How much does it cost to travel around the world? How to travel around the world without money. Stories of crazy travelers. Electronic encyclopedias for travelers

On October 10, 2013, 34-year-old Danish resident Thorbjorn Pedersen left his house and promised to return only when he had traveled all over the world without ever setting foot on an airplane. Wanting to complicate the task, Thor pledged to spend at least 24 hours in each country. And in order not to leave the race halfway due to lack of money, the former logistician set himself one more condition: not to go beyond the budget - $20 a day.

In his blog, the traveler calls himself the first to dare such an adventure. Formally, you can argue with him. In 2015, Artemy Lebedev ticked the last item on the list of 193 UN-recognized countries - however, he was not so limited in funds, took breaks between trips and used air transport. Even earlier, in 2012, news spread around the world about the end of the journey of Briton Graham Hughes, who visited 201 countries without using an airplane. But Graham counted countries no matter how long he spent in them—even if only for one minute. In 2013, the title of youngest person to visit every country in the world was won by Norwegian Gunnar Garfors. He saw 198 states while traveling on weekends.

203 - how many countries Thor will see before he can visit Denmark again.

Thor does not plan to take breaks and intends to strictly adhere to the conditions he has set for himself. Having excluded most of the territories with a disputed status from the list, he settled on the number 203 - this is how many countries he will see before he can visit Denmark again. According to the traveler himself, he will return to a settled life in his native kingdom as a 40-year-old Viking who has gained experience - a difficult test for his girlfriend, who has to go to a new unfamiliar country every time she wants to see her loved one.

Thor uses public transport or free rides (sometimes even a pie can be a ride), prefers to spend the night with new acquaintances he makes on the road, and is not picky about food. But his most effective way to save money is by avoiding air travel. The idea seems especially sensible if your trip has been going on for three years, during which time the modest $20 per day limit has added up to a daunting $21,900.

But what if the next point on your route is on the other side of the Earth? Over the years, Thor has traveled long distances on container ships nine times. Thanks to cooperation with the Red Cross, of which he acts as an ambassador on his trip around the world (he talks about the organization’s work to journalists and shares the stories of its volunteers on his blog), almost every time he was able to negotiate free loading onto the ship. However, on one of the trips he still had to spend $60 on insurance, pay for lodging and meals on board ($15 per day) and, in addition, promise a cheerful article about the delights of this trip. And although this method of crossing, say, the Atlantic may take two weeks instead of a tolerable 10 hours by plane, Thor does not regret the experience. “The entire time this project lasts, I have almost no breaks. I sort out visas, figure out how to cross the border, make new friends, meet with the Red Cross or the press. When I travel on a container ship, it's like I'm taking a vacation,” he explains in an interview with Vice.

The traditional name for the boats of the Indians and peoples of Oceania. Derived from the name of boats common off the coast of the Caribbean islands, South America and Africa in the 16th–19th centuries.

During the journey, Thor suffered from malaria, almost got lost in Greenland and was preparing to say goodbye to life on board a container ship during a storm.

Sometimes these trips even turn out to be luxurious. Some ships offer Wi-Fi, and most recently there was even a sauna and indoor pool on board. Among the added bonuses Thor lists is the chance to see dolphins, whales and the northern lights, although "most of the time you only see water."

During his travels, the Dane suffered from malaria, became closely acquainted with the bureaucracy that flourishes on the borders of some African states, almost got lost in Greenland, said goodbye to life on board a container ship during a storm in the middle of the ocean, attended a Muslim wedding in Sierra Leone and a funeral in the Adventist Church seventh day in Sao Tome, met with Pentecostals in Nigeria, attended a synagogue service in Nairobi and proposed to his beloved at an altitude of 4,985 meters - on one of the highest peaks in Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro (by saying “yes” ", she began to cry and was immediately afraid that the tears would freeze right on her face).

One of Thor's main goals in this project is to show that the world is better than the news headlines make it seem.

Thor explains the decision to devote several years of his life to this project for several reasons. First, tired to death after years of office work, he one day decided to do something that no one had ever done before and inspire others by his example: “I’m not sure that at the beginning of this project I was driven by anything other than a thirst for adventure. I really liked what mountain climber George Mallory said when asked why he wanted to climb Everest: “Because it’s there!” Secondly, as an ambassador for the Red Cross, he cites disseminating information about the organization’s activities as an important part of his mission.

But one of Thor's main goals in this project is to show that the world is better than the news headlines make it seem. “Although the world is full of horrors, most of those we share this planet with are good people... And every country in the world has the right to be considered the best.” Thor does not hide the disappointments that are inevitable for a traveler with a very modest budget and the goal of visiting even the most unpopular corners of the Earth. And although sometimes, he says, he wants to give up everything, order a good steak and relax, he has come too far to give up.

Participant of three British expeditions to Everest (in 1921, 1922 and 1924), he is considered the first person to attempt to climb its summit. He went missing during the ascent on June 8, 1924, along with his teammate Andrew Irwin.

From the book you will learn how to properly organize a trip, buy the best tickets, find the best accommodation for your budget, plan a route and choose a means of transportation, choose a travel companion, buy food and organize your leisure time. You will learn to plan your trip and enjoy every day spent on vacation.

A series: Tourism in detail

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by liters company.

Collection of information

Finding information is a key skill for a traveler. It is this that distinguishes a person who goes wherever his eyes take him from one who sets out on a meaningful journey and achieves his goals. This skill is trained both during the trip itself and in the process of preparing for it. The ability to use the Internet, paper sources, and find out what you need from other travelers and local residents can not only save money and time, but also make your trip more eventful and varied. A budget traveler who does not seek to learn something new is not much different from a “package” tourist.

Always be one step ahead of your route

Preparing for the upcoming trip is no less important than the trip itself. And this is the main way to reduce its cost. There is such wisdom among travelers: “As long as you go, that’s how much time you have to prepare.”. Although, if you are going on a long journey, it is unlikely that you will be able to make all the preparations in advance. Therefore, the process of collecting information continues along the route, with special attention to the nearest section of the route.

Gone are the days when you could rely on information from five-year-old guidebooks, and the Lake Tanganyika ferry schedule has been passed down by word of mouth for years. Today, any information can be found on the Internet, including the latest.

I don't want to deprive you of your pioneering laurels, but wherever you are going to go, it has already been done and passed. And just yesterday. And the day before yesterday. And there is a story about this on the Internet. Don’t be lazy to find it and save yourself a lot of problems. By checking the latest data for the next leg of your route, you can, for example, find out which border crossings have recently closed due to military conflicts or Ebola outbreaks. Or find out how the local currency exchange rate has changed in recent days and where it is now more profitable to change - in banks or on the black market, as well as which areas of the city should be avoided after sunset and much more.

