5 Important Aspects Of Travel You Should Never Skimp On
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We get it — you want to keep your travel budget as bare bones as possible. We’re with you. Careful spending all the way! But there are some aspects of travel you should definitely never skimp on, for both your safety and the enjoyment of your trip. Be especially mindful of the following five components of travel planning when you’re looking for ways to cut costs.
1. Tour Guides
Whether you’re taking a walking tour or debating springing for the audio guide at Versailles, it’s usually worth it. You can pay a little for a lot of knowledge about whatever destination you’re visiting.
Pro tip: Even walking tours advertised as free are conducted on a tipping basis. But don’t let that prevent you from soaking up the history and insider secrets of a city — just leave a couple dollars (in the local currency) if you liked the tour.
2. Legitimate Internet
Never connect to the unsecured free WiFi hubs in airports, train stations or city centers. That’s how hackers get access to your phone and, therefore, your location, email, passwords and even credit card information. If you’d be lost when you can’t find free WiFi and can’t wait to get to a Starbucks (where the internet is almost always free), consider upgrading your travel data plan.
3. Clean Water
Don’t risk waterborne diseases or parasites. If you’re traveling to a location where you can’t drink the tap water (Thailand, Kenya, Peru, etc.) you want to buy the bottles.
Planning on hiking? Make sure you pay for effective water systems if you’ll be drinking straight out of a river. That means buying a filter for backcountry adventures in the U.S. and Canada, or a purifier when exploring less developed parts of the world (where serious viruses in water are more common).
4. Safe Transportation
Sometimes hitchhiking is an accepted and expected mode of transportation, but usually, it’s worth paying for a well-vetted ride.
Make sure you only take registered taxis — they are the ones in the government-approved lines at the airport. Ride-sharing services like Uber or Lyft are also good options, although even Uber has licensing issues in London and is banned in Italy.
5. Treating Yourself (A Little)
Yes, you are on a budget, but don’t deprive yourself of every single thing. You might want to sample some tacos in Mexico or try some beers in Prague. It is cheaper to cook all your meals in your Airbnb, but that means you’ll miss out on some crucial flavors in your destination.
We’re not recommending you go five-star for breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, we do suggest giving yourself room to spend on the things that you will treasure about your trip, whether it’s food, souvenirs or experiences.
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