The balance between frugal travel and sanity

I have a few thoughts about the notion and mentality of budget travelling and how these differ from traveller to traveller – something that I’ll blog about after the conclusion of my trip. However I wanted to touch on one aspect, because it relates to a one night stopover which I had which falls next into my chronological explanation of my travels. After my night of fun at Newark Airport, I flew to Cleveland the next day, where I stayed in a lovely hotel – a rarity in my universe! It was this stay which got me thinking about this matter.

Sometimes I think that budget travellers develop a complex about the idea of budget travelling – a complex that this makes them better than other travellers, and that they’re ‘above’ taking advantage of small luxuries and conveniences. For some people, the types of luxuries I outline aren’t something that will help them, motivationally. However from talking to other travellers, I can conclude that for myself and for many others, including some little touches of ‘luxury’ and ‘convenience’ into a longer budget trip can be the key to fuelling you on to make the most of a longer trip.

This whole entry will be utterly pointless if you are a budget traveller in the sense of actually being on a strict, strict budget and having no leeway. I, fortunately, have never been in this position. I’ve always travelled with a bit of leeway money, money which allows me to make small allowances to an otherwise frugal lifestyle in the interest of my whole experience being something positive.

Hampton Inn and Suites, Cleveland Downtown

Hotel Shuttle

Depending on where you are staying, there are times where getting public transport from an airport to get to your accommodation can be complicated. You may find yourself arriving in the evening, having to get a local bus which could take an hour, then having to walk to find your hostel. Sometimes, the price of a hotel shuttle can be worth the hit to your sanity and energy. I don’t use them regularly, however every so often it is nice to take the navigation duties away from my weary brain and to instead be able to simply tell someone where you’re staying, cough over the cash ($20 on average) hop into a van and have someone drop you off at the front door of where you’re staying.

Hotel

Now, in my normal life, I have only stayed at a handful of hotels in my adult life. So when I do splash out for a hotel, it doesn’t take much to impress me. In Cleveland, I stayed at Hampton Inn & Suites which was absolutely stunning luxury in my universe. The first thing I did after entering my room, dropping my luggage and poking around the room was to collapse on the giant King sized bed and ‘starfish’ out – when you’ve been staying in hostels in bunk beds for the better part of three months, being able to stretch out on a bed in a delight – something so small that can bring  such enjoyment.

For me, I generally reserve more expensive accommodation options for occasions where I want to visit a city which simply doesn’t have an option for a youth hostel. However similar to the notion of lashing out for a hotel is to spend a little extra money on a private room in a hostel. For me, one of the  things that I find hardest about budget travelling is simply the inability to ever be completely alone and quiet. When I was in Albuquerque in 2010, I arrived at the hostel and they told me that for an extra five dollars a night, I could elect to stay in a small single room rather than in the dorm. I figured ‘what the hell’ and thought I’d give this a go. The room was a shoebox, the single bed pressed against the wall and then maybe a half a single bed width between the bed and the wall on the other side. But it was my space. I could be as messy as I wanted, I could leave electrical items charging when I wasn’t there.

Show tickets and movies

Different budget travellers have different things that they lash out and spend money on while travelling. For some people it is dining at more expensive restaurants to experience local cuisine, for some it is the party scene with copious amounts of alcohol. For some it is experiencing bicycle tours or segways or cruises. For me, I tend to direct any larger entertainment purchases into shows. In London seeing shows on West End, in New York on Broadway. I’ve been to a show at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. For some budget travellers they would wince at the price and think about how many days food budget that ticket may equate to. For me, it’s an essential experience to have.

Going to see a movie every now and again is also something that I really enjoy while travelling – just something mainstream, not some local film or something arty or subtitled. I can remember in 2008 being in Budapest for the second time, just on my way back through from getting an overnight train back from Romania. I hadn’t slept on the train and it was at that point in your travels where suddenly, all of the excitement and the lack of sleep catches up on you and I felt absolutely wrecked and exhausted. I’d been to Budapest on my way to Romania, it was really just a practical stopover to break up a longer train journey. I found myself wandering aimlessly around a shopping mall, stopping to sit at a bench every ten minutes, and then I stumbled across a cinema. In a lot of Europe, particularly in central and eastern Europe, they play movies with the English audio and local language subtitles. Suddenly, the idea of sitting in a dark room, eating a snack and doing something so normal like watching a movie was the most appealing and delightful thing I could imagine.

