Exotic Vacations on Very Low Budgets

Ok, so sure the title says exotic vacations on a dime, so I'm thinking Paris or New Delhi or Shanghai, but what I'm about to list could just as well work for New York vacations or a trip out Midwest to Chicago. Same strategy.

All you need to do is a little research on your destination of choice, and then connect with some like-minded people - both in your hometown and at yoru destination. Detailed explanations below the fold.

First thing you do is buy this book - The Home Exchange Guide: How to Find Your Free Home Away from Home by M. T. Simon & T. T. Baker.

We are now in an age where kids have never known what it was like before Google, so I wouldn't normally suggest to anyone to buy a book, but the circumstances here merit such an 'extreme' step. Home Exchange is basically where two people (or families) exchange homes and take vacations in each others' hometowns. Simple concept, and we live in a networked global community, so its pretty easy to find someone at your destination of choice who wants to spend some time in yoru hometown.

The problem is a question of trust. Are you willing to hand over the keys of your most valuable possesion to a complete stranger? Not likely. Which is why you need to read the book. There are ways to do a home exchange which doesn't involve just blind faith. There are trusted third parties who act as intermediaries. There are other ways you can 'verify' the trustworthiness of your home exchange partner.

Check out Only in America and the International Home Exchange Network to learn more. Now this isn't a post solely about home exchanges, so I'll leave it at that. Buy the friggin book, look up the concept on the internet, and use your common sense. Net summary of it is that if you are successful in this endeavour, you will have managed to slash to $0 one of the main expenses of your vacation - Hotel charges.

Right. So now let's move to airfare, which is the 2nd major expense on most all vacations. I'm sure you're all plenty familiar with the concept of racking up frequent flier miles, which, simply put, is the best way to get hold of a free flight.

Another way to reduce your airticket costs is to use a travel or fare search engine like Kayak and Yahoo's FareChase. Note that I stress on the 'and'. That's because you need to search through all of them, and find that one flight to your destination which is way cheaper than the rest. And prices vary based on how early or how late you're booking, so you need to start planning way before you actually plan to go on vacation.

Now all of this is mostly routine, and most everyone does this anyway (not the home exchange, but the airfare thing). So another way to really slash the costs is by using travel deal providers like Priceline and Hotwire. Way it works is, you supply your destination, your max budget and your credit card info, and if there's a match, you'll be automatically booked in for it.

Its a bit of a gamble (for instance, you might end up in a hotel which doesn't have all the things you need), but from a budget point of view, it works spectacularly. I've been able to book in at 4-star luxury Miami hotels with oceanfront rooms for around $75 per night using Priceline - Several times. Tthat's about 1/4th the standard and average rates which these hotels charge if you book directly.

The last question is how much you spend at the destination. Obviously, visiting the local attractions is what is most important, so here's where you need to do some research. Most every major tourist destination, exotic or not, has free attractions. For example, here's a list of free things to do in New York. You can find lists like these for your destination. Can't help you much unless I know your destination, but I'm sure you know how to use Google, so...

For attractions which need tickets, like theme parks or Museums, its usually better to buy a City pass card which gives you access to most all paid admission attractions in the city. Or book into a guided tour which includes admissions to the attractions.

That leaves the question of local transport. Again, this varies largely from city to city. But one common theme is that tourists prefer to take cabs instead of public transport. This is mostly because you are scared of getting lost or getting on the wrong bus or train. Again, do some research, and familiarize yourself with the local public transport, which usually costs peanuts compared to taxis. And this savings begins right at the airport when you land.