Budget Travel + Smart Indulgences: Where to Spend, Where to Save
Travel doesn’t have to cost a fortune. When you know where to splurge and where to hold back, you can enjoy incredible experiences while staying on budget.
Traveling often doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank. After years of navigating hotels and resorts, hostels, guesthouses, and everything in between, I’ve learned a thing or two about making travel affordable while still sneaking a little luxury in.
It’s all about finding that sweet spot where comfort, safety, and adventure meet affordability. When you learn how to balance indulgence and practicality—knowing when to splurge and where to save—you can enjoy incredible experiences without draining your wallet.
In this post, we’re talking smart savings and treating yourself in ways that count, from where to stay to how you get there, and everything in between: insurance, meals, activities, air travel and transportation, and more.
Let’s start with accommodations.
I’m all for saving money, but I draw the line at shared dorms. The last time we put ourselves through that was in Iceland, where private hotel rooms were going for $600 a night at the time. It was a young hostel, too; I’ve stayed in some great hostels that trended toward all ages, but this was not that. The washrooms were horrific. I felt absolutely ancient in a sea of backpack-toting 20-somethings debating the best bars to hit up night after night.
Don’t get me wrong, I love meeting other travelers. But there’s a difference between bonding over shared travel tips and trying to sleep while a makeshift guitar concert is happening two bunks over. After that, I made a pact with myself: no more dorms.
Hostels with private rooms and en suite baths? Now we’re talking. It’s the perfect middle ground: affordable, comfortable, and still offering the chance to meet other travelers and jump in on group activities without sacrificing my sanity (or sleep).
Want to know about hidden gems or off-the-beaten-path experiences? Chatting with other travelers in the kitchen is often more reliable than Google.
Guesthouses are another favourite. There’s something wonderfully personal about staying in a place where someone has poured their heart into making it special. They’re cozy, often more authentic, and give you a real glimpse into how locals live. In some, you get a chance to know the owner, and they always have great tips for showing off their community.
I stayed with a lovely woman in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos, who had a granny flat off the back of her place. She had her husband pick me up at the airport, and once I got settled at the house, handed me a second set of keys. What’s this for? I asked.
This woman kept a WHOLE EXTRA CAR for guests! She just doesn’t advertise it and likes to check people out in person first 🤣 I mean, can ya blame her? But it’s notoriously difficult and expensive to get around TC, so she let guests use her old beater of a car to get to beaches and the shops. You don’t get experiences like that at major hotels.
Guesthouses often come with another delightful perk: breakfast. There’s nothing quite like starting your day with a spread of homemade treats like fresh bread, local jams, maybe a bowl of tropical fruit you’ve never even seen before. In one guesthouse in Ginetes, on São Miguel Island in the Azores, I woke up to this, delivered to my bedroom door:
Having breakfast included is not just a treat for your taste buds, it’s a budget saver, too. With one meal already sorted, you can focus your food budget on local lunches and dinners… or skip lunch entirely, when you get a breakfast like this.
Speaking of meals, eating out daily is a great way to blow through your budget.