Shopping

Sometimes, packing the right clothes and gear for your trip can be difficult, particularly if you’re travelling across a variety of countries or at the very beginning or end of a season. I am a firm believer in allowing yourself to buy new things if the ones that you have with you simply aren’t doing the job. This in itself can be a fun cultural experience – trying to navigate prices and sizes when things are printed in foreign languages.

Taxis

In 2008, I embarked on my first overseas journey. I had ten days in the USA before heading on for backpacking around Europe. While in the USA, I took the red eye from Los Angeles to NYC, so I arrived at JFK airport early in the morning. By the time that I navigated my way to baggage claim and to the air train and then to the subway, it was NYC rush hour. The subway got increasingly packed and by the time that we arrived in Manhattan, it was absolutely chockers. I was trying to stay upright with my pack, which I originally had set on the ground but as the subway became more packed I stupidly put it on. This was less than a week into my first trip abroad, my first time on a crowded subway, and I was sleep deprived and I just remember having this sudden feeling of claustrophobia and I just had to get out. I stumbled my way to the street and hailed a cab. I had no idea where I was or how far the hostel was in conjunction, but I knew that I wasn’t going to survive that subway ride without collapsing into foetal position on the subway and rocking backwards and forwards.

Toward the end of my trip, I was a bit more travel savvy but feeling utterly exhausted. I remember arriving in Edinburgh in the pouring rain. I’d gotten the Megabus up from London, so I’d been on the road for the better part of the day. My hostel was longer than a comfortable walk with luggage and the directions involved walking a few blocks from the bus station and getting a bus and frankly, I just couldn’t be bothered. I knew it wasn’t going to be miles and miles away, so I hailed a cab and I was there within ten minutes.

Budget travel doesn’t have to mean being frugal one hundred percent of the time

This is my mantra. Of course, you should be aware of your own budget and bank balance – if you’re being frugal to make sure that you can afford to eat, then that’s understandable. But if you’re making frugal decisions simply because “that’s what budget travellers do” then I would suggest that you’re being closed minded to the notion of enhancing your travels. I’m not suggesting hiring limos or dining out and eating caviar. Budget travel, especially for an extended period of time, can be exhausting. It can take a physical and emotional toll upon your body and soul; until the point where you’re literally going through the motions of ticking off a list of places to visit, taking a photo and not really having the energy or spirit to truly absorb the experience. By interspersing little splashes of luxury into an otherwise reasonably frugal trip, you just may find that this is what it takes to give you the motivation to travel for longer, and not just to travel, but to really live in the moment of each place that you are so lucky to be visiting.

Moments where you remember why you travel - The easy road not taken

I'm the kind of person who struggles to find the balance between following passions and falling into the traps of ordinary life because it is what is 'expected'. Recently I was visiting friends whom I first met him high school and we were talking about where we thought each other would wind up in life. My friend, whom I love dearly, observed that he always thought I would graduate university and wind up in a high powered job that I hate. This comment was so revealing to me - that's exactly the struggle I've experienced for the last eight years since graduating high school. The fight between studying what I want to study and what I should study. Making the decision that is 'practical' rather than what inspires me. When when I first went backpacking, I tried to fit it into my life with timing which was 'logical' rather than simply allowing the spontaneous decision that it was to simply be. You might say that I am incredibly narcissistic and I don't know if I could disagree; but what the last few years of my life have taught me, is that I believe genuinely in finding your passion in life, I believe that we can all live a life where you do more than simply exist. And it is with this belief that I most recently decided that the job that I was in simply wasn't enough for me, and that I need to explore my passions.

Every so often, I lose sight of my philosophies and feel that pressure that 'society' puts upon you to conform - as high school classmates get married and have children, as the years tick on and I haven't even started paying off my university debt - and it's like there are moments, singular moments in time where everything clicks in and I remember why I have chosen to embark upon this life. I'd like to capture these moments as they occur, because I feel as though they are important in terms of my own journey, and I want to share them.

~

A couple of weeks ago, I had one of these moments. I went to see a movie. An innocent occurrence. I went to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. IMDB describes the film:

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL follows a group of British retirees who decide to "outsource" their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and bolstered with visions of a life of leisure, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self. Though the new environment is less luxurious than imagined, they are forever transformed by their shared experiences, discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past.

There was a lot in this film for me to love - the idea that even as I get older, I can travel halfway around the world and embrace a life that is 'different', the themes of embracing your passions and being true to yourself. Some of the critics have labelled the themes as being 'predictable' but for me they were poignant.

