Traveling on a budget.

I

IamMe18

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Hello.
So I'm in my 20s and I feel like this is the perfect chance for me to get myself out there and explore the world a bit and have some cool stories for when I become an uncle one day(probably.)
Anyway, I'm not really what you'd call a rich guy but I'm curious if it's possible to travel on a budget and still have great experiences out there, for those who have done it.

I'm new to travelling and I don't know much. But I do understand getting a visa approved is a great pain in the a** for some. For experienced travellers, how much would you say a single person travelling to places like the UK, Italy, Bali, Thailand etc would need for a 5 days if he's working with a tight budget but not necessarily caring about 5 star hotels and and restaurant meals?
 
you can book a 3 star hotel package deal for under R14k, inlcuding return flights and breakfast, to Bali. I spent around R10 on myself for the week. Got to see some of Qatar as well due to the long layover. The 4 hour tour of Doha was something like 8 Dollars. Travelling on a tight budget can be done.
 
jdido87 said:
you can book a 3 star hotel package deal for under R14k, inlcuding return flights and breakfast, to Bali. I spent around R10 on myself for the week. Got to see some of Qatar as well due to the long layover. The 4 hour tour of Doha was something like 8 Dollars. Travelling on a tight budget can be done.
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I hear Bali is pretty epic. Ask @Stillie - he recently spent some time there, he can provide some costs / experiances etc.
 
Couch surf. You’ll meet some weirdos, maybe get body lice, but it’ll broaden your mind.
 
jdido87 said:
you can book a 3 star hotel package deal for under R14k, inlcuding return flights and breakfast, to Bali. I spent around R10 on myself for the week. Got to see some of Qatar as well due to the long layover. The 4 hour tour of Doha was something like 8 Dollars. Travelling on a tight budget can be done.
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In terms of increasing my chances of getting my visa approved, is it better to get a package from travel agents or Do It Yourself route where my financials might scrutinized?
 
book your own hotels with Hotels.com - generally sites like Bookings.com Agoda, etc all similarly priced, but i prefer hotels for their rewards. Collect 10 nights, get 1 free ( equal to the average value of the 10 booked)

You can always book with "Free Cancellation" so if your visa gets declined, can cancel without a penalty.

Bali, Thailand afaik its visa on arrival, no need to pre apply. UK & EUrope would be trickier - lots of paperwork, interview, and cost a bit more.

Flights i search on skyscanner.net & google flights, then compare those prices and booking with airline direct. Play around with your dates and days, sometimes flights on some airlines are cheaper on certain days.
 
BALI! Ah i wanna go back!!!! Thanks @Tander

Bali is a really cheap place to go to. It just depends where you go. We bought a package from the Travel Expo for R19 000, this includes 7 nights stay at a hotel in Kuta, Bali as well as flights. Meals not included.

To hire a scooter for a day costs the equivalent to R100 (100 000 Rupiah) here. Food is generally cheaper if you go to little shops, but cost quite ridiculous prices if you end up going to larger restaurants, the catch is that if you go to smaller restaurants you must order something without meat, you sometimes don't know what meat is in the meals... i still question that "chicken" i had the one night.... :sick:

Hiring taxis is damn cheap as well. Not the local taxi company that you see EVERYWHERE called Blue Bird, they are freaking expensive (in comparison) we hired a combi for the whole day to take us where ever we wanted, for IIRC 200 000 Rupiah = R200. It took us from Kuta to Ubud which is only +-30kms but we stopped at a couple stops on the way like some water falls, the rice fields etc, and if we saw a place that we wanted to stop, he would gladly stop there.

If you do go to Bali, you HAVE to go to Gili Trawangan (Gili T) island, if you want that postcard photo of blue waters, white sands this is the place you want to go.
20180510_175533.jpg
20180511_104020.jpg

These are photos on Gili T that i took when i was there
What we did was get a package, but then planned on staying in other places in and around Bali. We had Kuta as our home base, but we stayed 2 nights in Ubud and a night on Gili T island.

I know for a fact i will go there again because there is so much more i wanted to do that we just didn't have the time to do it when we were there.
 
Stillie said:
BALI! Ah i wanna go back!!!! Thanks @Tander

Bali is a really cheap place to go to. It just depends where you go. We bought a package from the Travel Expo for R19 000, this includes 7 nights stay at a hotel in Kuta, Bali as well as flights. Meals not included.

To hire a scooter for a day costs the equivalent to R100 (100 000 Rupiah) here. Food is generally cheaper if you go to little shops, but cost quite ridiculous prices if you end up going to larger restaurants, the catch is that if you go to smaller restaurants you must order something without meat, you sometimes don't know what meat is in the meals... i still question that "chicken" i had the one night.... :sick:

Hiring taxis is damn cheap as well. Not the local taxi company that you see EVERYWHERE called Blue Bird, they are freaking expensive (in comparison) we hired a combi for the whole day to take us where ever we wanted, for IIRC 200 000 Rupiah = R200. It took us from Kuta to Ubud which is only +-30kms but we stopped at a couple stops on the way like some water falls, the rice fields etc, and if we saw a place that we wanted to stop, he would gladly stop there.

