Frugal Pinoy

There’s a misconception that you need to be very wealthy to travel. But I don’t think that traveling is as expensive as most people make it out to be. I’ve collected some general tips for people who want to travel without breaking the bank.

Some of these tips can be applied generally, although they’re intended to be applied for local Philippine travel.

Have a travel fund. It’s not that difficult to acquire funds to travel. You can simply set aside P500 to P1,000 per month for your travel fund, and you’ll be able to afford to visit a different province or city every year. But it all depends on your destination, of course. The farther your destination is from your home, the more money you’ll need to save.

Travel with a group. Traveling with a group of 4-6 people can be more cost effective per head compared to traveling alone or as a pair. This is because you can share several costs such as transportation, food, and accommodations. I went to Baguio with some friends in October 2006, and we stayed there for 2 days.  I think I roughly spent P1500, but it could’ve been less.

The slower way is usually cheaper. If you can, get to your destination via bus or ferry rather than flying in. This tends to be cheaper, and also a good idea if you’re not in a hurry to get to where you’re going. This is a great choice if the slower route is scenic, or if you can stop by some interesting places along the way.

Also, keep an eye out for promos. Many airlines have promo seats that are cheaper than their usual rates.

Travel during the shoulder season. A destination’s shoulder season is the time of the year between its peak season and off season. Peak season tends to be crowded and prices for lodging, food, and rooms tend to be higher (think Boracay during the summer). Off season isn’t advisable because this usually means typhoon season or something equally unpleasant. So find out a place’s shoulder season when planning your trip.

Weigh your accommodation options carefully. First, you need to think about what matters the most to you. For me it’s Wi-fi, electrical outlets, a decent bathroom (with running hot water if the place is cold), and air conditioning. Extras are cable TV, free airport/seaport transfers, and a good view. If you know what you’re looking for, it’ll make the search easier.

Also, forget about 4 or 5 star hotels. Apart from the fact that they’re ridiculously expensive, I think they’re just plain… ridiculous. I don’t see the point of going to a new place, only to distance yourself from its culture and atmosphere at the end of the day. A hotel is a hotel is a hotel - they tend to be the same regardless of where they are located. Inns, pension houses, motels, resorts, and apartelles are generally more affordable, and each have their own character.

Cook your own food. Some accommodations have a kitchen area or a microwave and/or ref. If you’re going to stay for more than 2 days in your destination, it can serve you well to prepare your own food. You can go to the nearest grocery or palengke and buy your ingredients there. I’m seriously thinking about investing in a portable single electric burner (less than P800.00 in Makro) since I plan to do some long traveling within the next 2 years and it’ll cut down my food expenses.

Also, if you don’t want the trouble of cooking, you can simply purchase fresh vegetables for a salad (and even a P30 packet of dressing) or fruits for dessert and breakfast. When my partner and I stayed in Tagaytay, we bought a bag of pandesal and some sandwich spread. This served as our very cheap breakfast during our 3-day stay.

I don’t always remember this, but it’s good to pack a water bottle. You don’t have to pay for the overpriced C2, mineral water, and softdrinks on convenient stalls. (Alternatively, you can get these drinks cheaper at groceries, forget 7-11, the guy selling drinks on the bus, and MiniStop.)

Walk around or commute. If you didn’t bring a car with you, it’s much more affordable to walk or commute to get around instead of taking a cab or renting a car. Plus, it’s a good way to become really immersed in your surroundings. You’ll get to know your destination more intimately this way, as opposed to speeding past the streets.

Research! You can find out a lot of things about your destination from the internet. From affordable places to eat to the best value accommodations, as well as what to do during your stay. Some of my favorite resources are Virtual Tourist and Trip Advisor. Even if you simply type the name of your destination into Google, you’re bound to come up with a lot of information you can use when planning your trip.

Overestimate expenses. I prefer to overestimate my traveling expenses by 30% - you never know what else you might need to spend on when you get there.

There’s probably a lot more I can say on the subject, but there’s always next time. For now, I’ll leave you with a list of other frugal travel tips you can read:

• 5 Star Living at Half the Cost - MoneySmarts
• How to Travel the World with 10 Pounds or Less (Plus: How to Negotiate Luxury Treehouses and Convertibles) from Tim Ferriss. Although this is generally a “how to travel light” article, he also discusses how he got a luxury treehouse for free in exchange of working for the resort.
• 8 Frugal Travel Tips You Don’t Want to Leave Home Without

Do you have any frugal travel tips? What’s the most/least expensive trip you ever had?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 8:56 am and is filed under Frugal Tips, Frugality, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.