If you've followed my first six tips for solo budget travel, you can probably guess that I am addicted to creative adventure. For those of you thinking about or planning one of your own, here are the next three tips out of my top 13.
To access my entire photo-filled tip list, I invite you to visit my website at http://wordgeisha.com/WGblog2008.html. And now, tips #7-9:
7. Make the most of your budget. You can visit most major European cities for under $100/day per person. In many ways, the less you spend, the closer you get to the local culture and the farther you escape from your own. By living as locals do, you’ll have more opportunities to see authentic cultural differences and gain perspective about the ways things are done in a foreign place than you would on a big, organized tour. Rather than viewing a limited budget as a restriction, see it as an enticement into local markets, bistros, dive bars and front seats at street shows in world-class cities.
8. Relish the joys of solo travel. Independent travel allows you to custom-tailor your trip to your pace and interests. You can go where you want when you want. To maximize those freedoms, do your research and be creative with your itinerary. Put yourself in places where you can meet and communicate with locals rather than relying on service rendered with purchased smiles. If you allow yourself to be herded around like a school child to establishments offering plain-vanilla experiences to travelers and financial kickbacks to tour companies, you’ll diminish your chance to absorb cultural differences—presumably an important reason you’re traveling in the first place. By investing yourself fully, meeting people along the way, you’ll have a chance to see how other people live, think and look at the world.
9. Be a cultural chameleon. Forget McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks! Leave Holiday Inn and Ramada at home! Travel is a cultural Pandora’s box rife with new culinary and recreational experiences; to fully appreciate these, eschew American-style hotels and restaurants and patronize establishments that reflect the culture you’re visiting. Drink Guinness in Ireland, red wine in France, raki in Turkey and ouzo in Greece. Eat crêpes in Paris, gelato in Florence, herring in Amsterdam, octopus in Rhodes and tapas in Madrid. Wherever you go, look for places that cater to locals rather than corporate institutions. By sleeping, eating and playing like a temporary resident rather than a tourist, you’ll maximize your travel experiences.
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Top Tips for Adventure/Budget Travel, #4-6
With my next three tips for independent adventure/budget travel, I hope to inspire singles and couples to venture out on their own to exotic ports, without the safety and structure of an organized tour.
While this type of travel is a little more work, considering all the internet research and booking it involves, its rewards include a more intimate glimpse into a foreign culture than those giant floating cities offer. Travel through a foreign country on a cruise or American-style tour and the most up-close-and-personal view of a culture you're likely to get is via a random interaction with a clerk or waiter. Go it on your own and you'll be interacting with foreigners in a much more consistent and intimate way.
After you've tried it, my guess is that you'll agree with me: there's no better way to discover a foreign destination at your own pace, according to your own interests, than through independent travel. And with that I give you tips #4-6 of my top 13.
4. Spend your time where your dollar goes farthest. For the nightly cost of a standard room in London, you may be able to stay in a Turkish palace for a week. In Maramis, a nice room with wireless internet access and a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean cost me just 25 Turkish lira (about $17, including breakfast)—less than a third of what I paid for similar digs in Barcelona, London, Madrid and Paris.
There’s a side benefit to visiting places where your dollar stretches farthest: in cheaper countries where culture shock is greatest, e.g. Turkey, you can often find the most interesting gifts and memorabilia. If you have ample time, you can also save money by staying slightly outside of city centers. This makes especially good sense in places like Paris and London, where public transportation is so good, it's easy to get wherever you're going as long as you're near a Metro or Tube stop
5. Scope out FREE stuff. Take advantage of programs and volunteer opportunities that offer affordable and even free vacations, e.g. VaughanTown in Spain (www.vaughantown.com), through which any marginally gregarious and culturally inquisitive native English speaker can enjoy a FREE week-long vacation in four-star accommodations, all meals and wine included, just for gabbing with Spaniards (you pop for airfare). If you have skills to trade, try negotiating a deal with establishments in places you want to visit.
