What we want, is you to live your life the way you want to.

Remember: no money = no problems. Everything is possible! Don't rush, but think about your plan of action and, if all the cards match, hit the road. Be light, but don't forget your sleeping bag and bowler hat! Less stuff = more enjoyment.

Learn English with a purpose and stay classy!

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