Speaker 1: Did you know that you can travel the world on
a budget even in retirement. Let's look at some of
the ways to make your dream trips a reality without
breaking the bank. I'm more in Debranski. This is Life
Starts at Retirement. I produce a retirement lifestyle video every
Saturday at noon. In this video, we're going to talk
about some practical tips for traveling on a budget as
your approach retirement or as you are in retirement, ensuring
that you can explore the world without too much financial stress.
You know, whether you're looking to go on a beach vacation,
to explore ancient cities, or to just indulge maybe in
some local cuisine. I've got to cover it for these
fantastic money saving tips. Oftentimes, when you retire or when
you're thinking of retiring, travel is on your bucket list,
and in many cases, traveling for retirement is one of
the top three things on a retired person's bucket list.
Many times, to your retirees worry that travel can be
so expensive that they feel they may or may not
be able to travel as much as they want to.
So with the right strategies in place, you really can
travel without draining your savings. So here are a few
tips to help you travel on a budget friendly basis.
So let's explore the first one. Finding affordable flights. Yikes,
finding cheap flights really can be a bit of a challenge,
but here are some strategies that you can use to
get a great deal or hopefully let you travel as
much as you want. Number one, use flight search engines,
so sites like Google Flights, skyscanner, Hopper, I've heard cheap
o Air possibly are great for comparing prices across multiple
airlines and dates. Number two. Set fair alerts, so many
flight search engines allow you to set alerts for specific
routes and you'll get no FID when prices drop or
when there's a sale going on. Number three, be flexible
with your dates if you can, the more flexible you
can be, the easier it will be to find a
less expensive flight. Oftentimes, flying weekdays, especially Tuesdays and Wednesdays,
is often cheaper than weekends. Number four. Book in advance,
so generally booking flights one to three months in advance
when you're domestic traveling domestic, or two to eight months
in advance when you're traveling internationally. Internationally will help you
to find better deals. Or on the opposite one, go
on short term notice if you can and you can
see that there's a sale and they don't have a
flight booked. Oftentimes they'll offer it very, very inexpensively, just
so that they can fill up the planes. So either
long term or short term. Number five consider nearby airports,
so think about that. I know in Arizona there's Scott Stale,
there's a Mesa Airport, there's the Sky Harbor Airport. So
consider different airpo airports because sometimes flying into a nearby
airport can even be cheaper, even when you factor in
the cost of transportation to your final destination. Number six
use budget airlines. Don't overlook those budget airlines. They often
offer lower fares, but just be careful. They often also
have additional fees for things like luggage or seat selections,
so just be careful. Number seven check for deals and sales.
Of course that goes without saying, but I would suggest
signing up for your airline newsletters to keep you informed
about any deals, any sales that they might have. Number
eight use points and miles. If you have a credit
card that earns travel rewards, you can use points and
miles to reduce or even get free flights. Number nine,
clear your cookies. So when you are what I mean
by clearing your cookies, when you're looking all the time
for flights and you're checking them out or you're checking
travel sites. Oftentimes in behind the scenes, you computer knows
this is what you're looking for. You're looking for a
flight Arizona, You're looking for a flight to New York,
whatever that might be. So airlines, any businesses, many businesses
have cookies. They know that you've been looking for this,
and so when you look again, they know that they
can increase their prices or keep their prices high because
this is something that you want. So sometimes flight prices
can be lowered if you clear your browser cookies or
use incognito mode to help you get those better prices.
And just google how do I clear my browser cookies
or how do I go to incognitomode, and it'll help
you with that. A few ways to check out in
expensive flights. Next, let's talk about accommodations. So finding inexpensive
commodations while traveling can make a huge difference in your
overall budget. So here's just some ideas. Number One, stay
in hostels. They're a great option for budget travelers. They
offer often dormitory style rooms, private rooms, but there are
a fraction of the cost of hotels now. Number two
use booking platforms or websites like booking dot com, Hostile World, Airbnb.
They can also help you find affordable accommodations. Number three
consider house sitting or house swapping. So there's some sites
online like trust Trusted house sitters dot com, mind my
House dot com, or home exchanges where you literally exchange
your home for a home and a place that you've
always wanted to visit, and that is home exchange dot Com.
I believe is that one number four collect points in
miles again because travel Reward credit cards can earn points
not only for flights but for accommodations. Here's an interesting one.
