Life is more meaningful
if we have a dream to be achieved before we die. Some people have made it and
others probably still fight for it. I wrote my bucket list two years ago after my
mom passed away. Traveling to beautiful places is at the top of my list because
I believe that there are only two types of persons in this world: those who
like to travel and those who will die in boring. There is nothing more
fascinating to me than waking up in the morning, putting on the shoes, carrying
my backpack and getting ready for my next journey. Go wherever I want. I remember
one of my trip to Mumbai, India several years ago. I went there as a backpacker
for ten days and I don’t have to steal money from a bank or to born as the
daughter of Raam Punjabi to make an amazing Mumbai journey. It’s easier and cheaper than you think. Based
on my experiences, there are three steps that must be done in order to travel
with limited budget, which include the pre-departure preparation, the journey
itself and the going back process.
The first thing to do
is preparing the journey carefully. Goggle on the internet ‘the must-see places’
that you are dying to visit, choose one destination and browse for information about it. Then, decide when you will visit
it. Do not go there during the long weekend and peak season, otherwise you will
end up among crowded of tourists and go bankrupt. For example, if you want to
visit Thailand, you must look for details about the cultural ceremonies, accommodation
availability, the map, places that you are interested in, and so on. Usually,
the prices are cheaper if you are traveling on working days. Submit your
absence proposal to your boss a few months before so that you can arrange your
schedule and have enough time to collect money. If you travel by plane, book
your airplane ticket a few months in advance in order to get the special promo.
In order to save money on your expenses on food and accommodation, you may join
many social networks such as Facebook, Friendster, My Space, Hi5, and Orkut.
Make friends with people that come from the places you want to visit. Tell them
that you want to see their hometown someday. If they are offering you their
house to stay or want to escort you once you are there, say yes immediately and
make them promise so that you don’t have to spend your money for lodging, local
transportation, and meals.
Besides that, you
should also join travelers’ networks such as WAYN (Where Are You Now),
Passportstamp, TravBuddy and Travellerspoint to connect you with all travelers
around the world so that you know who has the same schedule as yours while
traveling to your destination. Maybe you can share transportation costs or
share accommodation with them. Furthermore, never forget to prepare your
documents such as ID card, passport, etc, make copies for all and put them in
different pocket. If you lose your document, you have to make report to the
nearest embassy of your citizenship and it probably cost you much money. Write
down important numbers on your notebook, just in case you are in emergency
situation and need to contact someone. Don’t bring many things in your
backpack. In fact, for two week journey, you only need to carry about four t-shirts,
two pants, two packs of disposal underwear, one pair of sneaker, one pair of
sandal, one jacket, two socks, and a hat. Buy a t-shirt with a slogan on it,
“same shirt but different days” to make people understand why you wear same
clothing every day. You can wash your clothes later or re-wear them.
After checking your
travel list above, you are ready for the journey. Make sure that you already
contacting your friends for places to stay. Don’t spend too long in one house
because you will burden your host, that’s why you need to be a member of
several social networks. Invite some travelers who have the same schedule as
yours to that place to go together in a group. At lunch time, you and other
travelers in group may order the menu but not too much and share the food and
price together. It is cheaper and still make you full. Unless you are an
insensitive person and don’t care what people may say about you, wait until
they all already order their food and ask them whether you can taste their
food. Do that to all of them until you full. Join different group at different
places and do the same thing. Furthermore, you must also remember to come back
exactly in dinner time and give compliment for the food so that the host family
feels happy to welcome you as a guest. Moreover, if you want to visit areas which
are quite far from your host family’s house, you may try hitchhiking. It is
free but a little bit dangerous for female travelers. If you don’t like that
idea, probably you can rent a motorcycle, which is cheaper and more efficient. You
may also try local transportation to experience native life. Nevertheless, if
you get used to jogging and walking, maybe you can go there by hiking and
trekking. You can enjoy the view and save your transportation cost, not to
mention you will be more healthy. Also, a mp3 player and a digital camera are a
must for you so that you won’t be feel boring. Bring extra full-rechargeable-batteries
just in case there is no electricity. Explore the beauty of places that you
visit by taking as many pictures as you can. One thing that you must always put
in your mind is the traveler’s motto that says “take nothing but pictures,
leave nothing but your footprints.” You may send your pictures later to travel
agencies after you go back home, maybe they will buy some for their promotion.
Write down every day on your journal about your trip and expand it to a
short-story, a novel, an article, or even a poem. Post them on your blog or
send them to local newspapers. You will get famous and people will invite you
to come to their hometown for free and then suddenly your agenda will be filled
with traveling schedules.
The last thing to do is
the going-back process. Before you start your trip, remind your family and
friends that you are going as a backpacker, which means you cannot carry many
things with you. They won’t ask you for souvenirs or request you to bring or
buy something. If they still insist that you bring them souvenirs, you may buy
something but only postcards or key-chains or anything under one dollar and
give them just to people who help you most. For those who have no contribution
to you, tell them that you don’t have space in your backpack anymore for
additional goods. Say it nicely because you never know that someday you
probably will need their help. Then, call your family or friend to pick you up
at the airport or bus/train station a day before your departure. Likewise, ask your
host family politely to take you to the nearest spot from the airport or
bus/train station. Later on, you can continue by doing hitchhiking again to get
there. Be a good guest by taking pictures with your host family and thank them
for the accommodation and help. On your way back home, be friendly with your
seat-mates and look for another opportunity for your next traveling
destination. When you are using the toilet, take a bottle/bar of soap that is usually
provided on the airplane because you can use it later. After you arrive, show
your happy expression when you are seeing your relative or friend who has came
to pick you. Share your stories and thank him/her indeed when you are already
at home. Furthermore, send email to those who have helped you during your trip
or post a gratitude message on their social networks’ walls, or if you know
their addresses don’t forget to send a thank-you letter to them.
Henceforth, do not wait
until you have much money to do your traveling. You don’t want to spend the
rest of your life in just one place, right? You must want to see other places,
see in person what people say as the most beautiful places, and have your own
experience there. You can still have a memorable journey with limited budget only
by following my steps which consist of the early preparation, on the-trip-skills
and the going-back approach. When you succeed with one journey, I bet you want to do more. Just do whatever
you want to do and go wherever you want to go. All you need to do is take a
single step to start your adventures. So, why don’t you begin it now?
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