Monsoon rains and scorching days are months away, making the next few months a great time to travel around the country. Christmas season did just end, which means your wallet is still recovering from a hefty beating.
Don’t let that little fact dash your hopes for vacation. We’ll give you tips on how to stretch a tight budget to make your trip a reality. Keep reading to find out what five new things you can do to travel without zeroing your account.
1. Name your biggest expenses while you plan.
Food, transportation, lodging, pasalubong. Your list of travel expenses can be as long—or as short—as you want. But generally speaking, transportation and lodging will be the biggest costs.
This exercise might seem too obvious to be necessary. But by listing your expenses, you get to rank them by importance and get a better overview of where your money will go. What’s the point of saving up for surfing classes in La Union, if there’s no budget for the bus ride going and back?
2. Book cheap flights with using airline aggregators.
The Philippines is an island country of places that look close but are really faaaar away. You can’t escape the airplane, unless you want to devote days to land and sea travel and feel like a traveler from 200 years ago.
A plane ticket gets you where you want to be fast, but it’s not the cheapest way to get around. To better your odds of scoring a cheap flight, let airline aggregators do your legwork. These websites trawl through hundreds of airline websites to turn up the cheapest combinations for your trip.
Skyscanner is a great starting place, since it reliably turns up cheap offers for flights within the Philippines.
3. Don’t try to book your home.
Contrary to what luxury hotels will tell you, traveling is not about extreme comfort and convenience. Don’t expect your travel lodgings to replicate your home. It’s unfair and if you do, expect to get serious sticker shock during checkout.
Unless you plan to hole up in a resort, think of travel accommodation as overnight storage for you and your things. Harsh. But if you’re traveling to explore, that’s what any hostel, AirBnB, or hotel really is. Book the cheapest accommodation your peace of mind can afford. That can be camped out on the beach for P500 a night or checked into a decent hotel for P2,500. Bottom line is, luxury doesn’t mind waiting for you back home.
Want to really cut down on lodging? Try Couchsurfing to meet new people and crash on their couch.
4. Stay away from chain restaurants.
Unless your current travel goal is to document if Jollibee tastes the same everywhere, you’re better off coloring your travel experience with some local flavor. The joy of traveling away from Metro Manila prices is sitting down to a variety of new dishes for a third of the prices your can ever dream of in the metro.
Indulge your sense of adventure and line up at that crowded carinderia you passed. There’s probably some amazing food at the front of that lunch crowd.
5. Go off the beaten path.
A huge part of travel is discovering new places. You don’t have to go to Boracay every year if you’re looking for a beach party. Book a trip to less-traveled beaches in Cebu, Bohol, or Siargao instead. Each one of these destinations offers a unique vibe. The best thing about them? They’re not overcrowded like Boracay, which means no inflated tourist prices.
Traveling—peak season or not—doesn’t have to be a huge expense. Afford it and achieve it by dedicating time to search good deals. If you ever need extra cash to fund your next trip, you can always apply for a Perajet loan. We’ll give you the money fast, so you can vacation sooner rather than later. 🙂