25 Tips for Making the Most of Your Money During Budget Travel

When I used to travel on a budget, I would sleep in cars, camp, and spend time in the outdoors. My national park pass was my best friend. Now that I can afford luxury and hotels, I still sleep in cars, camp, and spend time in the outdoors.

The mindset of limited funds is usually what inspires limitation, but there is something immensely satisfying about simplicity. As I’ve had the opportunity to indulge, eat at Michelin restaurants, and stay at 5-star hotels, it’s all come full circle to simplicity.

Many of the most beautiful locations and experiences in the world are things money can’t buy. I recommend finding these things that inspire you. Often these are remote and demanding areas, and the journey itself becomes part of the experience. Plan to hike, bike, camp, and eat simple meals along the way to get to your destination – and then enjoy the return process while celebrating victory.

Pro tip – find an indulgence that you reward yourself with when you achieve your goal. A flask of great whiskey, a chocolate, or even just a nice chunk of ice in your cocktail in the blistering summer can become a core motivator, and fond memory, of overcoming hardship.

I’ve been travelling the world on a budget for many years and have been sharing my experiences and tips on my blog planetofadventures.com as I always say to everyone that travelling nowadays is easy and there are lots of resources available to have incredible experiences without sacrificing comfort.

Whether you choose to stay at a guesthouse or hostel, go camping, couch surfing or volunteering, what will make your travel experiences memorable is to have an open mind, understand that there are many ways to live in this world and having different cultures, languages, cuisines or traditions is not a handicap but an opportunity to enrich your life with human knowledge.

One of the best ways to keep your budget at bay is to find volunteering opportunities where you normally get free accommodation and food in exchange for a few hours of work. These experiences can be in hostels, farms, family homes, even sailing boats! The world is your oyster and don’t think you need to have deep pockets to travel the world.

Some of my most memorable experiences have been the deep cultural immersions I get whenever I’m volunteering as you get to stay with local families and eat the same food they normally eat, take part in their daily routines and even participate in their celebrations. Those are moments that no money will ever buy and they will be as happy to have you there as you will be from sharing those moments with them.

My most memorable budget travel experience was exploring Portugal’s Vinho Verde region on less than $50/day. I stayed at a family-run quinta outside Braga where the owner traded accommodations for help during their September harvest–three days of picking grapes in exchange for room, meals, and all the young, fizzy wine I could drink.

The real lesson I learned was to skip the famous names and go hyper-local. Instead of booking expensive Bordeaux chateau tours months ahead, I’ve had better luck showing up unannounced at small grower properties in lesser-known appellations. In Portugal’s Douro, I walked into a tiny producer’s cellar in Pinhao with no appointment, and the winemaker’s daughter spent two hours showing me their entire operation because I was genuinely curious about their field blends.

My budget hack: eat your main meal at lunch, not dinner. In wine regions especially, the same restaurants offer identical dishes for 40-60% less on the midday menu. I’ve had three-course meals with wine pairings in Sicily’s Etna villages for €15 at 1pm that would’ve cost €45 at night. That savings funded an extra week of travel through Calabria where I found Gaglioppo–a grape nobody talks about but absolutely should.

My most memorable budget travel was a tent-camping road trip through the Pacific Northwest with my partner before we started Stout Tent. We had maybe $300 for two weeks, so we camped in our car half the time and cooked every meal on a $15 camp stove with freeze-dried backpacker meals and peanut butter sandwiches.

The game-changer was investing in one good piece of gear instead of five cheap ones. We splurged on a quality sleeping setup—real sleeping pads and decent bags—which meant we actually slept well and had energy to hike 10+ miles daily instead of being miserable and needing to pay for a hotel. That principle stuck with me: buy once, use forever, and your budget stretches across multiple trips instead of replacing junk gear every season.