The guide as the ruler of travelers' thoughts

Each traveler has his own set of things that he carries with him across seas and continents. Some people take with them half a wardrobe of clothes for all possible temperature conditions, while others only put a change of underwear in their backpack - everything else can be bought on the spot depending on the circumstances. Some carry kilograms of medicine, others carry a mountain of cosmetics. Many people fill their luggage with technology: iPod, iPad, iPhone, but there are also those who prefer to travel offline. Not everyone considers even a camera necessary. So, when you see a tourist wandering around the city, you can only say with confidence that he has a passport, a toothbrush and... a guidebook.

Guidebooks are called as they are: “travellers’ best friends”, “travel Bible”. And such statements are not far from the truth: people turn to the guidebook constantly, sometimes checking its pages almost every minute. Which museum should you visit first? Where to find cheap accommodation? What local dishes are worth trying? How to avoid being robbed? How to get to a distant attraction by public transport? And where the hell am I?

Sometimes this dependence becomes excessive. William Sutcliffe's humorous story Are You Experienced? offers a suspiciously accurate portrait of modern backpackers. Traveling around India, the main character constantly meets the same tourists wherever he goes: at a hotel, at dinner, at city attractions. Like the main character, they all read about these places in the Lonely Planet guide, calling it “The Book” among themselves. As a result, an independent traveler who came to “get away from civilization” finds himself in a kind of tour group, in which a popular guidebook has become the operator and guide.

In general, you should not limit your horizons and knowledge about the country to the text of the guidebook. We must not forget about general geographical and historical literature, travelogues, electronic encyclopedias and blogs. But this conversation is still ahead, but for now let’s focus on the main question: which guide to choose?

Gone are the days when Russian-language series of guidebooks could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and English-language books were sold in one or two stores in the city. Now, when choosing a guide to Finland or Turkey, the buyer looks in confusion at a dozen and a half brands. And this is only in Russian stores. Proposed typology will help you make your choice.

The market for paper guidebooks is very dynamic. Some series appear, others disappear. Over the course of 10 years (the author first compiled this typology in 2004), the set of popular brands has changed by more than half.

Lately, voices have been heard more and more often, asking why a guidebook is needed at all. Everything is available on the Internet - current hotel prices and public transport schedules. In many ways they are right. The array of useful information for tourists has expanded and updated so much in the last decade that guidebooks, especially practical ones, look frankly retrograde. The prices listed there are at best a year behind. And the author’s opinion about a hotel or restaurant is easily overwhelmed by hundreds of reviews from Internet users.

However, the more important has become the one way or another presented section “What to see?”, in which the author of the guidebook selects the most interesting from the information deluge that has covered modern society. The guidebooks themselves become all the more interesting - after all, now they are not just information directories, but full-fledged companions of the traveler, telling him little-known interesting facts and providing verified data. Nowadays electronic guides and GPS guides are becoming more and more popular. Some of them have already spoken in a human voice, making the travel companion metaphor a reality. But still, there is nothing better than sitting down in a cozy city cafe, opening a tattered volume and saying to yourself or hearing from a travel buddy: “Well, what does the guide tell us?”

Guides for the curious

Many of them can be bought without going anywhere at all. Just like a book with good text and illustrations. Such guidebooks are suitable as visual material for geography and art history lessons, and some are quite serious scientific research.

They are cleared of vain husks such as a list of hotels or bus schedules. Illustrations and depth of elaboration of the text are brought to the fore. It’s good to get acquainted with such series if you know little at all about the country (not only a textual, but also a visual image of the object of study is presented here). Many of these guidebooks weigh quite a lot due to the high-quality paper, so not every independent traveler will decide to weigh down their backpack with them, preferring to get acquainted with them before the start of the trip.

Visual guides

The main emphasis here is on color photographs and diagrams, and text is often provided only in cases where it is impossible to replace it with an intelligible drawing.

The most striking representative of the subtype is the series Dorling Kindersley (« Dorling Kindersley » ). These books are works of art that are not ashamed to put on the shelf along with albums on painting and architecture. City attractions, the historical section, and even practical information are presented in a highly visual, illustrative manner (only here is an intelligible, in pictures, explanation of the most mysterious and perplexing process for the traveler - using the local metro). The disadvantages of the series are high weight and price.

Other subtype series – National Geographic Traveler and Insight Guides (“Window to the World”)(the latter has not been translated into Russian for a long time).

Information guides

In the first place in this subtype is text, and it is of very high quality. Guidebooks are essentially reference books for tourists. But in this case, they go beyond their scope, becoming interesting both to regional experts and lovers of beautiful printed words.

For example, series Odyssey, in fact, a collection of individual popular science works about the Cambodian temples of Angkor, the Silk Road, and the American Civil War, disguised as a guidebook. Russian series are distinguished by a huge amount of information (including cities and objects that are unlikely to interest a tourist). "Historical Guide" as well as out-of-print series "Come after me" And "Your Guide".

But the main representative of the subtype is city guides "Poster". In terms of format, the series should rather be classified as a guidebook for tourists, but the quality of the text does not allow this. This is not just a description of city attractions, but a declaration of love to a particular city disguised as a travel essay. Usually a guidebook is a book that helps you along the way. You can read the “Poster” to want to go on a trip. In recent years, the line of the series has expanded greatly (now there are not only cities, but also countries), and not all new releases meet the initially set high quality standard. But the texts of the “first wave” guidebooks have not gone away.

Guides for tourists

The most numerous type is aimed at middle-class tourists, which is easy to notice from the list of hotels and restaurants offered, which do not have a budget segment. The practical information section in such guidebooks is generally rather poorly presented. This is especially true for transport. The reader is expected to book a tour of a remote historic site or nature reserve rather than travel there by public transport.

Holiday guides

Oriented either at organized tourist holidaymakers, or, in principle, at rest and entertainment without a serious excursion load. The description of the country is given rather superficially and comes down to the main attractions and resorts. Often such guidebooks are small in volume so that there is more space for souvenirs in the vacationer’s luggage.

The subtype includes series "Polyglot", "Le Petit Fute", "Through the Eyes of an Eyewitness", "Thomas Cook's Guides", "City in Focus" etc. The above does not mean that these books can be safely skipped. The city guides of "Polyglot" perfectly describe the route part, and the editions of the vintage "Le Petit Fute" for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation have no analogues at all. Plus, the brevity of the presentation and emphasis on the most important thing in the tourist image of the country is useful for those who know nothing at all about this country.

Tourism guides

Aimed at actively traveling members of the middle class. In Western countries, this subtype is the most numerous. Tourists who grew up as backpackers prefer quiet trips away from piles of 100-liter backpacks and noisy groups of young people. Their ideal is traveling by car with overnight stays in hotels with a couple of stars and breakfast on flower-covered verandas. And they need guidebooks to match: elegant, convenient, with color photographs and maps, where all the necessary information is clearly presented, as if in an encyclopedia. These are the series Fodor's, Frommers and translated into Russian Michelin.

Most Russian series of guidebooks also belong to this type. Except that they place more emphasis not on the practical, but on the informational component. Market leaders - series "Orange Guide", "Around the World"– they don’t spoil you with a choice of budget hotels, but they inspire you with an abundance of cultural and historical information and special box texts that provide interesting information “to the point.” In the author’s opinion, these are the highest quality Russian brands today. "Guides with Dmitry Krylov" also have a high level of text (the popular presenter is only the face of the series, the authors are professional journalists and travelers), but lag behind in design, cartography and weight.

