Do you love to travel? Do have a goal of seeing the world? I do! I love to travel but I find my pocket book doesn’t always let me do it as often as I would like. Nonetheless,  I have found some ways to still make my journeys happen by saving money on different parts of it. Here is what I have found works well:

• Avoid main routes. You can often take alternate routes to your destination for a cheaper price. For example, if you are planning to go overseas, it will be much cheaper if your’e willing to make a domestic flight first, prior to switching to an international one. My husband and I have discovered this in our Australia trip planning.
• Avoid dining out. Cut down your food expenses by shopping in local supermarkets and avoiding the restaurants.  We did this on our honeymoon in Central America and it worked out great. Plus we got to try local authentic flavours.
• Avoid hotels. If you are planning on going somewhere for a longer period of time, look into renting a house or apartment. It is usually much cheaper than even the cheapest hotels. Another cool thing is you can cook your own food in the kitchen which again saves money. My mom always rents houses when they travel and most places only have a 1 week  stay minimum so even if you are only going away for a couple weeks or just one week, this is an option that could work.
• Stay put. I have hard time recommending this one because I do love to see as much as I can but it is an option to consider when you want to save money. Instead of trying to cram in as much of the foreign country as you can, stay put and enjoy where you are. Since you won’t be in such a rush you can take in a bit more of the culture, meet some locals, and taste the local flavours.
• Flexibility is key. Don’t have your mind made up on too many things. Keep your options open and take the opportunities that are the cheapest. For example, when I was in Cuba, rum was the cheapest alcohol I could purchase at the bars. Despite not being a rum fan, I decided to dive in since I could save a bundle of money. This allowed me to go on more excursions since I now had the extra cash to pay for them.

There are many different ways to cut the costs on travel. The important thing to remember is to have the most fun you can for the cheapest dollar.

So, where are you headed off to this year? What kind of tips do you have to share?