Number five volunteer. So there's certain programs if you do
volunteer for free travel. There's a lot of things that
will pop up. But there's programs like work away or
WWOOF which is Worldwide Organic Opportunity on farms. A lot
of these things will offer free accommodation in exchange for
a few hours of work each day. Who knows you
might meet a lot of friends have some fun interesting
Number six, stay at budget hotels. Budget hotels often offer
clean and affordable rooms at a lower price, So just
check that out. And I would suggest signing up for
their emails as well, because they'll offer sales when they
have extra rooms. Now Number seven again, check for last
minute deals. Apps like hotel Tonight offer last minute deals
on unsold hotel rooms, which can really make a big
difference in your budget. Number eight. If you like camping
and you enjoy the outdoors, that can be a very
affordable option. Many national parks or campgrounds offer low cost
sites for camping. And here's an interesting one I would
not have thought about, but number nine. Stay in maybe
university dorms sometimes during the summer. Many universities will rent
out their dorm rooms to travelers at reasonable rates. So
now let's talk food. Keeping food costs down, especially now
with all this horrible inflation, can really though, help you
stretch your budget even further. So here's a few more strategies.
Number one, stay in accommodations with kitchen access, So look
for hotels, hostels, vacation rentals, whatever you have that offer
kitchen facilities so that you can prepare your own meals,
often at a much cheaper cost than eating out. Shop
at local markets and local grocery stores instead of in
the tourist areas. It's a great way to make sure
your costs are down. This is good one. Pack snacks
and non perishable foods from home because you can bring
them with you instead of buying them while you're traveling,
or instead of buying them at tour spots. Again. Number four,
a lot of hotels offer free breakfasts. Take advantage of that,
because then at least you have one free meal. Not
date number five. Eat like a local. The locals will
have street foods and local eateries where they offer a
delicious meal for a fraction of the cost. Avoiding a
lot of those tourist traps. Here's number six. This is
a good one too. If you're really wanting to eat
something out and experience the local cuisine, maybe just eat
one meal a day out and then you're splurging on
that one meal and you can save and prepare the
rest yourself. Number seven, I've sort of alluded to this
in a lot of these is avoid the tourist traps.
Restaurants and heavy tourist areas really tend to be more expensive,
so maybe venture a little bit further out of the
tourist areas and you'll find reasonably priced options. Number eight.
Use apps and websites for deals. So apps like YELP,
trip Advisor, or local deal sites can really help you
find discounts and special offers. Who knows. Number nine, if
you're able to not all places you are, drink the
tap water. If your local water is safe to drink,
possibly opt for tap one instead of buying bottles or
expensive drinks. And the last one for today. Keeping your
activity costs down while traveling can help you really have
a lot of fun and great experiences without overspending. So
here's a few strategies for activities while you travel. Number one,
look for free activities. You'd be shocked at how much
is offered for free. Many destinations have parks, museums, cultural events.
Research those options before you travel to see what's in
that area you're going to. Number two. Use city passes.
So many cities offer passes that provide discounted or free
entry to multiple attractions. Number three, If you're organized enough,
which I struggle with, book in advance. Booking tours and
activities in advance can often get to a lower price
and help you avoid last minute price hikes. Number four
take advantages of any kind of discounts. There's a MACAA,
possibly student discounts, possibly senior discounts, group discounts. Check them
all out depending on who you're traveling with, and take
advantage of those discounts. Number five city walking tours. Many
cities offer free walking tours led by local guides, often
who are volunteering their time and they work on tips,
so pay what you can afford. Number six. Use local transportation,
so instead of using expensive taxis public transportation, there's many
times that you could rent a bike, or you can
use those scooters. They're so much fun, but they're in
an expensive way to explore an area. Number seven. Participate
in community events, so check your local event calendars because
there's often times many festivals, concerts, markets, events that are
inexpensive that are in the area that you can go to.
Number eight explore nature, hiking, swimming, Natural landmarks are often free,
are very inexpensive and a great way to experience the
local environment. Number nine again, travel off peak times because
when you're visiting them during off peak times, it's often
lower in prices and fewer crowds. And number ten use
apps and websites like groupon Viator or local deal sites
that can offer you discounts on activities and tours. So
the key insights here is that with careful planning, smart choices,
you really can enjoy traveling and experiencing the local cuisine
and the local events everywhere without overspending. It's all about
prioritizing what matters to you to make your retirement remarkable.
Want to splurge a few times, go ahead, if you
want to save and create your own meals at home,
that's awesome. Just balance it out with budget friendly times
and splurging times. So by finding that sweet spot between
say and splurging, you can create memorable experiences without too
much financial stress. So we've talked about travel, affordability and retirement.
Being strategic about your planning and expenses, from finding great
flights to choosing the right accommodations, eating out and events.
The world is waiting for you to exploit the explore it.
The world is your oysters. But also remember it's about
enjoying the journey as well, and not just the just destination.
So go make your retirement remarkable. So If you found
these tips helpful, please just make sure to check out
by other videos on retirement trips and strategies and share
your own budget travel experiences and tips so that we
can all benefit from them. Comments below, I'd love to
hear your stories and any tips you may have. Don't
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