I’m planning on backpacking the Balkans next July after living in Spain. I plan on staying in all hostels and bussing/doing whatever transportation is cheaper. I like to eat out 1-2 times a day to get a feel for the local cuisine but i’m not very fussy with that. I would like to spend a few nights in Ljubljana, then I will be going to Croatia with a friend for about a week-10 days seeing the highlights, then I would like to visit Montenegro, Albania, and Bosnia. I would like to see specifically the beaches/coastline in Montenegro and Albania and do the Valbona to Theth hike and a few nights in Bosnia. Overall will spend close to a month probably. What do you think is a good budget for transportation, food, and hostels in this part of Europe? Is it similar to Eastern Europe prices? TIA!

Thanks. I’m wondering if there’s a way I haven’t thought about

I don't eat out much so I'm not familiar with what to expect for my 8 night trip. I typically have one large meal a day (lunch/dinner) with some snacks throughout, and I'll be bringing oats for breakfast. I'm not one to splurge on fancy restaurants but I might visit a couple.

Any tips on saving money here would be great, sounds like it might end up being my biggest expense after accommodation.

I have a spare bedroom. The idea is that I find a person (or couple) who also has a spare bedroom. That person/couple stays with me for ~1 month, then I go stay with them for ~1 month.

I'm sure this sort of thing happens but I'm not aware of any sort of app or forum dedicated to such arrangements. Does anyone know if this is a thing? Or have any ideas/suggestions for how to go about locating other people who would be interested in such an arrangement?

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good budget friendly hotel/hostel in Toronto? Recommendations for things to do, go to, or eat are welcome as well! I’ll be visiting in January Thanks!

Trying to book a flight home to Aus from Central America hopefully in mid Jan and happy to fly into Sydney, Melb or QLD. Anyone know what the cheapest flight path would be? I know you can fly direct from Chile but I don’t have a visa so this isn’t an option for me.

My partner and I are trying to plan for a safari in Kenya for February of 2025. We're pretty excited and just a bit overwhelmed with options for places to choose from. Our budget is around $2-3k total but can go up to $4k if needed... We ideally would want something for 4-5 days for the 2 of us. We saw a lot of comments about travel agencies and ect. Has anyone had a good experience with a certain company or agency? Thanks so much in advance.

Planning to visit Barcelona, Tallinn, Amsterdam each per week on budget in February. To visit historical landmarks and make friends. Never been abroad before. Is my budget enough for all of them or should I cancel any of those plans? I got the tickets.

Hi y'all, I'm a college student from the Atlanta metro area and I just had the realization that I will not be able to go back home for Thanksgiving break. I don't want to be alone in my dorm on the break, so I wanted to travel someplace new outside of GA just for a change of scenery and traveling alone experience. All states surrounding Georgia are fair game. What are some good destinations to go to, I was thinking maybe somewhere near TN or AL? I'm not broke, but I am looking to go pretty frugal, so what's the best method for transport, destination, activities, and food to save money while having a good time? I would really appreciate the help.

Was thinking of flying into Lisbon and getting a train to either Algeciras or Gibraltar to get to Tangier, Morocco. Looked for trains a little but either way too many train switches (10+) or crazy times (20+ hours). Was wondering if any routes are available or no dice.

I would like to travel with an astronomical telescope. Fragile, expensive, delicate, definitely no-go for hold luggage, too big for premium carry on.

1st question: does Ryanair and Easyjet skimp on the exact category? According to the websites, the extra seat is for "musical instrument"...

2nd, specific to Ryanair: when "managing" my booking, I cannot add an extra seat, but I can start a completely separate booking and add the name they specify. Is this ok? Practically a separate ticket.

3rd how is it managed if I don't reserve a seat number for it? Simply randomly allocated 7rows away from me?

I’m taking Fuentes Del Norte from Melchor de Mancos to Guatemala City and I’m wondering how long the average ride takes. I’ve been unable to find a definitive answer- R2R says 6 hours only, which I quickly found it just not possible. I’ve seen varying numbers:

The service itself: 8 hours Google Maps (Eastern Route): 9.5 hours Google Maps (Western route, more likely): 12 hours

I’m wondering since I’m skipping Guatemala (came a few years back with family), and I’d prefer not to stay in Guatemala City and head straight to El Salvador if possible. However the last bus leaves at 8PM so that gives me 11 hours, not counting any delays or rest stops.

