The coronavirus pandemic’s first lockdowns commended in early spring, just as the peak tourism season was about to start. Perhaps millions of people had to cancel their vacation plans due to these lockdowns.
Whether local or international, tourism refreshes the mind, giving you a much-needed break from the bland nature of everyday life. With billions of people being restricted to their homes for well over a year now, experts expect a severe upsurge of tourism is on the horizon. Everybody wants to travel to someplace new, explore an unexplored location, and simply be anywhere but home.
Anyone who has ever been on vacation will realize that holidays are not cheap. Every component of a holiday plan has a premium attached to it. So, how do you plan your dream vacation on a budget? Let us explore the possibilities.
Become A Backpacker
Tourism locations across the globe are flush with backpacking possibilities. This has become all the more prevalent in the past years, as the cost of hotels and other hospitality options has grown. As a backpacker, you stay in a hostel – probably in a room with a few other backpackers – and make your food.
You travel very light and take every day as it comes. Backpackers generally do not spend a lot of time at the location they are accommodated; they rent transportation and explore the location all day, to return only for sleep and rest. Backpacking also allows you to meet new people.
Fly Low Cost
Your parents – perhaps even you – would remember a time when flying by air was reserved only for the higher classes. Plane tickets were so expensive that those travelling on a budget could only dream of going to places where you could only reach by air.
In the past two decades or so, this has changed drastically. With the advent of low-cost airlines, everybody can now travel by air to locations around the globe. The flying experience is undoubtedly not as good as premium carriers, but a low-cost carrier will transport you to your destination just as well as any other plane!
Travel To New Locations
You have all probably seen documentaries and TV shows with presenters travelling to the most exotic location – countries you might never have heard of, places completely devoid of tourists. It might not be a surprise to you then, that these locations are also very economical tourism destinations.
You will find the cost of hotels, travel, and food to be significantly lower than any similar tourist location. It will take some research to locate such places on the globe or in your country, but you might just enjoy better than you would in your dream country.
Take A Workation
Due to the pandemic, professional life at the office hasn’t come back on track, which means you are probably still working from home. Why not take this opportunity to go on a workation?
A workation is a vacation where you take your work with you. You work online for your stipulated working hours, and holiday the rest of the time. Taking a workation is a great use of your time while still operating from home after the pandemic.
Make Your Food
If you are staying at a low-cost lodging at your tourism location, it is unlikely that you will get complimentary food from your hotel or hostel. Additionally, if you have travelled to a location where millions of other people visit every year, it is unlikely that the food will be cheap.
To keep your pockets full, it is always better to cook your food. Raw foodstuff is cheaper than dishes you will get at a restaurant, and cooking yourself will probably save you some money.
Indulge In Digital Freelancing
This is quite different from taking a workation; while in a workation you continue with the same job and hours you had at home, in freelancing you work as per your convenience, and chose your clients.
Freelancing while on vacation, particularly if you have a tourism channel’s photography page, can be very fulfilling and bring in enough money to offset your holiday costs. You can also indulge in online teaching, coding, graphic design, writing, or consulting while you are on holiday.
Start A Casual Job
You can also get a casual job at the tourist location, even at the hotel, you are staying in. When you travel abroad, you have scores of potential options to earn money.
You could indulge in pub work, teach languages, wait tables, be a swimming instructor or whatnot. Each of these experiences gives you a unique taste of the place you are staying at and the local culture at the location.
Credit Cards For Your Holidays
When going on a vacation, it is essential to know which credit cards to use. The difference between a normal credit card and a travel credit card is that you do not have to pay a high fee for foreign currency transactions in the latter.
Even on cash withdrawal in non-GBP currencies, the fee is significantly less. The following are the best travel credit cards you can choose from.
Santander Zero Credit Card
The Santander zero credit card is ideal for your travel, with zero fees on both transactions and cash withdrawals. The APR for the card is 18.9%.
Halifax Clarity Credit Card
The Halifax Clarity Credit card has a 0% withdrawal fee and a 0% transaction fee, with an APR of 19.9%.
Barclaycard Rewards
The Barclaycard Rewards Credi Card offers you 0.25% cashback on all purchases made using it. It also has 0% transaction and withdrawal fee, and an APR of 22.9%.
Conclusion
There are scores of ways you can reduce your holidaying costs. If you cannot reduce them enough to bring them down to your intended budget, you can always get a credit card and pay off the small loan later. You can get credit cards even if you have a below-average credit score.
There are some simple ways to improve that score, such as getting a money transfer card to pay off any outstanding debt. Once you have attempted improving your score, get more information on how to get your credit report and check if there is a rise. If there is, get a brand new card, and start planning your dream holiday!