If you do go to Bali, you HAVE to go to Gili Trawangan (Gili T) island, if you want that postcard photo of blue waters, white sands this is the place you want to go.
View attachment 670383
View attachment 670385

These are photos on Gili T that i took when i was there
What we did was get a package, but then planned on staying in other places in and around Bali. We had Kuta as our home base, but we stayed 2 nights in Ubud and a night on Gili T island.

I know for a fact i will go there again because there is so much more i wanted to do that we just didn't have the time to do it when we were there.
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Thanks man. Very informative. And Bali does look amazing.
 
I think I'll search around for packages and compare with booking everything myself, I think I'll be working with a budget of +R27K. Can't wait for next year to get here already.
And about the visa, any tips? Like for example, I have two accounts, one for daily use and the secondary to save cash, can I just dump the money I'll need for my trip(let's say R10K) into the secondary account and submit its statements or will they need statements from my main account to see how much I earn and stuff?
 
IamMe18 said:
In terms of increasing my chances of getting my visa approved, is it better to get a package from travel agents or Do It Yourself route where my financials might scrutinized?
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You dont need a visa as a South African.
 
IamMe18 said:
And about the visa, any tips? Like for example, I have two accounts, one for daily use and the secondary to save cash, can I just dump the money I'll need for my trip(let's say R10K) into the secondary account and submit its statements or will they need statements from my main account to see how much I earn and stuff?
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Just the account where the money is. Generally SE Asia and associated countries are pretty easy with VISA if even needed. Europe, North America and Africa can get difficult if you do not have a history of international travel.

I've traveled Africa, Europe, Asia and South America and for someone in their 20's on a budget, possibly travelling solo I would say pass on the packages and just buy your own flights and stay at hostels.
But, it very much depends on your character, if you the type that prefers to sit by the pool, drink campaign while staff wait on you while every now and then traveling to take a selfie at an attraction then this isn't for you.
If you looking for the experience of meeting fellow travelers/locals, experiencing the local culture, attractions, activities, events and not to worried about cleaning after yourself or making your own meal to save cash then I would say backpacking is the way to go.
I backpacked for my first trip staying in hostels and booking my own flights and the experience left me wanting more so till this day I still backpack staying in hostels but in my own room (too old for dorms). My SE Asia trip cost me around R16K for everything including flights, accommodation, travel, activities,... for a month a few years back
 
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The Lonely Planet Guide Book.
Was the read a while back.
 
IamMe18 said:
Thanks man. Very informative. And Bali does look amazing.
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dont need a visa for Bali, you get the visa in the airport (which is tiny and chaotic BTW) Wait till next year Feb IIRC thats when the Travel Expo is, you can get trips nice a cheap (Best to get them when its not peak season obviously)
 
Don't do Contiki tours or any of these packages. They squeeze as much as possible in as little time as they can. Waste of time and money.

Plan the trips yourself. Stay in AirBnB's or maybe even Couch Surfer (stay in someone's house that's still there). Go to countries that are VISA free for SA (there are a lot of nice places).

Use apps like Skyscanner to book the cheapest flights and don't go during peak times. We did Turkey for 2 and a half weeks and it cost less than R20k. Went to Thailand on a budget as well. Travelling doesn't have to be expensive.
 
Method said:
Don't do Contiki tours or any of these packages. They squeeze as much as possible in as little time as they can. Waste of time and money.

Plan the trips yourself. Stay in AirBnB's or maybe even Couch Surfer (stay in someone's house that's still there). Go to countries that are VISA free for SA (there are a lot of nice places).

Use apps like Skyscanner to book the cheapest flights and don't go during peak times. We did Turkey for 2 and a half weeks and it cost less than R20k. Went to Thailand on a budget as well. Travelling doesn't have to be expensive.
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I think airBnB's and couch surfing are great for places that don't need visa. But I think I'll need to go with hotels in places that require visas because they'll need to see my booked accommodation.
 
I think I'll start with the visa free countries to get used to the travelling since it's more flexible and doesn't require much work to put together.
 
While it's a bit pricey, something like this South America tour can be a nice way to see a lot in a short amount of time. They've got a lot of meals, travels, and tickets included in the price and it can be a lot easier to budget once you've put down the main payment.
 
As someone who's been to Thailand twice, I highly recommend it, I'm 23 so more or less your age and I must say, we're considering moving there, working on getting my TEFL certificate so I can earn some cash here and there. South Africans do not need a visa to visit Thailand unless you plan on working there.
 
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