The plot which I enjoyed the most and which really spoke to me was that of Indian free thinking dreamer Sonny. His mother is pressuring him to take the traditional path - she wants him to move back to Delhi and live a practical life and marry into a wealthy family. All Sonny wants to do is live out his dream to make The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel into a success and to marry his beloved Sunaina. Sonny says something very poignant, something which resonated so deeply with me and my soul.

His mother tells him that if he follows the path she wants him to, then life will be 'easier.' He responds and tells her that life will be 'smaller.' It was this very response that left me somewhat overwhelmed with emotion and thought.

I often think about this - the concept of life being 'easy.' The job that I was most recently in wasn't exactly affording me an easy life, but as I wrestled with my newfound life decision, I contemplated, maybe I just need a job which has more work-life balance, less stress and a small pay rise - and I could've lived that easier life. Maybe I just need to focus on finding a boyfriend and getting married and living in a house with a white picket fence. However I don't want my life to be easy. I want it to be full. I want to see things, experience the world, find out who I am, where I belong. And this notion of easy equating to small was something that really struck me. Sonny wasn't a businessman, he didn't have the ration and the logic, but he had such genuine passion for his dream that I admired in the character and it is the precise kind of passion that I hope I can find within myself and apply to my life, wherever it is that my life takes me.

Can 'two' be a crowd? - Travelling companions, yay or nay

I've spent the majority of my travels alone; and my lack of trust in society and in random strangers to seize my camera and take a shot of me means that I have perfected the art of the 'self shot'.

One of the biggest 'wow' reactions that I get from people when I tell them that I'm travelling abroad is when I tell them that I'm backpacking alone. I'll tone it down for them – point out that I'm meeting up with a friend for a week midway, or know someone who I'll stay with for a few days, but it doesn't curb the genuine surprise in their tone. Just a couple of days ago I was telling this fit, pretty, perky girl who works at my gym about my upcoming trip, and she said, “I'd never do that, I'm too scared to even do it with someone, I could never do it alone.”

I've been fortunate among my travel experiences to experience the varying ends of the spectrum – I've met up with a friend from home both trips, spending time being a tourist in a foreign country with someone familiar to me. I've spent days at a time not really conversing with anyone but the hostel staff and shop assistants. I've stayed with friends who live in my destination, being driven around and pampered and cooked for and taken to their favourite restaurants. I've stayed in hostels and in the dorms or the common areas, met some lovely individuals whom we shared common interests and then spent a portion of our time together. I know people who made long term friends from their travels – I haven't been quite so lucky, a few are around on my Facebook but we haven't really kept in contact.

My travels wouldn't have been the same if it wasn't for the lovely people I drank with and picknicked with on the hill in Cesky Krumlov; my fellow James Marsters loving traveller I hung out with in London; the boys I met in Ljubljana and day tripped to Bled with; my fellow Aussie who I went to 'Dracula's' castle with in Bran, Romania; or the lovely Irish girl I spent my last day of my 2008 trip with in Singapore, having a deep and meaningful until late in the evening about how we could ever fit back into ordinary life – and many others, who are in no way less important than those I've noted. Would I have forged these alliances had I been travelling with someone? But at the same time, did I miss out on experiences because I wasn't travelling with someone – did I not go to restaurants I would've liked to due to lack of travel companions, did I avoid staying out a few extra hours after the sun had gone down in a security conscious effort?

Which begs the question – which is better, travelling alone or travelling with companions?

Travelling alone – benefits

• Flexibility – you decide when you want to wake up, what time you eat, where you're going, if you're bored and want to leave somewhere. Your trip is yours – no need to compromise.
• Random encounters – as a solo traveller, I feel as though you place yourself more likely to have random conversations with locals. Sitting on a park bench in Nice, a local gentleman came and sat beside me and started to converse with me in French. After establishing that I spoke English and he did not, he continued to persevere, with a combination of hand gestures and noises. In Los Angeles, California, a local sitting behind me on the bus proceeded to lecture me about the white youth of America not understanding the oppression experienced by he and his fellow African American kind. I politely advised him that I am Australian and I could tell him about the oppression experienced by Indigenous Australians. Had I been sitting with a companion, would I have had these random and memorable encounters?
• Meeting fellow hostellers – reality is that you're more likely to chat and mingle if you're on your own. You'll crave the human interaction and conversation and find yourself asking questions as you sit beside someone at the hostel breakfast, or waiting in line for the bathroom. As a result of people I've met in hostels, I know more about the world, I was given travel hints and tips, I forged companions to spend time with, I heard about other peoples travel adventures, was given recommendations for hostels and destinations.
• The accomplishment – let's face it, you walk away being able to proudly claim that you did it – you went through the experience and you did it by yourself.

