Top 5 Travel Myths About Budget Travel

Free breakfast restaurant at our cheap hotel on an island in Thailand!!

Walking up to our cheap hotel in Bangkok may have seemed unsafe to some, but really was a wonderful little spot with friendly locals around!

There are multiple myths out there regarding cheap travels. I've heard so many of them. "I'm not rich like you." "You must have a trust fund." "I wouldn't be able to travel like you as I'm..." (fill in the blank with whichever word, such as: single, a parent, not adventurous.) But for 99% of the people telling me this, the only thing they really have in common is their inaccurate belief that travel must be expensive in order for it to be safe and comfortable.   

See, there's significant income to be made by convincing people that they must spend a lot of money to travel safely. For individuals who have the means to do so, it's not problematic! However, the rest of us must either accept that we won't get to travel much, or leave the beaten path and get creative to make it happen.    

Additionally, Hollywood has done a great job of portraying cheap hotels as shady unkept  rooms with someone waiting to steal all your belongings. It's no surprise that many individuals are hesitant to enroll on an adventure while trying to do so cheaply. So have a read of these common regarding cheap travels, and let us know in the comments if you would like to include any other travel myths that you’ve encountered!  

1. It's not safe: It's important to use 'common sense' (such as perhaps not walking around at 4am intoxicated screaming offensive statements, as I've seen tourists do in many locations), access reviews and talk with other travelers at your location. However, generally speaking cheap travels are very safe! This is of course assuming that you do your research, use common sense and read enough reviews to ensure that you don't have any negative surprises once arrived (such as the hotel being located next to the red light district where situations can be very aggressive nightly if you leave the hotel grounds!). Always pay attention to the location of the hotel (safe neighborhood), and that there are no issues with people's belongings being stolen. 

2. It lacks comfort and quality: The same applies to this as for safety. The importance here is to read descriptions and reviews well. I have stayed in expensive hotels, including a room for which I paid a couple hundred dollars for the night to find myself with a broken bed, a window that wouldn't close and no working air conditioning. Evidently, it was in an expensive city, but I also had not done proper research so did not expect to encounter these difficulties. Budget travel can be comfortable, regardless if it's traveling in 2nd class instead of 1st on an overnight train or traveling by city bus instead of tourist bus! Also, cheaper doesn't automatically mean no quality. I've traveled to various resorts and ate many street food that proved that this is not the case. It's simply important to have realistic expectations, properly research and ensure to make sure your basic necessities will still be available, otherwise it won't be worth it!  

3 .  It's dirty: Some might expect cheap hotel rooms to be filled with insects, a few mice and not be well cleaned. Or for the food from a cheap restaurant to be served on dirty dishes with 'clean' glasses showing the lipstick stains from the previous guest. However, this is once again inaccurate as many cheap travel opportunities are as clean as other more expensive ones! As mentioned earlier, this is also something that can be avoided by doing proper research and using common sense.  

4. It's for young people: Many people grow up thinking that cheap travel is meant for those people in their late teens or early twenties, who are backpacking with no money, scrapping by daily trying to spend as little money as possible while "roughing it" in situations that would keep their parents up at night with worry. However, the truth is that I've encountered budget travelers of all ages through my travels! Because, as discussed in the other points, cheap travel can be very safe and comfortable, so once you discover how you can travel on so little money, it becomes difficult to stay away from cheap travel for future vacations!  

5. It's impossible: A lot of people believe that it's impossible to travel cheaply. However it's a matter of knowing how to purchase flights, hotels and activities for extremely low costs. There are many tips that can help (see our other blogs on this site for many great tips and tricks along with step by step of cheap travel). Of course costs will vary depending on which country, and which part of the country, you are visiting. However there are always creative ways to change even expensive destinations into budget friendly adventures for of fun and excitement.  
  
Bottom Line: There are various travel myths out there regarding cheap travels, however most are easily avoidable by being well prepared and by demonstrating realistic expectations (if you're paying 2$/night for a guesthouse room, you probably won't have someone serving you free drinks at the guesthouse's pool!) Also, keep in mind that the essential pointers provided in this article are not exclusive to cheap travels, but are in fact applicable to all types of travels!  

​J&C

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Found a great travel deal on a resort in Dominican Republic!