Holiday on a Budget

So, you want to go on a holiday but you think you haven't saved enough? Here're some tips to help you have that trip at a low cost:

1. Plan out a realistic budget.
Perhaps you've saved some money just for a holiday or if you're getting it from a bonus, identify how much it is. Whatever amount you can spare or can afford to use for your trip is your budget.

2. Identify the place you would like to visit and how long you'd like to stay there. This should be done way ahead of time.

3. Depending on the place you would like to visit, make the details of your budget. Your major costs are transportation, hotel/lodging, food. Will you have to ride the plane, boat or bus? If you're taking your own vehicle,find out how far the place is from where you are and make an estimate of your gasoline expense based on how many kilometers (or miles) per liter your car is able to run. Your formula should be km/liter / distance in kilometers x price per liter.

set a budget for lodging. A hostel or budget hotel would be your best bet. Or, you might know someone who you can stay with. Just be sure to contribute to the expenses in the home where you are staying. That way your hosts will not be burdened by your presence.

Make a budget for food. Count in all meals including snacks that you need to take.

4. Visit forums such as virtualtourist.com or travelblog.org and ask questions about the place you want to go to. I have been a member of virtualtourist for more than 2 years now and I must say that it has been very useful in planning for our vacations. Use the power of the internet and you'll find that you can actually get useful tips from bloggers and members of organizations such as those I have mentioned earlier.

5. Check out vacation packages, fares, hotels, and other things from websits such as expedia.com, hotels.com asiarooms.com or asiatravel.com. These so far are the best places to get more information on expenses you might incur for the trip. Hostels are the best places for budget travellers. I've tried Hostelworld.com and they've done a wonderful job in recommending hostels.

6. Walk your way around. Try walking instead of using a cab. Get hold of a map to identify and cluster the places that interest you. When you do need to ride, try the train or bus.

7. Get into culture. This could be the cheapest way to learn about a place and not spend so much. Experiment on local things such as restaurants that serve local cuisine or visit villages, etc.

8. Stick to your budget. The most common pitfall of a budget traveller is being an impulsive buyer. Set aside money for all costs and try to work around that budget.

9. Go with a group. When you are with other people, you are able to split the bill with them. Some people on virtualtourist get other people to join them in their trips.

Well, this is it for now. I'll edit this page as soon as I can. Goodnight all!

Hong Kong on a Budget

Everyone who visits a new place and does not take a package tour will be jittery and a bit scared of getting lost and feeling really helpless. What more when going to a place where noone speaks english or your native tongue? I feel that way everytime we go on a trip abroad. I mean, I don't know the place nor does my husband. The worst part is that everyone in our party counts on me to know what to do and where to go, as if I was the tour guide and that adds to the jitters. But each time we come home from a trip, the feeling of being able to accomplish something for yourself and for your family is there, and it feels good.

Well, I always start with research,then book, then research, buy a map, then research, and more research. So yes, you got it right, the secret is to research. Start off with viewing websites such as virtuatourist and lonely planet. These two offer tips for going about your destination and you can book online with them. But I don't book with either one. With VT, I am able to save my travel guides to a certain folder which is exclusive for a particular destination. You'll have to be a member to do that. Anyway, membership is free. I read travel guides and ask questions in the forum. The guys at vt (I'm a member too you know) are really accommodating and will try to help in anyway they can.

After I have made my temporary IT, I try to check out the prices. I won't expound on this as I have written a blog about it so do read the other posts. the resources I have for booking flights include Trip Advisor, Booking.com, cheaperthanhotels.com, Expedia.com, Asiatravel, ctrip.com, and Hostelworld.com. Hostelworld and booking.com have hostels listed for the budget conscious travellers which we are.

Next, I read more on the places of interest. For Hong Kong, I found THKA and the Hong Kong tourism Board to be of so much use. THKA offers a local's way to go around hong kong, saving the traveller money from taking cabs and suggests walks that can be done by themselves. The Hong Kong Tourism Board gives you more options to include in your IT attractions that you can visit for free such as the museums that are free on wednesdays and tuesdays, heritage walks, free chinese junk ride, free visit to a theater, and the MTR-Ocean park package (which gives you a free ride).

I don't find Hong Kong cheap at all. So, because we have 8 days and 7 nights to spend for our holiday, I've decided to include both Macau and Zhuhai in our IT too. These two places are also interesting because they give another perspective of the modern China - Macau for the Portuguese-cantonese culture and Zhuhai for the beach, the chinese palace and shopping! Well, Shopping mainly because according to my sources, Zhuhai is the place where you can get cheap goods (mostly unbranded and imitations though). Cheaper than Shenzhen and way way lower than Hong Kong.

We need a visa to go to zhuhai. So, instead of getting a chinese visa from here which will cost us 1,500 php each, I've discovered that we can actually get them at either Macau or Hong Kong. It only takes a few hours to secure the visa and is good for single entry and exit at zhuhai only. This costs about 750 php which will save us 50%. Also, Zhuhai hotels cost only about 30 to 50% of the hotel prices in HK and Macau for the same hotel star rating. Jumbo Hotel costs only 30 USD per night and it's even a 4 star hotel (5 star even according to some).

If you've been following my blog you'd know that I gave myself a 25k challenge for the whole Macau, HK and Zhuhai trip. So far so good. I've still managed to keep the costs to 21k including the ferry trip which costs around 4,500 php for all 3 of us, and the chinese visa. It is a good thing that the main purpose of the trip is to orient my daughter with chinese history and culture so we can actually stay out of Disneyland. Well, quite frankly, she's not so interested in going because she says it's too small when compared to the disneyland parks she's been to. That saves me at least 180 USD. plus, the places she wants to see are either free or cheap with the exception of the Ocean park which is not that expensive either.

I guess that's that for now. I'll let you know my final IT before I leave. Check back in when you can.



Jane


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Travel Hong Kong Attractions
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