For fun, check out such free activities as the three-hour walking excursions offered by Sandeman’s newEurope in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Paris, Madrid and Jerusalem. In such cities as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, some of the world’s best talent performs on streets and in public transport stations. Enjoy the free shows and don’t forget to leave a generous tip if the performers are good; they make an honest living this way!
6. Be creative with accommodations. In many foreign places, there are many alternatives to big, expensive American-style hotels. These include small pensions where you’re likely to get a good dose of local culture for a price well below what you’d pay at a Hilton. Universities, nunneries and hostels like the ones I stayed at in Dublin and Chicago provide other good accommodation alternatives; most are open to people of all ages at prices that are a fraction of any hotel room rate. Staying at these places puts a kitchen at your disposal, as well as the opportunity to meet travelers from around the world. There’s also www.couchsurfing.com through which you can connect with hosts offering FREE accommodations and priceless cultural insight.
If you can't wait for future posts, you can access my baker's dozen of tips through a link at http://wordgeisha.com/WGblog2008.html. If you have some of your own, please share so we can establish a dialogue about adventure/budget travel. Stay tuned for more and please add your own tips with a comment!
While this type of travel is a little more work, considering all the internet research and booking it involves, its rewards include a more intimate glimpse into a foreign culture than those giant floating cities offer. Travel through a foreign country on a cruise or American-style tour and the most up-close-and-personal view of a culture you're likely to get is via a random interaction with a clerk or waiter. Go it on your own and you'll be interacting with foreigners in a much more consistent and intimate way.
After you've tried it, my guess is that you'll agree with me: there's no better way to discover a foreign destination at your own pace, according to your own interests, than through independent travel. And with that I give you tips #4-6 of my top 13.
4. Spend your time where your dollar goes farthest. For the nightly cost of a standard room in London, you may be able to stay in a Turkish palace for a week. In Maramis, a nice room with wireless internet access and a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean cost me just 25 Turkish lira (about $17, including breakfast)—less than a third of what I paid for similar digs in Barcelona, London, Madrid and Paris.
There’s a side benefit to visiting places where your dollar stretches farthest: in cheaper countries where culture shock is greatest, e.g. Turkey, you can often find the most interesting gifts and memorabilia. If you have ample time, you can also save money by staying slightly outside of city centers. This makes especially good sense in places like Paris and London, where public transportation is so good, it's easy to get wherever you're going as long as you're near a Metro or Tube stop
5. Scope out FREE stuff. Take advantage of programs and volunteer opportunities that offer affordable and even free vacations, e.g. VaughanTown in Spain (www.vaughantown.com), through which any marginally gregarious and culturally inquisitive native English speaker can enjoy a FREE week-long vacation in four-star accommodations, all meals and wine included, just for gabbing with Spaniards (you pop for airfare). If you have skills to trade, try negotiating a deal with establishments in places you want to visit.
For fun, check out such free activities as the three-hour walking excursions offered by Sandeman’s newEurope in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Paris, Madrid and Jerusalem. In such cities as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, some of the world’s best talent performs on streets and in public transport stations. Enjoy the free shows and don’t forget to leave a generous tip if the performers are good; they make an honest living this way!
6. Be creative with accommodations. In many foreign places, there are many alternatives to big, expensive American-style hotels. These include small pensions where you’re likely to get a good dose of local culture for a price well below what you’d pay at a Hilton. Universities, nunneries and hostels like the ones I stayed at in Dublin and Chicago provide other good accommodation alternatives; most are open to people of all ages at prices that are a fraction of any hotel room rate. Staying at these places puts a kitchen at your disposal, as well as the opportunity to meet travelers from around the world. There’s also www.couchsurfing.com through which you can connect with hosts offering FREE accommodations and priceless cultural insight.
If you can't wait for future posts, you can access my baker's dozen of tips through a link at http://wordgeisha.com/WGblog2008.html. If you have some of your own, please share so we can establish a dialogue about adventure/budget travel. Stay tuned for more and please add your own tips with a comment!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