Bonus points if anyone knows how early I should leave San Ignacio for the Guatemalan border.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Hi, I fly in about 7 weeks and I was gifted a luggage set for my birthday.

The measurements fit, 55 & 40, with even 7cm spare on one side, however it is 2cm too wide. (It should be 20, it’s 22cm)

How likely am I to get my bag checked at the gate? I would really hate to buy a new suitcase simply over 2cm, or to pay to check it in over 2cm 😩

Looking at flights from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Bangkok in mid January. I do see one for about $1000USD which is actually pretty good but it has a 20 hour layover in New Jersey(ugh). Total trip time of 47 hours.
I am thinking I am pretty much screwed because of my departure city BUT if anyone has any thoughts on finding a better flight for a good price please share.
TIA.

A man invited me to London for a week. I found an insane deal ($400 roundtrip) on a flight to Dublin. I figured I'd buy other budget airline flights to where ever I wanna go later on.

If this man flakes on me, where should I go? I've already seen Dublin/Glasgow/Edinburgh/Most of Italy. I was reading that Tenerife was lovely in Nov/Dec. I'm open to other locations. I'm coming from Seattle so don't really want to be in more rain & gloom iykwim

I don't want to spend a lot of money. Hostels & laying on the beach in the sun honestly sound amazing. Would $2000USD be enough for ~10 days? Specifically Nov 28-Dec 8.

I am traveling to the area in August. I will be coming in from Innsbruck using public transport. I enjoy a town with outdoor cafes and nice views. I want to do some hiking on my trip. I’m wondering which town would be must best bet for a base? Assuming traveling to Bressanone will be the easiest using public transport from Innsbruck? Pros and Cons of each destination? Thanks!!!!

I (37f) have (maybe) the joy of spending christmas alone this year and i’m clueless on how I should spend it. I currently live in Buenos Aires. Somewhere with good food and or cities that won’t be complete ghost towns are about my only requirements.

Looking for options to fly now, pay later for a last min trip. Preferably w/ no credit check! Not interested in Affirm atm. Thanks! 🥰

Hi! I am planning to visit some friends in BKK from the US (ORD) and leaving ~14th Dec and leaving sometime in the beginning of Jan but I have be delaying it a lot until now. Is there any way I can lessen the cost of the high prices right now? I understand its pretty late, so if things dont work out I wont be travelling.

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Hey guys!

So I got a comment from another redditor on the r/solotravel sub asking about this ridiculous flight deal I had (€270 one way from Singapore to Paris) and I thought I’d just write this here.

So ly.com is this sketchy looking Chinese website that offers flight deals and I want to share my experience.

As a broke boy (man I guess) traveller I was looking at flights to Paris on Skyscanner and saw this deal that looked too good to be true, but when I went on the website I saw it was all in mandarin and I was super sketched out, so I went to Google the reviews and they were not ‘great’ per se, but after sifting through it I noticed that there were in fact a lot of people who have gotten tickets through this website that were legitimate so I decided ‘fark it’ and pushed the button.

Well usually with these third party sites at least you’ll get a confirmation as soon as you book, but ly.com took over 24 hours to issue me a ticket (Etihad btw) and after that, I went to email Etihad to check the legitimacy of the ticket, and it was legit!

Ended up having a blast, spent a total of 4 months in Europe on an unbeatable price. One thing though was that they put Mr in my name so my boarding ticket ended up being Mrsockmaster666 Lastname which I thought was hilarious but after some correspondence Etihad assured me it wouldn’t be a problem because my real name was still there.

So yeah, another low cost option to and from Asia if you’re broke like me, but obviously I read that they had non existent customer service so only take that risk if you want to. I would imagine if the flight was cancelled or delayed I would get nothing back and would just lose that money. If you can afford to, just book your flights from a more reputable website.

Just thought I should share this because it could help another broke traveler find a ticket that is more affordable.

