Backpacking

Many backpacking websites sort information by country and category to facilitate searching for budget accommodations, affordable restaurants, and tourist attractions (for the latter, emphasizing those that are free or that won’t take too large a chunk out of your wallet). There’s plenty of practical advice, too, from how to protect your health while traveling to locating your country’s embassy in the place you plan to visit. Some sites even provide links to tour groups that design trips especially geared towards budget travelers.

One of your best bets is to find a site that shows pictures alongside its descriptions of hostels, YMCAs, campgrounds, and other prime backpacker lodgings. While as a backpacker you want to possess an adventurous, open spirit, you don’t want to stay somewhere that’s dirty, uncomfortable, or potentially unsafe. If you have doubts about a place, contact other travelers through an online forum or chat room; they can usually be counted upon for brutal honesty. Most backpacker and hostel websites have online booking forms and contact information, too, allowing you to avoid pricey overseas phone rates.

Before boarding your plane (no doubt having secured the cheapest possible ticket thanks to tips from a backpacking website), take advantage of online lists of Internet cafés in your destination city. Some backpacker organizations, as well as the International Student Identity Card, set up free e-mail addresses for travelers, and many hostels now boast Internet access for a fee that’s commensurate with the cafés’. Then just remember to have fun and to expect surprises! Who knows, you may be able to turn your experiences into travel articles that help you save money for the next journey.