Travel guides

They are distinguished by an abundance of technical and practical information, which is aimed primarily at saving money. Particular attention is paid to cheap hotels and eateries, as well as public transport. Often the game is played on the verge of a foul (the secrets of the black market for currency and the peculiarities of getting into closed areas are revealed). The routes proposed in guidebooks are aimed at long-term acquaintance with the country (1-3 months); they often contain the phrases: “Give this city a week and you will see its real face.” Particular attention is paid to responsible travel, i.e. travel ethics. Any violation of the environment and traditional way of life is considered a serious crime for a “real” traveler. In general, these are books for those who set off on a journey for a long time.

For 35 years now, this category of guidebooks has been based on “three pillars”: Australian Lonely Planet, British Rough Guide and American Let's Go. The first two episodes have recently been translated into Russian. All of them grew out of the “garage” romance of samizdat and the hippie trail and over three decades turned into the world-famous “Traveler’s Bibles”. These are thick books, filled with various information in small print: everything from the best rock bands in the country to a detailed description of the contents of street stalls in the capital's market.

Usually, first there is general information about the country (history, geography, economics), then practical information necessary for a tourist (from how to get a visa to how to avoid contracting an intestinal infection). This is followed by a general section on transport (how to get into the country and how to move around it) and, finally, regional sections describing cities, national parks and other interesting places. Information about the city includes sections on “what to see and do,” “where to live,” “what to eat,” and “how to have fun.”

Also interesting are the series that retain the spirit of the good old Lonely Planet. This Bradt– the best guides for traveling around Africa, the “unhinged” series Trailblazer and “Russian Lonely Planet” – series "We travel on our own".

Maps – which ones to take?

Electronic cards

Due to the proliferation of tablets and smartphones, paper maps are gradually becoming a thing of the past. For most modern devices, there are applications that allow you to download maps of all regions of the world for free and use them both in navigator mode and separately. Many maps (for example, Google Maps) can be used even when the phone or tablet is not connected to the Internet - to do this, you need to select the “download offline map” option and download a map of the desired region. If the offline map is not downloaded, you will have to go online and only then use the application.

If you have GPS in your device, you can determine your location on an electronic map by simply looking at it or selecting the “locate” option. For this feature to work, you need to allow the application to see the location of the device. The application itself will request such permission, or otherwise it can be done in the settings.

Thanks to electronic devices, you can manually select the scale by zooming in and out of the map. The map search and route planning function allows you to quickly find the desired place and understand how to get there. Many electronic maps combine the functions of a navigator. With some of them, it is also possible to take a walk around the city in 3D and look at photographs taken in the desired location.

The main disadvantage of electronic cards is the need to recharge the device. For car travelers, this drawback does not play a big role, since devices can be recharged from the cigarette lighter by purchasing a special charger or a USB adapter at any cellular phone store or electronics store. Those who travel by public transport, hitchhiking or on foot will have to regularly take care of the timely charging of their devices. There are drives that charge phones and tablets in the absence of an outlet; you can purchase one of them. If a tablet is used as the main device for maps, then it would be a good idea to play it safe and install the map on your mobile phone as well.

In disadvantaged countries, many people are afraid to use electronic devices in front of the local population, believing that they might be robbed. In general, this is true for those places where you shouldn’t even use a camera, but their number is very limited, and for such cases it is better to have a paper map. Where everything is more or less calm, a person using a smartphone or tablet looks less like a tourist than someone bending over a map.

Navigators

For car travel in some regions of the world, classic navigators are more convenient than applications for mobile devices, but in general, the spread of free applications has noticeably squeezed the navigator market. The advantages of classic navigators include their greater ergonomics and familiar design, as well as the ability not to purchase such a navigator in advance, but to order it in addition to the rental car.

Paper cards

Paper maps are useful not only for those who plan to travel to places where there is no electricity or it is very dangerous to take out even the cheapest smartphone in front of the natives.

Those who use paper guidebooks receive a minimum set of paper maps in addition to text and photographs. Most guidebooks are equipped with general maps of the region and detailed maps of tourist areas of cities popular among tourists. Such maps are useful when planning a trip and in the process of finding your way around the city center. General regional maps tend to be very sketchy, and city maps are limited to the center.

Individual paper maps of cities and regions are sold in travel stores and gas stations, and are also available free of charge at tourist information kiosks in most developed and some developing countries. Free maps from such kiosks are often much inferior in quality and detail to those that can be purchased.

Pros of paper maps:

Visibility. Many paper maps show attractions and tourist routes.

Ease of reading. The viewing area is not limited by the screen. You don't have to strain your eyes when reading text from the screen.

Easily take notes.

Safety of use. Rarely will a robber want to deprive you of your card. If a paper map gets mechanically damaged, you can seal it or buy a new one. Doing the same with a tablet or smartphone is not so easy.

Disadvantages of paper maps:

The need to purchase separate cards for each region. In case of a long trip, at the start you get a heavy briquette of cards.

Difficulty finding maps for undeveloped regions. In many countries in Africa and Latin America, finding a good map can be quite a challenge.

Price. The price of a card for one European country often starts from 20 euros.

Useful sites

There is an opinion among some people that the Internet is a big garbage dump full of lies and disgusting waste of the collective unconscious. However, this is, of course, not the case. In fact, it is more appropriate to compare the Internet to a mine, where diamonds of knowledge can be found among the slag and waste rock.

The main thing you need to understand when setting sail through the vastness of the Internet is that any information should be treated critically, checked and passed through the sieve of your own experience and awareness. This statement is true for all other information.

Search engines

The main tool for searching the Internet are search engine sites (google.com, yandex.ru, etc.). The pages that appear in response to a question are sorted by relevance: first, the search engine displays sites that, in its opinion, are most related to the query. In addition, advertising links are shown. They are usually at the top of the list and highlighted in a different color or font.

Some tips for using search engines effectively:

1. When forming a query, you need to think about the words that will appear on the sites you are looking for. For example, if you are searching for a medical site, it is better to search for “headache” than “I have a headache.”

2. Specification of the request allows you to cut out unnecessary information. A more general request, on the contrary, allows you to get more options.

3. Capital letters and prepositions have virtually no effect on search results.

4. For academic purposes, there are special search engines that use only competent sources (https://scholar.google.com).

5. There are a lot of operators that allow you to specify a search. For example, by putting a search query in quotation marks, we get links to the exact quote. By placing the “&” sign between words, we get the result with documents where these words are used in one sentence. A complete list of such tricks can be found by typing “how to use search engines” in any search engine.

Electronic encyclopedias

Wiki-based electronic encyclopedias dedicated to travel are an alternative to a guidebook for many modern tourists. The information in them is presented in a much more condensed form, and many important details are omitted, but in a situation of lack of time they are irreplaceable.

http://www.wikivoyage.org/

http://wikitravel.org/

Herself Wikipedia is also a good resource for obtaining general information (country geography, economy, etc.). Information about attractions on Wikipedia is less structured than on travel wikis.