I’m in no way supporting the site or anything, it’s just an option that I would’ve definitely overlooked but my own personal experience turned out great (no delays, etc.) and I was so nervous that something would go wrong haha, I’m thankful it didn’t though!

Happy to chat with anyone about anything under the sun regarding this or my Europe trip in general. I’m too lazy to write a full trip report though but I ended up doing Paris, Bruges, Ghent, Helsinki, Tampere, Munich, Berlin, Milan, Cinque Terre, Skopje, Ohrid, Struga, Bansko, Sofia, Barcelona, Tirana and Athens on a budget of about €7,000 (+-) total for about 111 days. Not exactly shoestring because I did splurge on some nice rooms and a couple of music festivals but I think it’s still relatively affordable for what I did!

Correspondence for proof

I suggest everybody do their due diligence take whatever risks they deem to be reasonable.

Here’s how much I spent on an 8 day roadtrip through Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. You can use this to help plan the cost for your trip, please note your trips cost will vary depending on what you do.

Gas $210 Tolls/parking fee $7 Excursion $21 Eating out $32 Grocery’s $112 Showers $16 Wear n tear on car (estimated) $75

Total: $473, or about $59 a day.

How I kept my costs low

Accommodations. I downloaded the iOverlander app and wild camped. For those who have never wild camped before it’s basically a flat place to park in the woods. No running water, bathrooms, or trash service. I used the bathroom at places while I was out doing activities like visitor centers, gas stations etc. I showered at campgrounds and gyms, these cost $2-$7.

I made most of my meals. The meals I had on this trip were pasta and meatballs, meatball sub, sandwiches, rice and beans, and canned soups. I ate out twice getting a fried fish basket in Michigan’s UP as well as a pastie (similar to a chicken pot pie, pronounced pass-tee).

Activities. To keep myself busy I brought a book to read at night and during the day I did hiking, kayaking, and saw points of interest that were free such as viewing Michigan’s lighthouses. For the hiking and kayaking I stayed in national forests, National lakeshores, and national parks. I got free admission with a 2024 national pass I was gifted. I did pay for one excision which was a Historical ghost tour in Minneapolis.

I ended up spending $210 on gas, I drove 2,150 miles and got 29 MPG. I estimated spending $243 on gas, the way I estimated the price of gas is add the total miles I expect to drive divided by MPG I expect to get to give me gallons burned. I then take the average cost of a gallon of gas in each state divided by how many states I’ll be getting gas in. Then multiple that average gas per gallon multiplied by how many gallons I expect to burn. Example of this equation I used for this trip.

2,250 estimated miles / 29 mpg ‎ = 78 gallons of gas

$3.12 Average cost per gallon of gas X 78 gallons = $243 estimated spend on gas.

For estimating the wear n tear on my car I put in my cars make and model into chatgbt and asked it to estimate wear in tear for driving 2,150 miles and not include resale devaluation since I plan to run my car until it gives out. Wear and tear would be things such as oil, tire wear, cabin/engine air filter replacement, break pad wear, various fluids being used. The $75 is not a perfect estimate but close enough for me.

I wanna save for the next couple years to take my partner out to her dream vacation as a college graduation gift hopefully (if I can save enough by then). What number do y'all think would be approximately enough for the two of us to fly there, stay in a hotel, and of course expenses there. I was gonna shoot to save 10k within the next like four(ish) years would that be enough or should I shoot for more?

Hi Everyone! I'm travelling to Japan this November, I'll be arriving in Narita Airport. Where do I get the best exchange USD to Yen rates? Also, maybe someone here recently went to Japan and knows the best way to save on buying physical sim, and Train card/s (or tickets).

When I went to Japan last year, I remembered buying a physical sim (I need one because my esim ready phone is locked to my provider) at the airport in Nagoya, it was more that 5,000 yen for 8 days of data. It's quite expensive and I'm hoping maybe there are cheaper options?

I also want to ask about Train cards since I'm planning to go to DisneySea for 2 days. Thank you! :)

Hi everyone,

In most big cities, there are many money exchanges for tourists that have relatively few customers and therefore quite high fees (5% to 7% even 10% or more at airports) and then there are a few exchanges, usually a bit out of the way, that have very low fees (1-2%) and often long lines of customers.

