Cheap travel advice

Whether you took an economics class or not in school, you probably understand the basic concepts of arbitrage and the relationship of supply and demand. Few industries are as sensitive to the latter as travel and the most savvy travelers use the former to their advantage regularly. By being flexible enough to pounce on unusual …

[This post on the cheapest places to travel for Americans was updated in July 2022.] In a normal year when I’m giving advice on the cheapest places to travel to, I’m looking at prices, exchange rates, and special situations that are leading to temporary deals for travelers. In 2021 it was a crapshoot. Many countries …

Many times I post pictures of a budget hotel deal I found internationally in my travels, usually somewhere between $10 and $50 per night. A few people inevitably comment, “What?! How did you find a deal like that?” The truth is, I find deals like that more often than not. To many infrequent travelers, it’s …

When I was a young budget traveler backpacking around the world, I spent a lot of time sleeping on night trains and overnight buses. The rail sleepers were often a real pleasure, the night buses not so much, but in both cases they combined lodging and transportation in one, which saved a fair bit of …

As I write this, every conversation among friends in the USA seems to touch on spiking housing prices, higher food prices, inflation, and supply chain problems. Some travelers who are back out on the road again aren’t talking about any of this though. They’re staying in budget hotel destinations and getting a room for two …