budget travel

My travel motto? The more you save, the more you can travel. But where to start, when looking for options for budget travel? Whether you’re headed to Paris or somewhere closer to home (I am always looking to visit my brother in Seattle), the more you save, the more you can travel. (Sense an echo here? Ask my family. They hear it all the time!)

You’ve got a travel bug to see the USA – welcome! There is plenty to think about when visiting the US – visas, money, accommodations, weather, culture, and more.

Here are 6 of our best tips to make your visit better. 

Traveling is a wonderful adventure. But it involves spending, of course - and if it’s not well managed, overspending may occur, which is stressful and makes your travel experience much less fun. Creating a budget manually is time consuming and a daunting task for most travelers, whether they are on a budget or not.

From Arizona to the Yucatan in Mexico, there are numerous gorgeous places that you can stay worldwide - for FREE - in return for some caretaking, housesitting, pet sitting, lawnmowing, and/or other duties. As a caretaker/housesitter, you can easily travel and live (or work) in many exotic places: mountain, lake, city, rural… and live like a local for anything from a few days to a couple of years.

During the summer of last year, my family took a vacation to Hawaii. While many people would prefer to stay in lavish accommodations, such as five star resorts, we decided to save some money by camping on the beach. 

When we first arrived at the campground, it was very exciting. My parents and two of my sisters stayed in a tiny cabin with a few beds, and my other sister and I slept in a tent. We were only fifty feet away from the ocean!

No matter how old you are, taking a gap year to travel can be one of the most exciting and enriching things you could ever do. Most people do it between high school and college or university, but I have known a few who have done it in the middle of getting their degree, after they’ve gotten their degree, and even when they’re WAAAY past the traditional gap year age group (I met a nearly 40 year old gapper once!).

The question that I always receive is where I made enough wealth to travel as much as I do. This question always greatly amuses me because there is this stereotype that one needs to have wealth in order to travel. What many people miss is that there are ways to travel all over the world without spending a great deal of money. Additionally, while traveling, there is also a way to have several high quality vacations per year - even when you do have kids - without spending a significant amount of money either.

Santa Barbara, California occupies some of the state's prime coastal real estate. The city has even trade-marked the tagline The American Riviera - that should tell you something. It's a popular destination for its natural beauty, beaches, Spanish colonial architecture, restaurants, and outdoor activities. Located just two hours north of Los Angeles, it's also a hotspot for celebrities of all types to escape the city for a relaxing weekend. If all of this sounds like mucho dinero to you, well, you're not wrong.

We’ve all been there – trying to find ways to save money on travel – so we can travel even MORE! I’ve found an incredible expert on this important topic - Teri Gault. She’s an expert on saving money in many areas, has logged thousands of miles, and has plenty of tips for saving money while traveling, as well. We caught up with her and chatted about saving money, giving back, travel tips, and more.

WE: Please tell us about your travel experiences...