Where the money actually goes

Nearly every trip budget splits into four parts: getting there, a bed, food, and things to do. Getting there and the bed usually eat more than half, so that is where the craft pays off. The method is to hold the budget fixed and let everything else move: the dates, the destination, even the airport. A daily figure (say $50 or $70, lodging included) turns each choice into simple arithmetic, and going under it one day buys a splurge on another.

Part 1Getting there
Part 2A bed
Part 3Food
Part 4Things to do

A packed street-food market at night, diners eating at low tables under strings of red flags — A night street-food market, every table full

Ways to travel cheaply

Cheap city breaksTwo to four nights wherever the fare map is cheapest that month, carrying only an underseat bag. The usual first trip, and it needs nothing beyond the base kit.

Start here

Open a fare map from your home airport, leave the destination blank, and book the cheapest weekend that lands in a city with good public transit. Pack only the bag that fits under the seat.

Google Flights Explore

Hostel StaysSleeping in shared dorms for a fraction of a hotel rate, cooking in the shared kitchen and meeting people in the common room.

Start here

Pick one city with several well-reviewed hostels and book two nights in a dorm of six beds or fewer. Read the newest reviews for mentions of lockers, kitchen and noise.

Hostelworld

Long Backpacking TripsWeeks or months moving overland through a low-cost region, where a day's budget goes three or four times as far as at home.

Start here

Choose one region where the daily cost is low, look up its average daily spend, and sketch a two-week overland loop with a stop every three or four days.

Budget Your Trip

Work exchange and house sittingTrading a few hours of help a day, or pet care, for a free bed. The cheapest way to stay somewhere a month or more.

Start here

Read twenty host listings in a country you want to see before paying for a membership, and note what hours and tasks hosts ask for. Check that country's visa rules for volunteering first.

Workaway

Open a card to see what to do first. Hostel Stays and Long Backpacking Trips each end in a button that adds that trip's gear to the kit. City breaks and work exchange need nothing beyond the base kit.

Where work-exchange hosts are listed

Plan your first shoestring trip

Tick each line off as you go

Seen from behind, a traveler in a hooded jacket with a backpack on a cobbled street of white wooden houses — One small pack on a cobbled side street

The five skills that save the most

Flexible fare searching

Comparing whole months and nearby airports, flying midweek, and choosing the shoulder season (the weeks just before and after peak) when fares and beds both drop.

Packing to the fare rules

Fitting a trip into the free underseat allowance, which means wearing the bulky layers and washing clothes as you go.

Picking a bed

Weighing price against location, since a cheap room an hour out of town costs the difference back in transit fares and time.

Eating like a resident

A grocery breakfast, the big meal at lunch when set menus are cheapest, street food and markets at night, and tap water where it is safe to drink.

Moving overland

Taking a night bus or sleeper train so one ticket covers both the ride and the bed.

What trips beginners up

What to expect

Expect less privacy and less sleep.

Dorms have snorers, early alarms and late arrivals, and the first night or two takes adjusting to.

Expect slower days.

The cheap route often has a connection or a 6 a.m. departure, and overland legs can take most of a day.

Expect some of the plan to fail.

A bus sells out or a hostel disappoints, so keep a cushion of about 10 percent of the budget unspent.

Habits to drop

Stop comparing only the headline fare. Bag fees, seat fees and a far-off airport's transfer can make the cheaper ticket the dearer trip.
Stop packing a schedule with too many cities. Each move costs a ticket and half a day, so fewer stops is both cheaper and more restful.
Stop changing money at airport counters and paying foreign transaction fees. Use a card with no foreign fee, withdraw from bank ATMs, and always choose to be charged in the local currency.
Stop skipping travel insurance to save a few dollars. One clinic visit or stolen phone abroad can cost more than the trip.

Staying safe and legal on a shoestring

Check the official travel advisory and entry rules for the country before booking, including how many months of passport validity it requires.
Work exchange can count as work. Many countries do not allow volunteering for room and board on a tourist visa, so check the rule for that country before you agree to a stay.
Lock valuables in the dorm locker every time you leave the room, and carry your passport, a backup card and spare cash under your clothes on travel days.
Split your money: one card and the day's cash in a pocket, a second card stored somewhere else, so a single theft does not strand you.
Read recent reviews before any free-lodging stay, tell someone at home the address, and keep enough money aside to leave and pay for a room if the place feels wrong.
In places where tap water is not treated, drink only filtered, purified or sealed bottled water.

Check the country before you book

U.S. Department of State travel advisories Free official advisories and entry requirements for every country

Free tools and where to learn

Everything you need to plan is free to use. Fare maps and price calendars show the cheapest place and week to fly, route planners compare the bus against the train, and cost databases tell you what a day really costs in a given city before you commit. Budget travel forums are worth reading for trip reports with real numbers, and most will critique a draft itinerary if you post one.

Inside a sleeper train car, passengers lying on green bunk berths that line the aisle — Bunk berths in a sleeper train car

Free places to search, plan and compare

Why the kit is this small

Every item on this list earns its place by removing a fee. A bag sized for the space under the seat avoids carry-on charges on the cheapest fares. A refillable bottle and a set of utensils replace bottled water and some restaurant meals. A hidden pouch protects the cash and cards the whole trip depends on. Hostels commonly charge to rent a towel or a lock, and the hostel add-on covers both along with what makes a shared room easier to sleep in. The long-trip add-on is for washing clothes on the road and for drinking tap water in places where it is not safe untreated. Buy the base kit first and add the others only when a trip calls for them.

A black metal bunk bed with folded towels on the lower mattress beside a tall window

Fill the pack

Every line, with its options side by side

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The underseat backpack, collapsible bottle, money belt and utensil set start in the kit. A padlock, towel, earplugs and sleep liner join when you switch on Hostel Stays. A clothesline, detergent sheets and a filtered bottle join with Long Backpacking Trips. The filtered bottle replaces the collapsible one, so switch that line out when you add it.

Line 01

Underseat personal item backpack

Essential · Bags

The cheapest airfares include only a bag that fits under the seat in front of you. A backpack built to those dimensions lets you take a multi-day trip without paying a bag fee.

budget

Taygeer Travel Backpack for Women, TSA Carry On Backpack Flight Approved

4.7(30.9K)

$19.99

Budget Travel

Where the money actually goes

Ways to travel cheaply

Plan your first shoestring trip

The five skills that save the most

What trips beginners up

Staying safe and legal on a shoestring

Free tools and where to learn

Why the kit is this small

Fill the pack

Underseat personal item backpack

Collapsible water bottle

Hidden money belt

Travel utensil set

Combination padlock

Quick-dry travel towel

Earplugs for sleeping

Sleeping bag liner

Travel clothesline

Laundry detergent sheets

Filtered water bottle