Could anyone please reply with the names and locations of such highly competitive exchanges in London? Thanks.

[Edit: I need to make a larger purchase from a specialist store that doesn’t accept foreign credit or debit cards and only accepts selected domestic British debit cards, so please answer the specific question I asked.]

Hi, I would like to explore Europe for the first time in June. I went NYC this year and hotel lodging, food was very expensive. Are there any european countries that is not too expensive and has cute towns/cottages, castle, lakes, mountains or coast? I am travelling with my husband, so hikes can be multi days or finished in a day but it should easy and not steep. I have 9 actual travel days, so I probably can slot in 2 countries or 1. Flying from Singapore, and some european places has limited flights/layovers.

Hey guys, I am planning to take a nice relaxing (not adventurous) vacation with a very special friend.

We're NOT looking for:

- Skiing

- Hot air balloon rides

- Physically intensive stuff

What ARE looking for:

- Cozy cabins

- Scenic views of the Mountains (and optional - Lakes)

- Cable car rides (the one on the ziplines) with nice views (this optional).

- Breakfast type food. Good, friendly atmosphere.

- Hot tub

- Sauna

A lot of places in Colorado seem expensive. And I think it's because Colorado has become a popular destination. But I'm open to it being in Colorado or even anywhere else. Looking forward to a fun and relaxing vacation. I don't mind spending where I have to, it's just that I looked up some places online and the rates are crazy (like $900/night for a room, fr?! Lol).

TIA!

Hello all!

I am trying to plan a trip to India. I plan to stay for a few months, not sure how many yet, depends on how I like it after 1-2 months there. I have a USA passport so I believe I can stay up to 6 months if I wanted to. I prefer slow travel (1 month at a time per city ideally). Thanks for taking the time to read.

I am posting here because I see a lot of mixed reviews on India but I would like to see it for myself. I’m a male traveler so perhaps certain concerns wouldn’t apply.

From my limited research I can see people recommend the South more and avoiding certain cities if you want to get a nicer experience (e.g visit Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Pondicherry).

I would like to visit Taj Mahal so I believe that means I would need to stay in Delhi (so perhaps a week or 5 days there? ). I believe there is a period of time where there are fires that burn from rice crops causing pollution during October through February. I also hear I should not stay in Paharganj . Where and how much should I expect to pay (I usually use Airbnb).

I don’t need the best internet, or luxury. I like to have my own bathroom/room. I would like to avoid super crowded trains/buses if at all possible.

I don’t mind hectic streets, but would like to avoid pickpockets and stomach issues as much as that is possible (which are problems that can happen anywhere in the world of course).

I really enjoy nature but not a requirement. I will be self studying a lot of my time and prefer to keep a lower budget when possible.

Please let me know your thoughts.

I’m looking for some ideas for a quick trip. I'm from Budapest, I will be stayed at Rotterdam from 28 Nov - 5 Dec. But before and after I wanted to visit some country nearby, I'm thinking of France🇫🇷, Germany🇩🇪, and Belgium🇧🇪.

27 Nov (one day trip): Budapest🇭🇺 - ?

28 Nov - 5 Dec: Rotterdam🇳🇱

5-10 Dec: ? - Budapest🇭🇺

I’m very cheap (on budget trip) and will be travelling solo. Please help me with some suggestions, recommendations, and alternatives for itinerary and activities in those countries! Thank you in advance :)

I paid 800£ for two tickets from Helsinki to Bangalore. The same flight now costs just 560£. Is there any hack to cancel the original tickets with minimal loss? I didn't opt in for free cancelation :/

I've been thinking about finally leaving my country for a week(Georgia) and was wondering how much would i need for presumably a week in Spain. Either Valencia, or Barcelona.. Couldnt decide, but valencia looks great honestly.

I was thinking about around 1000$ for a week where 200-250$ of it would go for a round trip ticket(usually costs that much when buying in few months in advance).

I to be honest dislike hostels, and would have no issues with airbnb since my budget is pretty low for a hotel i guess.

So i was wondering if my budget is anywhere near enough for my trip...

Would love to hear from you guys!