Traveling with a budget is more challenging than getting a tour operator to book an end to end itinerary for you. But there are far more experiences to have and much more knowledge to gain when you do it yourself. We’ve gone DIY several times during our travels and aim to share our experiences with you so that you too can take the LEAP!
First of all, we think learning how to take money from the ATM abroad is essential when you travel internationally. Trust us, chances are you are doing it wrong!
Because saving on accommodation is a HUGE deal when you travel, make sure to check our killer method to save 20% on hotels, every single time!
On the experiences front, we’ve hunted down and successfully photographed the Northern Lights on our own. Earlier the same year, we took a day trip to Tayrona National Park in Colombia on our own. There’s not a lot of info online about this so we decided to share our trip with you!
On several occasions, we wound up in shady hotels because we did not know which Tripadvisor reviews to trust. So we decided to write about how you can get the most out of Tripadvisor, when a review is real and when it’s just plain fake.
When we tried to rent a car in the US, the sheer amount of insurance options left us totally flummoxed! Yes, that is a word! And you should never feel that way. Let our article demystify car rental options in the US for you.
Guidebooks are so 1990! The internet is an ever-changing and ever-updating oracle of all the information you might ever need. We never travel with guidebooks, and you don’t need to either.
While on the road we miss our books a lot. We do have a Kindle and we figured out how to get all our Kindle books at 1/3rd the list price!
And that’s not all! You can find all of the above and much more in this section. There are tons of practical tips and tricks in this section that should help you find your way around the world.
We travel smart. You should too!
Depending where in the world you come from, no travel guide will ever prepare you for the shock you might experience once you arrive in India. As I always say, once you’ve traveled around this extensive country (geographically and culturally speaking), you’re pretty much set to go around anywhere else … more »
If you travel or go out and about a lot, you’ve certainly experienced a lot of public restrooms. And if you do so, you’ll know that having a joyful or disgusting bathroom experience can influence your mood on a given day. One might not always have the comfort of a … more »
I just came upon a really interesting piece by Alex Pszczolkowski. He thought he wanted to become a digital nomad, but really didn’t. Alex brought up some really interesting points about why ‘Digital Nomadry’ does not work for him. The crux of the matter pretty much boils down to: “Can’t … more »
We often receive messages from readers on Backpack ME and those following us on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. Apart from the usual question “How can I get money to travel?”, the second most common thing people tend to ask us is how we prepare for our travels. That is, from … more »
During our West Coast road-trip, we planned to visit several National Parks to immerse ourselves into something else rather than just cities in the USA. As we were driving the entire coast, from Seattle to San Diego, and still making it to some other states like Wyoming and Arizona, there … more »
This is a pretty interesting ‘price-hack’ that you can use to get your Kindle books really *really* cheap. Amazon has just launched the kindle store in India. However, as books in India are often cheaper than books in other countries, the prices on the Kindle store too reflect local expectations. … more »
So here’s something neat that we came across out of pure chance. The first few days that we arrived in Lisbon, the temperatures were incredibly high! The mercury was touching 40C (104F) and places here are ill equipped for this kind of weather (no fans, air conditioning, etc.). So we … more »
A lot of people wonder about how to get a prepaid SIM card while traveling in the US. Contrary to popular belief, it’s fairly simple! If you have an unlocked cellphone then you can buy a SIM card in the US and use it. You basically need to top it … more »
Our next trip is on the cards and there was a time last year that the wonderful folks at Flightfox had given me the chance to review them. Unfortunately, by the time I had written the review, they had made some core changes to their product which meant that my … more »
First of all, allow me to say: there is no such thing as “Easter Island on a budget”! So, before you accuse me of writing a misleading title, let me explain that what I meant to say was “how to make the most of Easter Island while spending … more »