What does that mean? Obviously, if you have money, you don’t have to think about your travel budget much. There is not much limit to the price of your accommodation, meals or transportation. You can visit any tourist attractions that you would like to, try diving, hiking, rafting, expensive local restaurants and rent a fancy apartment equipped with everything you may need during your stay, without worrying about how much all these will cost.

Not everyone is lucky (or unlucky?) to travel the way a few of the population in this world can. Most of us usually carefully plan our trip in advance and try to get by with the limited amount of money we can spend.

But let me clear up any possible misunderstandings, Budget Travel is not the opposite of luxury travelling, either. It is not about who spends less, Budget Travel does not equal Cheap Travel, and with our limited budget, we have to be careful not to make the mistake of saving money on anything and everything while on a trip, because we may miss out the experience we decided to have that trip for, in the first place. Remember, it’s not a competition. It’s not like “the cheaper you go, the more authentic your travel experience is”.

The most important rule is to Budget Travel, is that it may fit your idea of travelling and has to be a true experience that leaves imprints in your mind and a good memory behind, be it a few-day-long trip or a long journey that lasts for months. As the above mention internet source states, “there is no prize for travelling the right way. Actually, there is no right way to travel”.[i]

Europe is expensive. The more you go towards the West, the more expensive it gets. But it doesn’t have to deter us from travelling in this continent, we only have to think a little beforehand. The means of transportation, accommodation, meals and most importantly we have to set a goal for our trip. Are we going to visit our family or to rest and admire the beautiful landscape? Are we planning to explore the big cities and try local specialities? Are we going to hike in the mountains or mingle with the locals and see how they live their every-day life? Anything is possible, we just have to choose wisely. “You just need to know your priorities, educate yourself, make some compromises, to adopt to the situation and – to travel.”[ii]

As far as accommodation is concerned, you can have some super cheap places to stay at. You can do camping, find a dorm room and share it with other people. You can cook for yourself to cut your budget, and you can avoid visiting tourist attractions or any tourist-centered area where prices are most likely in the sky. But is it really worth it? Will your trip be as memorable as you expected it to be? Well, everyone is different with different views on every aspects on travelling. Sometimes you give up convenient solutions to spend on something else instead, other times you would enjoy a little bit of comfort to make the most out of your time you have to relax.

In this series, we are going to discuss travelling in Europe or even within Hungary, focusing on either accommodation, transportation or cuisine, making suggestions to keep your pocket in place while earning a wonderful experience from your trip.

We believe that you don’t have to sleep under the sky at night to save money, we will introduce some fairly cheap solutions which will give you the most comfort and the greatest hospitality one can dream of for their European trip. We will share our experience with the local cuisine or the coolest places to visit in some of the countries. And without beating around the bush, we admit: we prefer travelling by car. Why? It has so many advantages I would better stop here or else my blog entry never ends. But we will get there, I promise.

Until next time, remember to travel with your eyes open and have fun on your trip!

More: Budget Blog