By Atishay & Astha
A Gurgaon based couple has completed a 3 months of trip to 7 South Asian countries. For them, it was not actually a trip but more of experiencing the culture and staying with local people. Check out a few pics from their journey.
How Did They Do It?
They managed to complete all of it under Rs 90,000 per person (flights + Visa + Accommodation + Food + local transport). These travel hacks which has made 3 months of their trip at extremely affordable cost.
Money Saving Trick No. 1. – Flight Booking
Sometimes there is a big price difference between 2 cities. Example Flight from Delhi could be more expensive than flight from Jaipur. So you can choose any nearest city having a cheaper flight for that country.
Money Saving Trick No. 2. – Flight Booking
Travel with less weights, just carry one 7kg bag each. Yes, it’s true that you can save money if you don’t take your 15KG check-in bag. There is an option to deselect it at the end of the payment page (Flights like AirAsia provides an option to travel only with 7KG of cabin baggage). This can make your trip easier and cheaper too because it’s easy to walk with fewer weights.
Money Saving Trick No. 3. – On Stay
This sounds unbelievable but yes it’s true that you can stay for free when you are on a world trip. This couple have registered themselves on different volunteering websites, one of them is “workaway.info”. It is trusted & which provides the opportunity to volunteer and help local communities in return they provide you stay & food for free. It is not very easy though, you need a true passion for the same. Sometimes, you have to teach in school & other educational institutes across villages. But this can save a lot of money and in return gives you great experience. Also it provides opportunity to meet local people.
Money Saving Trick No. 4. – On Local Transport
There are various options which can get make your local transport free. So, before you take any cab, train or local bus, make sure you check if the city has a free bus or any other complementary service – There are cities like Kuala Lumpur which offers free bus ride across the entire city. There are places like Phnom Penh which has a free boat ride from one place to another. You can also try to hitch-hike and can travel by getting free lifts in passing vehicles. Most of the countries are safe to take the lift from the strangers. Also you can rent a bicycle which is really cheaper than any other transport.
Money Saving Trick No. 5. – On Food
When you are traveling abroad, it becomes expensive to have your choice of food, this can make your trip more expensive than you planned. This is a little tricky – before you go to a restaurant, you can check the price on google map. You can research more before you decide it, just select “cheap eats” or “where local eats” option on google maps and it can show you the places where local eats. You can also ask the local people about the cheap places nearby. If you have a flight, then make sure you take some packed food along with you as the airport restaurants are always expensive.
This couple has travelled to 7 South East Asian countries for 3 months and has volunteered in countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. They are safely returned with lots of learning and memories. The people who have the courage to take a chance to experience the beautiful world in a different way always make their own way.