Parody encyclopedia "Lurkomorye"(http://lurkmore.to/) sometimes also turns out to be quite useful - the ironic tone of the articles and impartiality allow you to look at the topic from a new angle.

National aggregator sites

Many countries have websites filled with information relevant to that country. For example, the website http://www.craigslist.org/ is very useful for the USA. It contains offers for short-term rentals, work, selling and giving away things for free, finding travel companions, etc. For Australia, such a site is http://www.gumtree.com.au/.

Travel forums

Online travel forums often contain more up-to-date information than websites because it comes from first-hand sources. This is also their main disadvantage - information is often distorted by the perception of the person sharing it. When reading forums, it is useful to compare opinions of different people and pay attention to the dates when posts were written. The world is changing very quickly.

Before asking a question on any of these forums, it is useful to read the FAQ section. There is a high probability that the question has already been asked before and the answer to it can be read immediately. Many forums have a built-in search option that allows you to search for posts on a specific topic.

Travel forums:

Vinsky Forum: http://forum.awd.ru/– the most popular Russian forum for travelers.

Russian Backpacker: http://www.bpclub.ru/– a forum for budget travelers.

Thorn tree: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree– a travel forum on the Lonely Planet guide website – separate forum threads for all countries of the world. In English.

In addition to forums about travel in general, there are forums dedicated to individual regions of the world. Groups on the social networks VKontakte and Facebook, as well as public pages, are usually less informative, but they can be a good addition. Special questions about a country can sometimes be asked on pages like “Russians in (country name).” People who love a particular region are often happy to share information about it.

Some regional forums and sites:

http://www.gday.ru/forum/– Australia

http://polusharie.com/– China

http://www.indostan.ru/– India

http://www.jordanclub.ru/– Jordan and Syria

Travel blogs

Travel blogs and LJ communities can be useful in the process of choosing a route and planning a trip. Each blogger has his own character, value system and view of things. This allows readers to choose those who are close to them in spirit, interests or travel style. Blogs of Russian expats living in the country of interest often tell interesting details from the life of this country and write about things that a traveler may not notice due to the short duration of his stay in it.

Travel agency websites

Most of the texts that are posted on such sites are created in order to sell a tour to a specific country. If the text mentions epithets like “exciting imagination”, “bewitchingly exotic”, etc. several times, you don’t have to finish reading the text - it’s unlikely to contain anything useful.

First-hand

Public lectures on travel are held in many major cities, as are travel festivals (see “Finding a Travel Companion,” page 64). Most of them are free for listeners. Lecture announcements appear in various communities and websites:

Lectures at the Debarcader in Moscow (regularly held since January 2007): https://vk.com/debarcader(online broadcast and video of past lectures)

Lectures at the landing stage in St. Petersburg: https://vk.com/debarcaderspb

Travelers club “Worlds”: http://club-miry.ru/

Lecture hall of the ZIL Cultural Center: http://zilcc.ru/

Lecture hall of the Center for Photography named after. Lumiere brothers: http://www.lumiere.ru/

The advantage of this method is the opportunity to directly ask a question of interest without wasting time searching. The downside is limited time. You can spend a long time on the Internet, as far as circumstances allow, but lectures last only a couple of hours and take place once a week, or even less often. Since there will not be much time to ask questions to the lecturer, it is useful to come to the lecture prepared. There is no point in asking very general questions, even if they were not covered during the story - it is better to get answers to them on the Internet and ask something more specific that is difficult to find in other sources.

Electronic encyclopedias for travelers:

www.wikivoyage.org

www.wikitravel.org

Travel forums:

Vinsky Forum: www.forum.awd.ru – the most popular Russian forum for travelers

Russian Backpacker: www.bpclub.ru – forum for budget travelers

Thorn tree: www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree – travel forum on the Lonely Planet guide website – separate forum threads for all countries of the world

Public lectures on travel:

Lectures at the Debarcader in Moscow: www.vk.com/debarcader

Lectures at the landing stage in St. Petersburg: www.vk.com/debarcaderspb

Travelers club “Worlds”: www.club-miry.ru/

It must be taken into account that anyone, even the best storyteller, is subjective and not knowledgeable in all areas at once. A cyclist may not know where to go to dance in the cities he visits, and a hitchhiker may have no idea how to rent a car.

* * *

The given introductory fragment of the book How to travel around the world on one salary. We travel cheaply and well (M. Oleneva, 2015) provided by our book partner -

Illustrations used in the interior design: Altana8, everything possible, Igor Zakowski, In-Finity, Juan Nel, Ken Benner, Kutsyi Bohdan, mariblackhair, Meowu, Niakris6, owatta, Phant, polygraphus, qwl, Serz_72 / Shutterstock.com

Used under license from Shutterstock.com; kameshkova, owattaphotos / Istockphoto / Thinkstock / Getty Images

© Pavlyuk S., Oleneva M., text, 2015

© Design. Eksmo Publishing House LLC, 2015

Instead of an introduction

Forward to adventure!

In recent years, I have quite rightly felt like a prehistoric creature, storing a lot of archaic information about the theory and practice of travel. A kind of vestige of hungry student years, when traveling without a penny in your pocket was a common place for inquisitive youth. Today, students routinely wander around China during their summer holidays, volunteer in US national parks and write master's theses on the geography of couchsurfing. My stories like “But, I remember, in 2003...” are increasingly perceived as legends of troubled times, when a visa was still required for Thailand, people did not use smartphones, and Putin was not president.

In general, I felt like a mammoth who forgot to die out in time, and tried as best I could to retrain myself into a “civilized” traveler who spends the night in hotels, flies on planes, and carries a backpack on his shoulders only out of a sense of nostalgia. It didn't work out very well, but I tried. And then there is a crisis. How fashionable it is to say now - suddenly. The price tag for travel is climbing, and the public, accustomed to living abroad, is in a panic. And here we come onto the scene again, the dinosaurs of that era when only two types of marginalized people traveled independently in our country: those who had a lot of money, and those who had none at all. We have experience in budget travel, but the world has changed a lot over the past few years. The accumulated sacred knowledge about finding areas of cheap hotels is easily interrupted by the skillful use of aggregator sites for finding budget accommodation. And the skill of finding erroneous airline fares (thanks to which you can, for example, fly from Moscow to Brazil and back for a few hundred dollars) saves more than all the possible tricks of an old budget traveler.

Therefore, I hope that our book will also be of interest to experienced travelers (whether on a budget or not), although it is primarily intended for novice road explorers and those who have never thought about the need to save a budget when traveling.

Our philosophy is that saving money when traveling does not make it less comfortable; it makes the travel budget more rational and allows you to see more and even better for the same (or even much less) money.

