Who doesn’t love the thought of vacationing to a completely different country? The experiences gained are surely intensive, but traveling to the other side of the world can open your eyes up to different sensations, emotions and feelings that have never hit you before. Of course, there is always the question of money, and if you are practicing a frugal lifestyle you might be thinking a trip to another continent is well past any budget you could afford. Well, that doesn’t have to be true. For the frugal man (or lady), with a little planning and proper budgeting, you could be getting lost in a sea of people speaking a language you don’t understand.

Make it Near Impossible to Go Past that Budget

Budgeting is the name of the game when it comes to any “frugal’s life”. After purchasing your ticket (which should be disembarking a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, as they are the cheapest flight dates) you might be left with a set amount of cash for the rest of your travels. Knowing how much you have to spend each day is essential to you being able to come back home without that expression of shock after balancing your checkbook. Keep tabs on the money you have set aside for each day, and try not to go over budget by keeping the next day’s cash in a hard to reach location. For instance, I’ll keep my allotted budget of 100 dollars a day in my wallet, but my credit cards, checks and a little extra cash, just in case an emergency comes up, stay buried beneath everything in my backpack.

Alternative Accommodations can Save you Hundreds a Night!

There will probably be tens or hundreds of hotels for you to choose from when you get to your foreign destination. Most cater to foreigners, and hotel CEOs know foreigners carry lots of money on vacation. Not to fear, though. Guest Houses and hostels are there for any frugal spender. Being an avid international traveler myself (and a strict frugal), I’ve used hostels on many occasions. Many hostels offer rooms just as cozy as a 3-star hotel room, plus access to game rooms, a family-owned restaurant, or public kitchen, yet the price stays cheaper than 1-star locations. Just make sure you check reviews of the hostel and book ahead of time (HostelWorld.com is an excellent resource for this), because some places are even too cheap for this frugal guy.

Take a Bite Out of Culture

What are you doing at McDonalds in Japan? Get the hell outta’ there! You are on vacation in a completely new culture, and you should be exploring it. What are the benefits of this? Well, besides getting to know a lot more about the country you are in, local food is made for the locals. Generally, locals don’t carry hundreds of extras of dollars just to spend on their food supply. Local food is cheaper than the foreign establishments there. That 6 dollar combo meal could have bought 6 plates of delicious sushi, fried chicken, and spicy noodles instead.

Enjoy the Truer Side of the Country

This one can make or break your frugal budget. The sights and sounds of the big city might be what make music to your eyes and ears, but these big foreign cities are just waiting to take your money. Get away from the tall sky scrapers, stay away from crowded shopping malls, and dig into what makes the country you are staying in really beautiful. Some of the real people of that international country live where buildings aren’t more than a few floors tall, if even more than one. For frugality’s sake, take a bus or train instead of an airplane, and check out the smaller cities that make up that country’s real heritage.

Get Cozy with the Locals

Being bilingual makes you look smart. Really! You don’t need to be fully fluent in the local language to get around, but knowing a bit of the language before you touch down certainly helps out, especially if you are backpacking through smaller villages. If you are traveling to a country where you don’t look like a local, but can at least say “hello” and “how much?” in their language, you will make locals smile. Learning a language is rewarding as it can give you a boost in self confidence, as well as open doors to new opportunities in the country you are traveling to (ability to bargain at open markets, tell directions, open up to the local people, flirt with the cutie sitting across from you at the bar).

Frugal Travel for the Youngin’

For some of those high school students practicing frugality and wanting to get the chance to travel abroad, you are probably some of the luckiest amongst us. A surplus of options are open to high school students, especially those interested in high school study abroad programs. There are programs at every level and cost, from intensive language training, to simply being hosted and studying with the local people. Of the top two most recognized programs (and relatively inexpensive options), there is Rotary and AFS providing these high school exchange student programs opportunities.

As we all know you have to live frugal during your college years, the ability to travel abroad might not seem as plausible. Not the case, at all. In fact, most major colleges and universities sponsor student exchanges to partnering foreign establishments. For those able to build up excellent grades, you can receive special tuition breaks, grants, and loans that allow you to study abroad for next to nothing. In fact, most colleges push the fact that studying at least one year abroad can be very beneficial in helping you obtain a job after graduation. Some colleges even make study abroad near mandatory for students to graduate.

Help Out the Uber Frugal or Teach it!

For those past their education years, there are a couple options that could save you thousands, and even make you money while traveling over ocean seas. Volunteering is an excellent way to get you abroad, and while it isn’t always free (you generally have to pay for your own airfare and some other fees), it’s an excellent way to get to somewhere you’ve never been, receive interaction with the local people, as well as benefiting from the sense of pride you will get for helping out those not quite as fortunate as you.

If you don’t mind spending several months to a year in a whole new world and you’ve obtained at least a bachelor’s degree, most countries are always open for allowing you to teach English (assuming that’s your natural language). You get to live, travel, interact with locals, and make money while you are at it. If you are confident that you can last and handle the pressures of living somewhere you might not have ever visited, do some Google research on teaching abroad programs. Several are there to help, waiting to send out new “teachers” on a semester basis. Maybe you could teach the local people a little about frugality while you are at it.

There are a plethora of things you can do to stay frugal while abroad. Make sure you do plenty of research before hand, and plan your travels and destination visits according to what your budget can afford.  The world has a wondrous amount of options for you to seek travel, whether or not it needs to be a frugal vacation or not, and it is waiting for you to explore what it has in store for you.

Finally, you can save even more if you use a discount voucher, which are often issued by holiday companies. For example we currently have codes for low cost flights, Emirates Promotional Codes, cheap hotel rooms, Travelodge Promo Codes, reduced cost coach travel, National Express Promotional Code, and cheap airport carparking, Purple Parking, have fun!