Your overall Expenses May Balance Out
No reason to pass up a free What are the release dates for Designed to Sell – 2004 Downsizing to a Condo? – great site – meal. Great, authentic local food, especially if you’re going abroad, without kids, can be one of the best splurges of your trip. Up next: When to eat your cash… That leaves you open for a different kind of food splurge. Don’t bother with overpriced Paris hot dogs geared toward American tourists; do definitely bother with the fine French café your friend recommended if you ever made it to the City of Lights. It can be critical to experiencing the culture of the place, and fine dining in an exotic locale is seldom a waste of money.
The cost will depend a lot on the destination, the length of the tour and the mode of transport involved. If you’re just going to see the sights and aren’t looking for an in-depth experience, don’t bother with the group tour. Again, you can probably find some special-pricing offers online. It’s easy enough and much less expensive to get around to the more popular sites on your own. Sometimes, they include meals, too. Up next: Save on spending money to spend your money…
Some travel agents, of course, don’t charge a service fee, although even without that expense, you may be able to get a better price online, since you’ll have access to special rates. So if you’re staying in the country or going to a popular international destination where lots of people will speak your language, get online and search yourself. You can use travel Web sites like Travelocity or Orbitz; check out discount-compilation Web sites like Travel Zoo, which searches the Web for travel deals and collects them in one place; or go directly through a travel company that offers discounted trips. It’s tempting to spend as little as possible on airfare: Even the lowest fare available is often a relative fortune. Up next: Splurge on speed.
Some destinations have very unique, in-depth special attractions: ancient history, extraordinary architecture, hidden outdoor wonderlands. It’ll usually cost more, but in addition to avoiding a crowd of fellow tourists, it can be personalized in a way a group tour can’t. Except for the most seasoned, adventurous, research-loving traveler, specialized, thematic tours can be totally worth the money. In many cases, you simply won’t have the full experience on your own. If you’re not into group things, you can always book a private guide.
Resist the urge to spend a fortune on souvenirs that won’t serve any purpose aside from memory triggering. It was just so pretty! In most cases, the high-end rug from Italy is going to seem a lot less fabulous when it’s sitting in the attic because you really didn’t need another rug. Up next: Splurge when you truly can’t do it yourself… Another reason to avoid high-priced souvenirs: They’re seldom worth their travel-brain-aimed price tags.
All those amazing deals for hotels with main attractions “nearby” can be tantalizing; but in the end, it pays to splurge on a hotel in a central location. Just ask people who’ve stayed in Vegas “near the Strip.” Proximity can be very important. In the end, you may not even be spending more, since cabs and rental cars can be expensive. The ability to walk everywhere (or almost everywhere) is a huge bonus.