The authors of the book are not only experienced travelers, but also people familiar with the travel industry from the inside. This primarily applies to my wonderful co-author, Maria Oleneva, without exaggeration, a legendary personality among independent travelers, who managed to travel, live and work in the tourism industry on all continents except Antarctica.

The book is structured on the principle of moving from the general to the specific. The first chapters deal with general issues of budget travel, and then its components are analyzed: information gathering, visa issues, accommodation, moving, etc. In order to not be unfounded, we have tried to give, where possible, a small regional overview on each issue.

We really hope that after reading this book, the Russian traveler will no longer be embarrassed to hitchhike, spend the night via couchsurfing, fly with a tricky combination of charters and low-cost airlines, and eat only street food. After all, from now on he is not a beggar, but an effective manager of his resources in a crisis. Come out of the darkness, colleagues of the Jurassic period and new types of Russian traveler. Get out onto the road. And go on the trip of your dreams!

Semyon Pavlyuk

The most important traveler's schedule

Usually, when talking about travel, we consider the ratio time and money. Supposedly, you can achieve anything by spending either a lot of money, or a lot of time, or some proportion of both. Lots of money, but no time - buy a plane ticket or take a taxi to your destination. Lots of time, but no money - write the name of your destination with a marker on a piece of cardboard and go catch a ride on the highway. Depending on the balance of money and time, you can take a bus or rent a car.

But no less important is effort resource spent on organizing the trip and achieving its goals and objectives. These efforts cannot always be reduced to a monetary or time equivalent, although they can save both time and money. For example, after spending a certain amount of effort, you can find a comfortable option for sharing the cost of a trip (see page 260), which will allow you to cover the required distance by car cheaper and faster than traveling by bus. If you search for a flight ticket for 4 months, it can be 4 times cheaper than if you search for a week. A few hours spent on obtaining a foreign currency bank card that is convenient for travel will pay off in thousands of rubles in savings already on your first trip (after all, using a ruble bank card on a trip entails increased fees for currency conversion).

Efforts to prepare a trip take time and moral strength. Those who do not want to waste effort (as well as nerves) on obtaining visas and finding hotels on their own turn to travel agencies. Those who don’t want to go through the hassle of preparing a route hire a guide. Moreover, this is not a sign of weakness or busyness - even experienced travelers turn to travel agencies when obtaining a Chinese visa in Moscow. Collecting the required documents yourself takes too much effort.

Plus the resource of effort in it operating time and improvement. The effort to prepare for a trip is also a skill. And any skill can be developed, “pumped up”. The more experience, useful skills and knowledge about travel a person has, the less effort he has to spend on finding cheap air tickets, suitable hotels and obtaining tourist visas. The more effort put into preparing the trip, the less time during the trip you will have to devote to finalizing the route. This book will not teach you how to make money and will not give you extra time to travel. But it will help minimize the effort to prepare and conduct a successful trip.

Travel budget

The travel budget primarily depends not on the country where you plan to go, but on the habits and characteristics of a particular traveler. Everyone has their own opinion about daily cash expenses. On a long trip, the average traveler spends about the same amount per day as at home. It’s just that in a cheap country he gets more comfort for the money than in an expensive one.

There are no universal rules for budgeting. Can you make a sample list? inevitable expenses(air ticket, visas, entrance tickets to must-see attractions, equipment that needs to be purchased during the trip). Then figure it out daily expenses: how much on average is spent on accommodation, food, transport and communications in the selected region, multiplying the resulting amount by the number of days on the road. At the end you need to add additional expenses- a certain constant for shopping, souvenirs, etc., as well as a certain amount of money for Unexpected expenses. If the final amount seems too high, adjust it downwards by abandoning expensive accommodation options in favor of cheap and free ones (see chapter “Accommodation”, page 183). Also think about how to save money on travel (see chapter “Moving,” page 231) and food (see page 220), or exclude the most expensive parts of the route.

Saving a budget is a separate art, which for some travelers turns into a kind of sport. Sometimes it seems that the purpose of some of them is to explore the limits of human capabilities. Is it possible to travel around this country on 5 dollars a day? How about 3 dollars?

The key to a successful journey is to see the line between healthy and unhealthy savings. It's one thing to give up an extra cocktail at dinner and buy a ticket for a reserved seat car instead of a compartment one. Another is to starve yourself and travel all night standing in a crowded carriage of the lowest class train possible.

Those who try to save a little often end up losing a lot. Travelers trying to find a hotel for a dollar cheaper risk ending up in a dubious rooming house where they will be robbed. Those who choose their dining location based on the principle of “as cheap as possible” increase the risk of food poisoning. The subsequent expenses for medicines and an unscheduled stay at a hotel during illness will cover the amount won many times over. The cheaper and more crowded public transport is, the higher the risk of things being stolen. You can walk from the station to the hotel, be greedy, spend $10 on a taxi, contrary to the advice of the guidebook, and run into armed robbery. Is saving $10 worth losing a $500 camera and all your cash?

Create a budget for your trip:

Unavoidable expenses (air tickets, visas, entrance fees);

Daily expenses (accommodation, food, transportation, communications);

Additional expenses (shopping, souvenirs, etc.);

Unexpected expenses.

Saving is one of the fundamentals of long travel. However, we must remember that the basis of budget travel is not to spend as little money as possible, but to extend the trip through reasonable savings.

Comfort levels

Everyone who sets off on a journey must ask themselves what they need for a comfortable trip. Don’t get too carried away with making your trip cheaper, giving up interesting but expensive attractions, delicious food and convenient transport. In order not to go too far when it comes to saving money, it is important to consciously approach your needs. There is no need to go hungry or put yourself in a situation where the only emotions during the day are fatigue, frustration and irritation. Also, do not be lazy, indulging in momentary desires and not giving yourself the opportunity to try your own strength. Healthy asceticism combined with self-respect and caring for your body is the key to a harmonious journey.

Each person has his own minimum comfort level. Some people get by just fine with a plate of rice a day, while others can’t get a good night’s sleep in cheap hotels with uncomfortable beds. An acceptable level of comfort is not a constant value. You can get used to its reduced level if you have the motivation to do so. Young travelers usually have an easier time coping with this task.

Very often, it is enough to raise the comfort level by one step – and traveling will immediately become easier. An eerie-looking flophouse in Bamako (Mali) costs $10 a night, and a cozy colonial-style guesthouse costs $15. A spartan double room in a bustling Stockholm hostel costs $70, and an authentic ship-hotel cabin with a view of the city hall costs $75. . Only 5 dollars, and how different the emotions are.

If this is important to you, add 10-20 dollars to your daily budget and use hotels and restaurants of a slightly higher class. Travel should bring joy, and not be a constant source of irritation.

The meaning of travel and priorities of needs

Determining the meaning of a trip is no easier than answering the question why a person travels at all. There are about as many answers as there are travelers themselves. Some are looking for themselves, while others are running away from themselves. Some people want to see new countries and get to know other cultures, while others just want to have a good time. But, in general, all answers come down to two main groups: knowledge of oneself and knowledge of the world.