My tip from running large-scale festival operations: bring your own essentials in bulk. At festivals, I’ve watched people drop $8 on a single bottle of water or $15 on a tiny sunscreen because they didn’t plan ahead. Pack a reusable water bottle, your own sunscreen, and snacks—those $5-10 purchases add up to $100+ over a weekend that could’ve paid for your next campsite or an epic local meal you’ll actually remember.

My most memorable budget travel experience was actually when I was working as a ski instructor overseas before getting into transport. I couldn’t afford the expensive mountain resort accommodations, so I stayed in a shared room in the staff quarters and ate most meals at the employee cafeteria. What made it unforgettable wasn’t the luxury–it was the people I met and the stories we shared over cheap dinners.

Here’s the tip that’s served me well running Brisbane 360: spend money on the experience, not the window dressing. When we take seniors to Stradbroke Island, I always tell them the free activities are often the best–walking North Gorge Walk to spot dolphins and turtles, or visiting Brown Lake with a homemade picnic instead of restaurant meals. You’re paying for the memories and the company, not fancy packaging.

The smartest budget move I’ve seen is groups pooling resources for transport rather than everyone driving separately. We’ve had school groups split a minibus charter that costs each family $15 instead of $60 in individual fuel and parking. One vehicle, shared costs, and nobody has to steer or worry about parking–plus the kids actually enjoy the journey together.

Sometimes the most unforgettable trips happen when you travel light in spirit and in budget.

My best low-cost experience was exploring Morocco from Marrakech to Chefchaouen with just a backpack and a plan to say yes to every genuine encounter.

I took local buses, stayed in family-run riads, and shared meals in small medinas where hospitality mattered more than comfort. Every detail—the call to prayer echoing at dawn, a stranger offering mint tea, a bus ride through the Atlas Mountains—reminded me that connection doesn’t cost anything.

My top tip: travel like a local. Use public transport, eat where residents eat, and slow down enough to truly feel the rhythm of the country. You’ll spend less, but gain a richer, more human journey.

One of the most magical shoestring journeys I ever took was down the Pacific Coast Highway with a few hundred dollars in my pocket. I skipped hotels, opting for small inns by the side of the road, variously planned my driving to catch every sunset I could squeeze in, and brought my own food to bring down expenses on meals. Riding on the train had taught me about the true luxury of slowing down and stopping, and actually seeing places with your own eyes instead of whizzing by them.

My best advice for cheap traveling is to budget for experiences, not logistics. Scrimp on where to sleep or how to get there, but pay for experiences that make memories — a walking food tour, a museum, a sunrise hike. I also download Google Maps offline and use apps such as Hopper for finding the best times to get cheap hotel stays and flights.

My most memorable budget trip was a month-long stay in New York City, a dream I made happen without breaking the bank. Instead of staying in hotels or short-term rentals, I sublet a room I found through long-term Facebook housing groups. I budgeted tightly, cooking most of my meals, using the subway religiously, and spending my free time exploring parks, vintage shops, and free museum days. The best part was how immersive it felt, grabbing coffee at the same corner bodega every morning and starting to recognize faces in the neighborhood. This trip taught me that traveling on a budget doesn’t have to mean missing out; it just means thinking differently. My biggest tip: use local community groups to find affordable stays or sublets instead of traditional rentals. It saves a huge amount, and you get to experience the city like a resident, not a tourist. You’d be surprised how far resourcefulness and curiosity can stretch your budget.

A road trip across the Texas Hill Country remains unforgettable because it showed how resourcefulness can turn simplicity into joy. Traveling with little more than a packed cooler, camping gear, and a small gas budget meant every stop became intentional. We spent evenings by rivers instead of restaurants and traded hotel stays for quiet state parks. What made it memorable was the freedom to slow down—without itineraries, every discovery felt earned.

The best tip for limited funds is to plan around purpose, not luxury. Decide what emotion or experience you want—peace, connection, learning—and let that guide each expense. At Sunny Glen, we see how gratitude multiplies when focus shifts from what’s missing to what’s meaningful. Budget travel works the same way: when curiosity leads, cost becomes secondary, and every mile carries value beyond price.

