Travel

The bible of budget travel. BBC

Do you want to travel more but think it s expensive? Would you like to find a way to make travel more affordable?

I used to see the commercials, watch the ads, and read the magazines and think I ll never be able to afford to travel. There just didn t seem like anything I could do to ever change that. Even if I could get that extra vacation time, hotels, flights, resorts they were all too expensive.

But then I went to Thailand and everything changed.

In 2005, I was on a vacation to Thailand with my friend Scott. We were in Chiang Mai to visit some temples and one day, I left Scott to visit a large temple outside of town on my own. I was in a shared taxi with five other people (three Canadians and a couple from Belgium).

On the way up to the temple, we started talking. The Canadians were on a break from work and traveling until their money ran out and the couple was using some of their vacation time to travel for a month. Then there was me I was using my entire year s allotment of vacation time (in January!!) to be in Thailand.

As we talked about travel, vacation time, and cultural differences, I realized that these 5 people were living my dream. All I wanted was to travel more and these people were actually doing it.

A few days later, I was at the beach when I turned to my friend and said When we get home, I m going to save up, finish my MBA, quit my job, and travel the world.

That night I walked into the one book store on the island and bought a travel guide to Southeast Asia. I didn t know when I d travel or where I d go but buying that book and holding it in my hand made my decision seem real. In my mind there was now no turning back. I wanted to travel. Meeting people all over Thailand who were following their dreams made me realize there was no reason for me not to follow mine.

TRAVEL CAN BE DONE ON A BUDGET WITHOUT SACRIFICING COMFORT OR THE ADVENTURE YOU SEEK.

You only ever see fancy resorts, hotels, expensive cruises, and tours advertised, right? Why is that? Because only big companies have large advertising budgets and the more expensive travel you buy, the easier it is for them to make money. Small, mom and pop guesthouses and local tour operators don’t have the money to pay the fees big media demands so they get ignored.

But they exist and they make travel possible for the majority of people (people like me and you) who don t have thousands to spend on a week in Paris.

I know this because I’ve spent the last 6 and a half years traveling the world using them to make my trips affordable without sacrificing comfort. Actually traveling showed me that there was a lot more to travel than advertised, and that there are a plethora of ways to travel on a budget of $50 USD per day (or less).

My travel tips, tricks, and secrets have helped the thousands of other readers of this website. All the major media outlets below have listed my tips and sought my advice on budget travel:

If you re thinking Matt, I do want to travel more but $50 still seems like a lot of money. don t worry! Using the plethora of savings tips in this book, you’ll be able to lower your costs and spend less than $50 a day whether you are in Thailand, Japan, Australia, or France. Traveling the world on $50 a day is about a philosophy as much as it is about a specific number. If you just focus on that number, you’ll miss the entire point of the book which is to get you to travel cheaper, longer, and smarter.