Try to answer the question about the meaning of your journey as honestly as possible. Leave beautiful words about supporting world peace for letters of recommendation and searching for sponsors. Listen to yourself. Why would you travel to the other side of the globe or embark on a trans-Asian journey? Do you want to write this fact down in your biography? Are you trying to find a country with the most beautiful girls/men? Or, on the contrary, the most beautiful girl has already been found and this is just a way to impress her?

Depending on the answer, think over the route. If the very fact of accomplishment is important, choose the simplest and fastest trajectory possible. Or if the task is to find the perfect beach, do not move away from the tropics.

Don't have a pre-prepared answer? Come up with a travel “trick”. Travel to places of historical events or follow the heroes of your favorite books. Repeat the route of the Great Silk Road or the Grand Tour. Follow Marco Polo and Nikolai Gumilyov, without letting go of their travel notes. Look for the answer to the question: “Who can live well in Rus'?”

Not in the mood to think about lofty things? Then let it be a walk from one football stadium to another. Or the search for the perfect cup of espresso. Or a daily selfie with a stranger you meet on the road. All this will add integrity to the trip and will not allow it to get boring ahead of time.

It is equally important to determine your own priorities of needs on a trip. What is more important: to see more cities and attractions, not to leave your comfort zone, or to get extreme sensations? Is a good hotel every day important, or are you willing to live in a tent for several days for a trip to a remote natural park and a visit to a pygmy tribe? Is individual transport important or is the prospect of public transport not a concern? Are you a supporter of gastronomic tourism and travel to eat, or, on the contrary, do you eat to travel? Correctly set priorities will help you create an adequate travel budget.

Travel duration

Short trips are the most expensive in terms of daily expenses. The cost of visa, airfare and other one-time expenses divided by 10 days in a daily budget will be ten times higher than when divided by 100 days. In other words, every additional day of travel, if not making the air ticket cheaper, certainly justifies it.

Also Every day you travel, your daily expenses decrease. A traveler spends more money at the beginning of a trip than at the end. He doesn’t yet know his way around a new country, doesn’t know the appropriate price level, doesn’t know how to bargain in the market, and doesn’t understand which products are cheaper. You have to buy some additional equipment. Street cafes frighten locals with unfamiliar smells - you have to go to a restaurant for tourists. You don’t want to walk in the heat – it’s easier to take an air-conditioned bus or a taxi. Savings have not yet been identified. Over time, you get used to the heat, the local food, the backpack on your back, and you want to spend the extra money less and less.

Any country becomes cheaper every day you stay in it. In the first days of getting to know Australia or Iceland, the only thing a traveler does is to be indignant at their high cost. After a couple of weeks, emotions give way to local knowledge and experience of saving. And it turns out that these countries are distinguished by free museums and natural attractions. It is easy to hitchhike here (and it is also common among the local population). If you search properly, you can find cheap housing, and food in a budget supermarket chain is no more expensive than in neighboring countries in the region. Based on reviews from tourists about the financial side of staying in a particular country, it is usually easy to understand how long the narrator stayed in it.

Daily expenses drop even more dramatically when staying in a cheap country in Asia or Latin America. In the first days, the traveler cannot get enough of the low prices, and therefore buys and orders a lot of unnecessary things in the cafe (“The whole table was filled with dishes for us, and it’s only 300 rubles!”). But gradually he adapts to the price level and thinks in local categories, comparing the cost of lunch or a taxi ride with local analogues, and not with Moscow ones.

Everything changes

This is the main rule of a traveler. With the modern dynamics of international tourism development, everything is changing at kaleidoscopic speed. The pace at which change is occurring has challenged the entire industry of practical guidebooks, becoming outdated before they even go to print. And we’re not just talking about the cost of accommodation or museum entrances. In the cities of the Middle East and East Asia, skyscrapers and entire neighborhoods are springing up like mushrooms after rain. New airport terminals, metro lines, and highways are opening. You can return to a country in a couple of years and not recognize it.

Look for the latest information. Better - a week ago. In some countries living in times of change (such as Myanmar, Nepal or Zimbabwe), the situation can change dramatically in a matter of months. For example, in the cities of Myanmar at the end of 2011 there was almost no Internet, and it was more profitable to change currency in person on the black market. And in mid-2012, Internet cafes and wi-fi were already widespread, and it became more profitable to change currency at state banks and exchange offices.

As the Lonely Planet guidebook, which is extremely popular among independent travelers, likes to write: “Good places go bad, bad places go bankrupt.” This is especially true in many developing countries, where it is not customary to spend effort on maintaining infrastructure in proper condition. A friend who works in the field of individual tourism once told us that when choosing a hotel for a client in the Maldives, it is customary to focus primarily on the year the hotel opened. If it has just been opened, everything will be great. But even a reputable hotel can no longer accommodate tourists as soon as it turns two years old. It is not customary to do repairs in the Maldives, and therefore, in a humid tropical climate, both the number and the state of the infrastructure may be unsatisfactory.

The same is true for the public sector. Instead of hostels and restaurants “promoted” in guidebooks, where the level of service has dropped due to the flow of customers and prices have risen, use newly opened establishments with cozy and inexpensive rooms and excellent cuisine. Find out about them on travel forums, in online guides and from the advice of fellow travelers you meet along the way.

Traveling independently and not so much

Tourists and travelers

Tourists and travelers – the dialectic of the modern tourism industry. It would seem that everything is simple: the traveler is independent, the tourist is dependent on the travel agency. But in reality, everything is a little more complicated. These are overlapping categories, not two sides of the same coin. And sometimes a tourist is more of a traveler than an independent backpacker. Travel independence is only one of the possible characteristics, and not a sign of quality. But first things first.

Traveler

Travel must meet two main characteristics: movement and cognition. First, the traveler must shift in geographic coordinates. This distinguishes him from the traveler on the couch, who explores the depths of Africa together with the characters of his favorite books and gets acquainted with the sights of Paris from pictures in a glossy guidebook. And also from a virtual traveler who can watch the sunset in the Masai Mara reserve or the panorama of Manhattan using web cameras installed at the right points.

Secondly, the traveler should be aware of the space through which he moves. Or yourself in this space. It doesn’t matter whether he is engaged in knowledge of the world or knowledge of himself, but the journey should lead to an increase in knowledge. There must be a reflection of what was seen and felt. After all, travel requires meaning, or at least an underlying search for meaning. Otherwise we're just talking about vagrancy– a state when a person no longer cares where he is moving and what surrounds him. The tramp is interested in other things: what to eat, where to sleep, how to get money. In fact, he leads the same life as most of us, only, unlike the overwhelming majority of ordinary people, he does not have a home. Movement in space is his everyday life, his routine.

Tourist

Over the past quarter century, the concept of “tourist,” at least in our country, has changed its meaning. In Soviet times there was a distinction between “ tourist" And " vacationer" The first one walked through the mountains with a backpack, while the second one rested “in the south.” With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the emergence of travel agencies, the concept of “tourism” was transformed from an image of sports and active recreation (it is now increasingly being replaced by the fashionable word “extreme”) into something relaxed and hedonistic. A tourist now, in the modern sense of the word, is a vacationer. A person who spends his vacation in a different geographical location than his work and everyday life.