I spent an entire summer week in Portugal using only my carry-on luggage to stay in a shaded room located above a bakery. The combination of hot custard and ocean breeze scents filled the air during each morning. The lack of possessions did not affect my sense of wealth because I spent my time exploring tile mosaics and walking on cliffs while swimming during the golden hour.

My most valuable piece of advice for travel is to bring one special item which makes you feel beautiful. A single item such as a silk slip or your most beloved bikini will serve as a reminder of your identity when you find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings. Your sense of self-worth remains untouchable by monetary value.

I traveled to Antwerp, Belgium—the diamond capital—three years ago to build Nature Sparkle’s supplier relationships on a tight $1,840 budget. Hotels near the diamond district cost $180 nightly, which would have consumed my entire accommodation budget in five days. Instead, I booked an Airbnb apartment 40 minutes away by train for $47 per night, saving $133 daily. That $931 saved over seven nights funded all my supplier meetings, meals, and even a professional diamond grading course I hadn’t budgeted for. The course cost $680 but increased my certification credibility, helping us secure 23% better pricing terms with three major suppliers. Those improved terms have saved Nature Sparkle roughly $14,000 annually since then. The key lesson: prioritize spending on experiences that create lasting value over convenient locations. Tourists pay premiums for proximity, but a short commute barely impacts your trip when the savings fund meaningful opportunities. I spent 6 hours total on trains that week but gained expertise and relationships worth thousands. Budget travel isn’t about deprivation—it’s about redirecting money toward what genuinely matters for your goals.

My most memorable budget travel experience wasn’t actually a vacation–it was a business trip to a tax conference in Chicago back in my Arthur Andersen days that I extended by 3 days for under $150 total. I stayed with a former college roommate in the suburbs and took the commuter train in each day, which cost $5 round-trip versus $40+ daily for downtown parking.

Here’s the lawyer/CPA tip that saved me the most money: I treated it like billable hours. I tracked every single expense in 6-minute increments just like I bill clients, writing down each coffee, train ride, and meal. When you see “$4.50 – 8:47am” staring at you in your notebook, you make different choices. That awareness alone cut my spending by 40% compared to my usual business trips.

The strategy I now teach my small business owner clients: find the “local professional” spots near convention centers or business districts. I ate lunch at the same deli where courthouse attorneys grabbed sandwiches between hearings–$7 for portions that would cost $18 in the tourist areas two blocks away. These places exist in every city because professionals who work there daily won’t overpay.

I applied this same tracking method when I had my Series 6 and 7 licenses–I’d challenge clients to track their vacation spending the same way they’d review an investment statement. The ones who did consistently came back saying they saved 30-50% without feeling deprived, because awareness changes behavior faster than any budget restriction.

I travel frequently between Houston and various medical conferences, and my most memorable budget trip was attending a gastroenterology symposium in San Diego. I extended my stay by three days and explored the entire city for under $200 by doing something counterintuitive–I maintained my exact home routine instead of “vacation mode.”

Here’s what worked: I woke at 5:30 AM like I do at GastroDoxs, hit free beach walks instead of my usual gym, and ate breakfast at the same time I would at home. Most tourists sleep in and crowd restaurants during peak hours when prices are highest. By keeping my schedule, I found amazing $6 breakfast burritos at a local spot near the convention center that locals hit before work, and I had beaches completely to myself during golden hour.

My tip from managing IBS patients: plan your days hour-by-hour like I advise my traveling patients to do. When you map everything out–meals, activities, rest times–you avoid expensive impulse decisions. I saved over $300 by pre-planning my meals and knowing exactly when/where I’d eat, just like I tell my patients to research grocery stores and restaurants before trips. That planning freed up money for an incredible dinner overlooking La Jolla Cove.

The Pittsburgh Steelers fan in me also learned this trick: visit during shoulder season when your favorite team isn’t playing there. I’ve toured multiple NFL cities in off-months when hotel prices drop 40-60%.