Travelling with a companion – benefits

• Financial – there are often better deals when you're travelling with a companion. For example Eurail have group ticket options, if you're staying at a hotel, you can get a twin for the same price as a queen.
• Meals and cooking – dining out is one of the most disconcerting experiences for solo travellers, and cooking for one is sometimes impractical and not always cost effective
• The experience – sometimes, it's just nice to have someone to turn to and say 'wow'. I'm grateful that I was able to share that moment whilst at the top of the Eiffel Tower, or while surrounded by the overwhelming beauty of Bled, Slovenia. I felt that pang of being alone whilst I stood looking at the absolutely astounding Niagara Falls and had no one to share it with.
• Security – travelling alone comes with inherent dangers. Two people means twice the eye to ensure you don't get lost, to research the details, and makes you feel more secure whilst out in the dark.

A lot of the seeming disadvantages of travelling alone can be overcome simply by mingling with other people at the hostel. I met a girl in Manchester who, as I was on my way out the hostel door to go wandering down to the shopping strip, she literally ran behind me, called out to me and introduced herself and invited herself along on my outing. We wound up spending the next day day tripping to Liverpool, then together met some of the other people at the hostel that night, and wound up going out for drinks and dancing. Hostels like The Loft in Budapest and Krumlov House in Cesky Krumlov come with a prestablished family like camaraderie. Hostels like the HI Upper West Side in New York City and Apple Hostels in Philadelphia have organised activities, walking tours and pub crawls. Just because you make the decision to travel alone, does not mean that you will be alone for the entirety of your trip.

If you do decide to travel with a friend or family member, make sure that your goals and travel theories are compatible. If you want to go to every art museum and they want to go to every nightclub, you may not be compatible. If one person has a significantly higher budget than the other, you may not be compatible. Just because someone is an ideal flatmate or your favourite shopping partner, does not mean that they are an ideal travel companion. If you come to the decision that you're on the same page, make sure that you agree to have time apart, to not compromise your own journey, and to take the time to get to know the people around you. Just because you're travelling with someone, does not mean that you need to spend every moment of your travels with them - you're allowed to part ways to ensure that you don't miss out on each of your travel goals.

So when it comes to the question - to travel alone or with a companion - there is no right or wrong answer, and the decision is largely personal. In the end you are the one who has to be comfortable with your trip and the decisions that you've made, so listen to your instinct and you'll likely be pointed in the right direction.

Realistic travel budgeting without compromising who you are

Over the years, I've read countless volumes of blogs, websites and forums where people discuss various tips for how to budget for your trip abroad. A large volume of what I've read I find to be accurate, but my experience has taught me a great deal more than any of this research could have prepared me for.

Travelling should not be a burden - a minor, manageable credit card debt is one thing, if you know you have a reliable job upon your return. However if you're embarking upon an overseas journey, the ideal is to do this without having to slave away just to survive when you get back, check your credit card statement and start to regret your travel decisions.


Tip 1: Don't forget the real world will continue to turn up until you leave, and from the day you get back

You can plan and plan and plan to eat only noodles, bread and butter in preparation to save cash for your trip; you can think you have your accommodation/job for when you get back all sorted and organised. However things go wrong. If you are embarking upon a long overseas trip, for starters, people in your real life may want to catch up - go out for farewell drinks with your work colleagues, catch up with all of those pals you only see once in a while for coffee/lunch. The dollars add up. Sure, if you're being completely frugal you can insist that they'll have to shout if they want to see you, otherwise it is budget brand soda and popcorn in front of a DVD at home for your pre-trip catch up. However, in the interest of normality, try to find a line between locking yourself away and being wise.

Depending upon your living/job situation, you may need to account for start up costs when you get back - if you're moving out of a rental accommodation, if you're quitting your job. Include in your budget any realistic start up costs for your return and put them aside into an account which is separate to your travel budget account. Do not touch it, under any circumstances. This may include cash for bond and two weeks rent, and even to allow for your wages for a few weeks if you're going to be looking for alternative work.