Among those who shudder at the words “travel agency” and “mass tourism,” “tourist” is a dirty word. This is supposedly such a weak-willed type who cannot take a single step without a guide, and in general rarely takes any steps. Often he does not even leave the territory of his hotel, which provides an all-inclusive program. The antithesis of the antihero-tourist is the hero-traveler.

But is such a division really fair? Of course, a person who comes to Antalya on a package holiday and does not leave the hotel is not a traveler. He came not for the sake of knowledge, but for relaxation. But a tourist who also arrived on a pre-paid voucher, but actively uses the excursions offered at the hotel, is already a traveler. He strives to see the world around him and wants to learn more about it. And such a tourist may have a million reasons why he chose a sightseeing tour rather than an independent trip: for example, ignorance of the local language, or an age when traveling alone is already difficult, or a habit of comfort, or it seems to him that with a guide he can learn much more. more than on your own. Finally, organized tourism is sometimes simply cheaper than an independent trip to the same places.

After all, even the most famous travelers could not do without the services of local guides. It is unlikely that Livingston would have discovered the Victoria Falls, and Stanley would have crossed Africa from ocean to ocean without native guides.

Everything that doesn't kill you makes you... more interesting! First of all, this concerns travel. For real, the more we learn, the more interesting we become, and the better interlocutors we are. Traveling doesn't always require money - you just need a few basic ingredients: desire, a plan of action, English and a little courage. Let's say you already have English in your pocket (with us, of course) - now it's a small matter! In this article we will talk about travel options that, if not completely free, then at minimal cost. You need to read it and we"re ready to bring it! C"mon!

First of all, you need to believe that it is absolutely possible (especially if you decide that you can teach someone English yourself). Of course, you will most likely have to forget about convenience, but you will be able to adapt and the risk will fully compensate for itself. Forget about being picky and remember about self-control. Be friendly and appreciative, but bold and brave, and remember to be flexible.

Unforgettable impressions and emotions await you in different parts of the world! Wherever you decide to go, the whole world is at your feet. Believe in its beauty and wonders, your ability to adapt, and you will succeed.

How to pack a bag correctly

Throwing a pair of socks, a toothbrush, inflatable skis and a sleeping bag into your travel bag does not mean packing luggage. Things need to be collected stylishly, beautifully and rationally. To do this, we offer you a few simple steps:

• Socks and underwear must be rolled up and placed in shoes (saving space and protecting shoes from deformation). In addition, you can stuff a watch, glasses, and a tie into the latter. Rock on, ladies and gentlemen! The shoes make a great case! Tightly packed items will not wobble during transportation and will carry your trip with ease.
• Do not stack shoes in pairs. Each shoe must be placed in its own bag and placed in different places. Remember: there is no trip on which you would need more than three pairs of shoes. Trust us!
• It is better to lay straps and wires along the walls of the suitcase. Rolled up, they will take up more space.
• Any clothing will take up less space and wrinkle less if it is also rolled up rather than laid in the usual layers. If there are a lot of such rollers, and your bag-suitcase-backpack is deep, then you can fold the first layer from them.
• We recommend placing plastic bags or sheets of paper between your items. Clothes will slide rather than rub against each other and suffer less damage. Less suffering for your clothes = more pleasure for you!
• If anyone still doesn’t know how to quickly fold a T-shirt, then here’s a lifehack for you:

• With shirts, things are a little more complicated. Fasten the buttons, then do everything as in the video on link and don't forget to pat yourself on the head when you get through it. Shirts can be used as a second layer, after the rollers.
• Do not put cans of foam, cream, gel, etc. in one bag! Once you've made sure it's tight, stuff all these things into different nooks and crannies. It will be safer this way.
• To make pants wrinkle less in luggage, place them at the bottom of the suitcase so that the legs remain outside. Stylishly place rolls of t-shirts, shirts, etc. on top, then cover the piece of art with the rest of the pants. If you suddenly have 2 pairs with you, place them so that the legs hang in opposite directions. And don't forget to take your keys and coins out of your pockets, otherwise they may damage your pockets!
• Compacting things is a gamble, but a rewarding one. Try to think carefully about your collection of essentials and be smart about it. No one wants to carry a Ruckzilla around with them, but without the things you really need, problems can arise.

Traveling without money is more fun and your life needs an adventure!

When you travel the world, your goals can be very different. We are confident that what you need most are the following 4:

• To see remarkable things(see amazing things);
• To meet beautiful people(meet wonderful people);
• To experience the world(experience this world);
• To not end up in prison(don't end up in jail).

Ways to travel without money

• Pet sitting and home care (housesit). The idea is simple: you stay with someone while they are away and run errands for them, i.e. feed the cat, water the flowers, wipe off the dust, etc. They know that their house is not falling apart thanks to you, and you get comfort and a roof over your head. And it's free! There are a lot of sites that you can scan in search of suitable “clients” for you, of course, first having thoroughly learned English with us.
• Tents have not been canceled (camping). Yes, weather conditions are not always in our favor. But it's romance! And, if you have already discovered that very flexibility in yourself, then this is where it will come in handy. You can always find a suitable place for your small temporary fabric house. You just need to develop the ability to find such locations. There's no shame in pitching a tent in places where people wouldn't normally do it, be brave.

• Walk, run or bike. Have you heard of Dave Kunst or Steve Newman? They both walked around the world on foot. And Rosie Swale-Pope completely ran around him! Surely they had money with them, but they certainly did not pay for transport. Cycling can be demanding unless you're a master of using tools to fix your steel (or aluminum) steed ( master of improvised jerry-rigging). But such a trip is not excluded!
• Hitchhiking. Probably the most popular way to travel without money. The point is that the driver is already heading in the direction you need anyway, and besides, he pays for gasoline. So why not let you down too? You are good! Destroy the constraint in your head, be persistent ( unabashed) on the side of the road and it will work for you. And if you offer to be part of the crew on a ship, you can cross over by water. Jeremy Marie, Ludovic Hubler, Alyssa from opendestination.ca - these individuals shamelessly hitchhiked around the world alone. The devil is not as scary as his paint!

Don't forget about BlaBlaCar. They have drivers in 19 countries! Here you can find a travel companion who will take you to your destination (not for free, though...), but be careful and listen to your heart. Don't forget to remove the pistol safety.

• Voluntourism(voluntourism). Tourism with elements of volunteer activity, in fact. You can teach someone (not necessarily English, but, for example, yoga, fitness or chopping wood), build something in exchange for housing or food, work on a cruise ship, help homeless children in a shelter, giving them all your love and providing support. While traveling, you can also work remotely if you are ready to combine leisure and work. Then you have every chance to become location-independent worker, i.e. location-independent worker.