One of my most memorable travel experiences on a budget was when we visited our virtual team in the Philippines. It was both a work trip and a chance to finally meet the people I’d collaborated with online for years. We wanted to make the most of our visit without overspending, so we planned everything strategically, from shared Airbnb stays to local dining and public transportation.

What made the trip unforgettable wasn’t luxury, but connection. We explored hidden gems like street food markets, beaches near Davao, and local coffee shops where conversations flowed easily. The team even guided us to affordable yet beautiful spots that didn’t appear on tourist maps.

My top tip for traveling on a budget is to lean on locals. They know where to find authentic experiences without the tourist markups. When you prioritize connection over comfort, your trip becomes more meaningful, and surprisingly affordable.

I went to a tech conference in San Francisco on a shoestring budget. The smartest move was finding four other founders to split an Airbnb. We kept costs down, sure, but the real value came after the panels. We’d end up at the kitchen table until 2 AM, sketching product ideas on whatever paper we could find. My advice is simple: message other attendees beforehand. They’re likely trying to save cash just like you.

My most memorable budget trip was a weekend road trip through small-town Iowa with my family. Instead of heading for the usual tourist spots, we mapped out local diners, county fairs, and nature trails. It turned into one of our favorite trips because it felt personal and spontaneous—no crowds, no long lines, just genuine local experiences.

My best tip is to plan around moments, not miles. Pick one or two meaningful things to do each day and leave room for surprises. When you stop chasing an itinerary and start following curiosity, you spend less and enjoy more. Some of the best memories really do come from the low-cost, in-between moments.

A cheap trip that branded me was a winter run to Tainan between two sourcing swings. I slept in a windowless room above a noodle shop and spent money on nothing except transit and bowls. The move that made it work was rationing friction, not money. I pre-decided to walk everywhere within 3 km and to buy only what prevented pain, like one hot drink or one umbrella. It’s the same rule I use at SourcingXpro on a 1000 USD MOQ brief — seal the floor first, then stop thinking. When the floor is fixed, the budget stops feeling like punishment and the trip gets quiet fast.

One of my most memorable budget trips was flying standby with a friend who worked for an airline. We didn’t know exactly where we’d end up, but we packed light and stayed flexible. We landed in Denver, rented a tiny cabin outside the city, and spent the week hiking and cooking simple meals. The uncertainty made it feel like an adventure, and the trip cost less than a weekend getaway.

My best tip is to stay open to where deals take you rather than fixate on one destination. Using flight alerts or flexible travel dates can save hundreds, and you’ll often discover places you never would’ve picked but end up loving.

I used to cross the West Coast on buses, eating at whatever local diner looked cheapest. I learned fast that the best memories don’t come from fancy hotels, they come from talking to the cook at a 24-hour breakfast spot. It saves you money and you get the real story of a town. My advice? Ask the person behind the counter where they eat. Their answer is usually the highlight of the whole trip.

Researching supply chains in Asia used to mean boring meetings. Then I spent a week in the wholesale markets of Guangzhou, just walking the aisles and talking to vendors. We learned more in three days than a month of calls. My advice? If you travel for work, skip the hotel bar and get lost in the city. The best research happens when you’re not even trying.

I once stayed at a small rental in the woods with a handful of friends celebrating one of our friend’s birthdays. He’s a very outdoorsy guy, so we all planned this short trip for him. We hiked, went kayaking, went fishing, and spent a ton of time around the campfire and playing games outside. By combining all our funds and staying at a small, secluded place, it ended up being a pretty inexpensive trip, but it was tons of fun.

I was in Austin for a real estate conference and didn’t want to blow my budget, so I looked up all the free art and local events beforehand. It was great because I got to actually see what each neighborhood is like, which is my job anyway. Spontaneous spending is what gets you, so having a plan with free stuff makes all the difference. City websites and neighborhood Facebook groups are good places to start.