Expert: Annette - 8/3/2010

Question
what can you tell me about travelling on a budget...? whats involved generally speaking or is it a matter of building up contacts over time in different places, knowing people etc. or is it more to do with what a person is willing to do in terms of going gritty...? is it a nose for deals or is there an actual system that doesnt take too much time to get the hang of? I was thinking of cargo container ships and the cabins they have for passengers...is that one way? what is the cost of that typically worth in relation to air travel tickets?"

Answer
Well traveling cheap usually requires some work finding the best deals. You can go to a few travel web sites that compare prices all at once.  I have listed these sites at http://www.travelbargainsites.com  Different sites have different deals for different places.  After you pick a hotel/motel that you might be interested in, you might want to go to http://www.traveladvisor.com to read reviews.  Another way to get the cost down is to haggle with http://www.priceline.com or http://www.hotwire.com but you need to find out the going rates first to know had deeply you can haggle.  Also, priceline and hotwire reservations are not refundable, so only use them if you are sure you are going on the vacation.  I am not familiar with cargo container ships, so I can't help you there.

Little expenses can add up.  Usually, you will be paying more for necessities if you have to buy them in a vacation area.  If there is room in your suitcase, and you haven't gone over the luggage weight alotment, then pack some snacks so you won't have to pay high prices for them.  Make a list so that you don't forget anything essential such as medicines, spf protection, etc.