Tip 2: Separate your budget for major pre-trip expenses, and allow for lots of minor extras


This will depend largely upon your style of trip, but generally most people who are backpacking or budget travelling will have booked some sort of major flights, and then will do travel within a country/continent with some sort of pass (whether it be a Eurail Pass or a Greyhound Bus Pass or the like) and other smaller flights and travel costs. All of these major expenses should be accounted for as pre-trip expenses. So too should your luggage, travel insurance, any clothing you may need to buy, any guidebooks you wish to purchase. Budget for lots of extras, little things that you won't realise you need until you're almost leaving, last minute journals you pick up and when you decide that you do, in fact, want a travel pillow for that major long-hail flight you'll be starting out with. Try to think about all of these little things in advance, and where you can, shop around - check out Ebay for travel accessories, start looking for things early so you know what you want and can grab it when a sale comes up.



Tip 3: Prepare for the worst.

Always get travel insurance, and get comprehensive travel insurance: for an extra couple of hundred dollars, you'll be grateful if something does go wrong. I was staying at a hostel in Nice in 2008 and one of the guys in our mixed dorm went out drinking one night and slipped over in a bar where someone had spilled a beer and they'd yet to mop up the floor. He managed to do some serious damage to his knee, and he and his brother spent the next three days trying to arrange for emergency flights home for him. This poor guy was laid up in the hostel, the joy of his day being when his brother would sneak him in 'medical' marijuana.

When you're reading estimates for your budget for a particular area, and they range from one dollar figure to another - use the higher figure in your budget. Always. This will allow you more flexibility in your budget. I not once have sat down and actually budgeted a trip to the dollar, I've never been at the point where I've spent the last three weeks of my trip filling up on the free hostel breakfast because I can't afford to buy food. I believe that the reason for this is because I've always estimated HIGH in my general expenses budget. If they've said to allow 75€ - 100€ per day for Paris in summer, I budget 100€. 

You'll have days where you eat the hostel breakfast, all of your tourist efforts will be free and you'll just be paying for lunch and dinner and you decide to self cater and grab things from the grocery store. You'll likely break below 100€ even allowing for public transportation costs. But then, because you've budgeted high, you'll be able to afford to go to Disneyland Paris; or if all you've ever really wanted is to go shopping and buy something from Champs-Élysées, then it will be realistic for you.


Tip 4: Be realistic with yourself

Some people plan their travel budgets with this notion that they're going to become a whole different, frugal, targeted, simplistic person. You can have all the best intentions but you can't deny the person that you are. You aren't going to enjoy your travels if you never take the opportunity to experience things and sometimes, experiences cost money. Beer and pretzels cost money in Germany, so too do hotdogs from vendors around Central Park in New York City. If you deny yourself the simple pleasures, then you're going to be denying yourself experiences that you want to have. If you're likely to want to go out and party, then that's fine, if that's who you are and that is the trip that you want to have. You're going to have to allocate extra money. If you'll want to go see a show when you're in London at West End, or go to theme parks in Orlando - allow the cash.


Tip 5: Be true to yourself

Just because you know someone who managed to spend 6 months in Europe and never paid for anything more than their hostel and basic food and transport, it does not mean that this is the way that you should experience your travels. There is no formula for the best way to travel - the best way is your way. Sure, branch out, have new experiences, try to cut down on extra expenses - but don't do away with the things that will bring you joy. You're the one who has to look back at the experience you had and know that you made the most of it.

Stop talking, start living

I started 2012 out with a bang - or perhaps with a shake. I spent the New Year in Christchurch, New Zealand; travelling with my parents. The overnight between January 1st and January 2nd was like being on a boat, except I was on dry land. In a 24 hour period, Christchurch experienced 42 earth tremors.

I made the New Years Resolution in early December that 2012 would be the year when I stopped talking about doing things, and actually started doing them. 2011 for me was the year of trying to be normal. I got a 9-5 job (a high pressure, stressful job that is actually more of a 9-9 job) and attempted some sort of 'regular' life. From this experience, I've discovered that regular is boring, and is something I have no desire to continue. I went to a travel expo in Sydney and went to a fifteen minute seminar from the creator of Get Lost travel magazine, and it was the first time that I'd actually taken the concept of travel writing seriously. I knew that travel writing existed, I knew that people did freelance writing in general - but it was never very tangible to me. It suddenly became tangible.

I spent the last few months of 2011 doing a whole lot of talk and not a lot of action. I wanted to go overseas again - I'd been backpacking in Europe in 2008 and travelling throughout the US in 2010 and I was ready for my next adventure. I wanted to explore a new potential career this time around. Lots of talk lots of talk lots of talk. Research. More talk.

The resolution I made was to stop talking, and start living.

I started my travel Twitter first; and then on January 15, 2012, I booked the basic flights for my next trip abroad; and then spent the next few days starting the basic skeleton of this blog.

So so begins a new era.