• Organic is everything to us. There is also the option to work and live on an organic farm. There is an organization called WWOOF, and it has nothing to do with dogs. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (global opportunities on organic farms) - this is what it stands for. And it has a network of non-profit organizations around the world that can connect you with local farmers. Well, isn't this a dream? The idea is that you go and work on the farm as much as you want, and the farmers pay for your stay there.

Watch out! Helping local aborigines is a fairly popular activity among travelers. However, first make sure that you can actually provide real help to people. Sometimes it turns out that this method is absolutely not beneficial to those who are being helped. Do what you know how to do well. And share with us in the comments! What are you good at?

• Crowdfunding (crowdfunding). Or public funding, i.e. collecting funds from the public for some good (or not so good) cause. The idea behind this method is to get other people to pay for what you want. For example, pay for your trip! It's simple: write an inspiring and endearing story about how much you want to travel, be sure to indicate the purpose of the trip (maybe you want to write a book or help someone with volunteer tourism), because people will only respond if they really feel you. Then create a page on kickstarter.com and cross your fingers. Good luck!
• Excursions on foot (walking tour). Not all of them are paid! Many will be available to you absolutely for free if you know where to look. For example, you can choose a country and a city where such free trips take place. Think you can try that?

There are only 6 things you need to survive:
Air/Water /Food /Sleep/Health /English.

How about something to eat?

The ability to cook will definitely be useful to you, but, in fact, people are not so greedy! Many of your possible people will not let you go without first feeding you! But you are, however, part of a certain population group, because... read this article, surf the Internet, and understand English. You already have skills that you can normally use and exchange for food almost anywhere in the world (except for Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen - there are tensions with this matter, so there is no need to travel there).

How else did you expect to get food? For free? Ok, you can eat for free. In many (polite) countries, if you offer to work for food, and if people don't have work for you, they will feel uncomfortable, unable to turn you away, and provide you with food. In case they don't, try another place, or another... or another. Do you understand what salt is? Do you understand why you must overcome your embarrassment? That's it! And, for that matter, is it worth being ashamed of the desire to eat in principle?

We offer for your viewing (and research in our Video Workshop) a video from a person who has experienced everything himself and is proud of it. Inspirational speeches and videos are waiting for you! Check it.

Conclusion

The question is: will you ... or will you not? This idea is definitely not for everyone. Things can go wrong, and now you're standing under a bridge in the rain at 4am, somewhere in Vietnam. But the rain will pass, and you won’t remember about it later, which cannot be said about the impressions and most pleasant moments that you could experience during the trip and remember for the rest of your life. It’s just that some people are ready to challenge themselves, while others are not. This article is just a seed for your imagination. What we want, is you to live your life the way you want to.

Remember: no money = no problems. Everything is possible! Don't rush, but think about your plan of action and, if all the cards match, hit the road. Be light, but don't forget your sleeping bag and bowler hat! Less stuff = more enjoyment.

Learn English with a purpose and stay classy!

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

27-year-old Cassandra De Pecol managed to set as many as 2 records in 2017: she became the first woman in history to visit all 196 sovereign states, and the first person to do this in just 1.5 years. Surely many of you also dream of traveling around the globe, but not everyone can afford it. Especially for you, we have collected tips that will help you travel more and spend less.

We at Bright Side are sure that almost anyone can travel if they really want to. Knowing some little tricks, you can do it much cheaper, and most importantly, without compromising your impressions.

1. Give preference to night travel by buses and trains

Night travel on trains and buses will make travel more budget-friendly. This option can be used as a good opportunity to save time and money on a hotel at the same time. It's better to take 1st class tickets: you may overpay a little, but you'll get a good night's sleep.

Traveling on buses is not so convenient, so you should not plan daily night trips - this will make you feel overwhelmed. The only exception is slipper buses, which feature recumbent soft berths instead of standard seats - this is a good way to travel on a budget without sacrificing comfort.

2. Set up flight alerts

If there is a specific place you want to go, sign up for AirfaireWatchDog. Each time you will receive an email when there is a price reduction for the destination you have chosen. In addition, there are other sites that send similar notifications by email for a small fee. This method often helps save hundreds of dollars on a ticket.

3. Secret hotel offers

If time and money to find a hotel are limited, pay attention to sites with secret offers from hotels - hotwire and priceline. You will not know for sure which hotel you rented a room at, but the discount can range from 30 to 80%.

The closer the check-in date, the greater the likelihood of getting a good discount - it is more profitable for hotels to rent out a room at half price or lower than to earn nothing on it. So if you have a free travel schedule, the hotel brand is not important to you and healthy adventurism is not alien to you, these sites are for you.

4. How to return a non-refundable ticket

If your plans suddenly change and you need to return your air ticket, you should know that this can be done in several cases:

Your flight has been cancelled;

You were not put on the flight you paid for;

The flight was greatly delayed and this changed your plans;

You or a close relative with whom you were going to fly fell ill;

A family member or close relative has died;

If you change your mind about flying or overslept your flight, try to get at least part of the money back.

First, you will need to cancel your reservation with the airline, and then prepare documents to confirm your words. But in any case, the requirements need to be clarified with the specific airline.

5. Look for an alternative

Pay attention to countries and resorts that are less popular among tourists. This does not mean that your holiday there will be significantly different and will disappoint you. For example, you can try to replace Montenegro, Bulgaria or Thailand with Albania, Romania and Cambodia. After all, these countries have a similar climate, there is a sea everywhere, but prices are significantly lower. In addition, there are not many tourists in these destinations, which makes these countries even more attractive.

6. Look for a ticket for 1 passenger

If you are flying with your family or just a large group, first find tickets for 1 person. The fact is that airline websites will try to sell a higher class ticket if you are looking for tickets for 2 or more passengers.

The difference in price is not always obvious, as you only see the amount for all the tickets and may miss the fact that 1 or 2 of them are higher class tickets at a higher price. It is worth first finding out the minimum price and then making sure that the cost of each ticket is exactly that.

7. Buy tickets online in incognito mode

If you went to the site just to look at a ticket for the desired date, and were distracted by business, after a while it may become more expensive. It's not that all the tickets are sold out, it's just that the airline already knows that you are interested in buying this ticket and will try to sell it to you at a higher price.

All this can be avoided if you search for tickets in incognito browser mode. This way, you won’t leave any traces on the Internet, and the airline won’t make you unfavorable offers. Each browser has its own ways of setting incognito mode. For example, for Google Chrome this is the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N.

8. Don't use a MacBook when buying tickets

The websites of many airlines are based on the model of your computer or other device from which you place an order to purchase an air ticket. In addition, they can determine your region and the operating system of your computer. For example, if you book a ticket using a MacBook, you will most likely be offered expensive options. The best choice for ordering tickets would be a personal home computer or an Internet cafe.

9. Use stopover as an additional opportunity

A stopover flight is similar to a transit flight, but its main difference is that the transfer can take more than a day. But its main advantage is that during downtime you can see the country in which you will have a transfer. For example, if you have a flight from London to Ankara, but you have a layover in Rome, then you can take a walk around this city too.

Do you like to travel? Do you have your own secrets for budget travel?