Travel Plans/Advice for Accepted Students

[JPSmyth]

Hi guys, got inspired by @ChrisMack390 's post about plans prior to matriculating in a few months.

I am looking to travel before going to school. I quit my full time job and have a few thousand dollars saved up for travel.

I have never left the country before and I have been trying to google as much as possible about traveling either alone or with a friend.

I am looking for tips about cities to visit, any smart hacks to save money, your experiences traveling, etc.

Please let's make this an open discussion for not just myself but all members here that are looking to learn more about traveling prior to going to school.

Some ideas that I have, not looking to make it to all these places, these are just my interests as of now:
See Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Austria. See Prague. See England, Ireland, Scotland. See California (I'm from east coast). See Hawaii. See Oregon. See Canada.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

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[gizmoo]

You should check out Scott's Cheap Flights, it's a website that sends out emails about flight deals all over the place
It's kind of torture because I end up wanting to go to every single place they email out about haha

 

[TheRealJohnDorian]

I love traveling, and I'm all about traveling light and on the cheap.

Here are my favorite budget tips:
Statravel.com no, you don't need to be a student to get a "student" plane ticket. You also don't need the $25 "student card" they try to sell you to get the student rate. I have used that site at least a dozen times and there is no way once you get your ticket anyone can tell it is "for students"
Iceland air. If you are near an airport that Icelandair services, I highly recommend that airline. You can do a multi-day stopover in iceland for no additional charge if you choose.
https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ is basically my bible for finding cheap flights. You can't buy tickets from this site, but once you know the flight codes and the cheapest dates you can look it up.
Hotels.com get a free membership. For every 10 nights you book, you get one free. Also pretty good rates on budget hotels and hostels.
Rick Steves country guides: his stuff is extremely useful, though he only has guides for European countries. His books are very budget-minded and have great tips.
If you can do it, try to get a travel credit card with a cash rewards bonus and purchase your flights with that card. I saved $200 on my flight to England by opening a credit card, putting trip expenses on it, and then I closed it after it was paid off. Also a lot of travel credit cards have no foreign transaction fees, which I like so I can use a more secure form of payment for purchases overseas. I don't like carrying wads of cash with me when I travel...but some people exclusively use cash. Just depends on your preference.
On the topic of England - If you want to go to London, be prepared because it is expensive as f***. It is so worth it to visit though, and there is plenty to do without having to spend a lot of money. Get a visitor oyster card to save on Underground fares. If you want to go to Westminster abbey, go to a service which is free instead of paying $40 to tour it (unless you REALLY want to tour the inside as opposed to seeing it from the pews)
Bring your own snacks in your luggage - I typically find a hotel/hostel that serves breakfast. I'll eat a big breakfast and then have my pre-packed snacks during the day. Then I only buy one meal a day (dinner).

Fell free to PM me if you want additional info about places I've stayed and itineraries I've planned!

 

[HughBlackfyre]

I just signed up for the premium version of "Scott's Cheap Flights" yesterday and it really is a cool service. He searches google flights and other websites for mistakes and sales and sends out daily (or multiple times a day for people that pay) emails to the subscribers of the mailing list. It's legit as he doesn't actually get any money from booking (you make the reservations through google flights or the actual airlines). Haven't taken advantage of it yet, but there's definitely some awesome deals- Things like $400 round trip to Europe or $600 round trip to Australia.


EDIT:

You should check out Scott's Cheap Flights, it's a website that sends out emails about flight deals all over the place
It's kind of torture because I end up wanting to go to every single place they email out about haha

Oops didn't see this! Just so excited about maybe booking a trip myself. I agree on the torture, I was so close to pulling the trigger on an Australia trip.

 

[all things possible]

Skyscanner.com and Google flights. Went to Spain this winter break and spent $400 roundtrip (was able to visit Italy as well). Western Europe is quite expensive so mind your expenses if you choose to visit the UK (been here and it's the most expensive), Ireland, and Germany.

You could do South America (can recommend colomibia) as it's closer to here and had lower costs of living than in Europe. I can't comment on eastern europe, but I've heard Greece I very beautiful and inexpensive due to their economic crisis.

Stay away from resorts, tour companies, and 4 star hotels. This eats into your money.

Become familiar with airbnb, hostels, and if you're really brave -- couch surfing. Don't eat out at touristy restuarants and utilise the metro bus systems often.

 

[premed1234567891011]

Check out workaway.info! Free room and board in exchange for working in hostels, restaurants, farms, etc. Super cheap way to travel and get to know locals.

 

[ViolaHastings]

This is a great idea! I'm typically too cheap for guidebooks, so I'm always looking for new ideas/tips online.

Here's some of my tips for saving money:
-Another vote for signing up for Scott's Cheap Flights - the free version has been perfect for my needs. Tons of flights to Europe from tons of US cities, it's only a matter of time that you find the combination you're hoping for. Combine this with Google Flights to determine the cheapest days to travel and be flexible - flying into other, usually larger cities/airline hubs then traveling to your main destination may save you money.
-Round trip flights are typically cheaper than two one way flights, however if you are trying to see multiple cities/countries, look into multi-city flights. Ex: Fly into Amsterdam, leave from Rome, saving the costs that would've been necessary to complete the circle back to your original location may justify the higher multi-city flight cost.
-If traveling longer distances within your trip, consider night trains. Ex: Paris to Venice is a super common one, around $35, which saves you a full day of travel and hotel/hostel costs.
-Book trains from the official website for that country. Many US sites that book for you add tons of fees for doing so. There are often guides online for how to find where to book or to navigate the foreign websites.
-Before booking on any accommodation booking website, look for their referral programs. Ex: Airbnb offers $35 for your first booking IF you sign up with someone elses referral. This is lost if you make your account on your own. If traveling with others, you can sometimes all make accounts, refer each other, and save extra $$.
-If looking for a travel budget app - I like Trail Wallet. You have to pay for the full version, but it allows you to make separate trips, budgets for each trip/day of the trip, and input your costs. As you add your costs, you put them into categories such as transportation, accommodation, food, etc and the app will graph your spending so you can see where your funds are going, as well as showing you how much is left in your budget. Way easier than trying to track your funds with crumpled receipts or your notes app.