Traveling expenses can get out of hand quickly, and once is enough when it comes to being broke. When you have close to nothing, and you spend what you have, you end up broke. There is something redeeming, however, about starting with a clean slate. It’s just easier to do so with money.
Travel agencies and travel destinations want you to spend money. For example, planning a trip may at first seem cheap. Alaska Airlines offers very reasonable roundtrip airfare from most locations along the west coast to and from Anchorage. The real trick comes once you get there. Depending on the location, rental cars can cost as much as $80 per day or as little as $40 per day, and excursions are in the hundreds.
The point here, however, is not the money, it’s budget traveling. Traveling liberates. It is like a good song with ups and downs, and the best travel spots are the ones off the beaten path. Getting lost and finding a shack in the woods to sleep is more precious than spending two hundred dollars per night at a resort. The faces, people, landscapes, awkward silences, and nights around bonfires with complete strangers add more to the experience than tram rides and hot tubs. Sleeping out of the back of a Chevy Equinox in the middle of the forest will make you appreciate a warm bed and a buffet breakfast.
I strongly suggest to all those who travel to take the time to do the research to find the true spots of beauty, because there aren’t that many, and they are not necessarily tied to the big names. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and there are many traps including fake promises and jacked up prices. Paying to pan for gold flakes in the famous “Crow Creek River” is not all it’s “panned” out to be.
Being aware is half the battle. The other half is research.
*original post on LinkedIn URL
The Bird's Song 