From staying with locals and sleeping in a hammock to clubbing together with other travellers, there are plenty of ways to save money while backpacking.
It might be 21 years since my first backpacking adventure – a 15-month trip that included travelling overland across parts of south-east Asia and working in Sydney – but fast forward to today, and here I am with an even larger backpack and making my way from Mexico to New York by bus for six months.
Though I’m older, I’m still a frugal backpacker – though I prefer guesthouses these days.
Here are some tips to help you save money on your next adventure.
Don’t overlook hostels
Hostels can sometimes get a bad rap, with some people having the idea that they are full of 21-year-olds looking to party from dusk until dawn. However, many of them aren’t “party hostels” and attract an older crowd. Other than camping or staying somewhere for free, hostels are often the cheapest option for accommodation.
For example, I’m writing this from one in Placencia, a resort in Belize in Central America. This coastal town has become a go-to hotspot for US nationals, resulting in rocketing accommodation costs. Hence my decision to stay in a four-bed female dorm for a few nights – saving me at least £75.
“Many hostels offer Japanese pod-style beds in dorms that offer privacy at a fraction of the price of a private room,” says Kashyap Bhattacharya, a blogger at BudgetTraveller and the author of The Grand Hostels: Luxury Hostels of the World.
Also, unlike a lot of hotels, most hostels have a kitchen where you can cook your own food. (I’ve made dinner for the next three nights). “One of my favourite money-saving hacks is travelling with a basic set of spices so you can conjure up a tasty curry with inexpensive, seasonal produce from a local supermarket or market,” says Bhattacharya.
Talking of food, I have always found bringing a container with me is a huge help when it comes to saving money (and waste). For example, I bring mine to restaurants so I can take away my leftovers.
If you are looking to save money on accommodation, you could always ask the hostel for work in return for a dorm bed. Also, if you are able to sleep in one, a lightweight hammock could be a money-saving option. “Some hostels will let you hang one up for less than the cost of a dorm bed, especially if they are fully booked,” says Bhattacharya. Meanwhile, some hostels offer dedicated campsites for a reduced fee.
Find your group
Single travellers can face extra costs when it comes to accommodation, especially if you stay in guesthouses alone rather than in dorms. Transport such as taxis and excursions can also be more expensive when travelling solo. So it is always worth striking up conversations with fellow travellers to see whether they wish to join you and split the costs.
I recently shared the costs of a one-bedroom cabana on Caye Caulker – an island off the coast of Belize – with a Dutch woman I had travelled with, as the prices to stay on the island were sky-high and the hostel was sold out.
Meanwhile, a boat trip to see the flamingos in Celestún, on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, would have set me back about £60. Instead, I approached every tourist I saw and asked them whether they would like to join the tour. Fortunately, I found seven others – bringing down the cost per person to just a fraction of that. On top of that, one of the couples saved us time and money by kindly driving a few of us back to the city of Mérida.
Connect cheaply using e-sims
Gone are the days when you needed to check in with family and friends by spending your money at an internet cafe or using an expensive phone card that would run out after just five minutes. However, there is not always access to wifi when travelling, and the mobile roaming charges imposed by some networks can sometimes result in astronomical bills.
An increasingly popular option is to buy an e-sim – meaning you don’t even have to fiddle around removing and inserting (and perhaps losing) your sim card. These can be a more cost-efficient way of accessing the internet. Airalo has e-sims for more than 200 countries. For example, at the time of writing, its deals included 5GB of data for Indonesia for 30 days for £13.50. There are shorter and longer options available for most countries.
Scout out free sleeping options
Airport hotels are often expensive, and that can push up the total cost of some early-morning flights. Instead, if you feel safe enough, you could always sleep at the airport. Before I started to limit my flights, I did this as a solo traveller in São Paulo, Brazil, during a trip in 2011. I researched a safe spot in the airport, strapped my passport and money and cards to me, locked my backpack, and used a chain to lock my backpack to me.
There are also well-known free accommodation alternatives such as CouchSurfing and house-sitting via websites, including TrustedHousesitters. One of my more recent finds is Host A Sister, a Facebook group where you can not only meet up with like-minded travellers but also find some generous folk who are willing to host for free.
I recently stayed for three nights with 70-year-old Bette in the village of Hopkins in Belize. She invited me to kip in her beachfront guest suite after she responded to a post I made on the site. Cue a night of drinking rum punch, finding out about her life and, the next day, being shown around town on her mobility scooter, treating her to lunch and swimming in the sea together. An experience I’ll never forget. However, for safety, do your due diligence beforehand and check through an individual’s profile, Google them, and have a video call to make sure they are who they say they are. Also share the host’s address with friends and family and ask them to check in with you.
If your budget is tight, consider the Worldpackers travel and volunteering community. In exchange for a few hours of work, you get free accommodation in hostels, farms, homestays, eco-lodges, NGOs and schools, says Bhattacharya.
Go local, avoid the city centre
Instead of choosing to stay in tourist hotspots, check out areas that are accessible to the places you wish to visit, and which may offer a more authentic experience. I found cheaper accommodation in Placencia by staying outside the main village area. The hostel offered free bikes and I cycled the 20 minutes into the village every day, saving money and helping me keep fit.
The same goes for restaurants and bars. With one of my upcoming destinations – the town of Flores in Guatemala – I’m staying a five-minute boat ride across from the main town, which has reduced my accommodation costs substantially.
Claire Bissell is senior travel editor at travel app Polarsteps and backpacks with her partner and two young children. “In Austria we chose to stay in Yppenviertel in Vienna because it offered great value for money. We could walk to the historic city centre in around 40 minutes (even faster using Vienna’s free city bikes), and the neighbourhood buzzed with life around Yppenplatz with its excellent restaurants, bars, and the [street market] Brunnenmarkt,” she says.
“Even when factoring in public transport costs, staying in outer neighbourhoods generally works out cheaper overall, and you have the added bonus of experiencing a more local vibe.”
