Real Vacations for Green Budget Travelers

For some, when they hear the words budget travel they wrinkle their nose thinking they have limited options and that there’s no way they are going to sleep on some stranger’s couch with their spouse and kids or stay in a hostel. Throw into the mix the words “green travel” and they immediately picture pitching a tent in the woods and eating granola and living without a shower for a week. While a lot of budget travelers like to backpack and couchsurf, there are other ways of doing it that can fit everyone’s taste and are also convenient for families, as well as those who like a little more comfort. You don’t have to give up everything to be an eco-friendly budget traveler. In fact, by just changing a few things you do, you can save a buck and help Mother Earth.

Shop at farmers’ markets – Support local farmers, butchers, florists and artisans by shopping at open-air markets. Not only will you be putting money back into a community to help it thrive, you’re also keeping small businesses alive. By purchasing fresh ingredients that you can eat right away or do a little preparation with back at your lodging, you’re saving money over a traditional sit-down meal.

Eat at food carts – Another way to save on meals is to eat at food carts. They are the ultimate in budget dining, because they are basically a mobile kitchen. With their low overhead, (no seating, waiters, busboys, etc.) those savings are passed on to you. You also get to try local cuisine for less, and normally, where there is one food cart, there are many. If your kids are picky, there is bound to be something they find appetizing within reasonable walking distance from your current cart.

Ebooks and apps – Guidebooks are awesome, but not only do they take up room in your luggage, what do you do with them when your vacation is over? Probably you recycle them, but what if you didn’t have to? You can pretty much get any book you want in digital format for your e-reader or smartphone. You can even “bookmark” important pages you know you’ll need. And there are many apps that can give you directions, city tours, maps and even help you find attractions nearby. Many are even free! Going paperless can really make you feel lighter on your trips and allow you to feel better about all the information you’re toting around.

Walk or take public transportation – Many travelers rely on renting cars or taking cabs when on vacation, but that’s not always economical. In most big cities, taxis are really expensive and just a few trips could add up to hundreds of dollars. Why waste all that money (and gas!) when you can just as easily walk to your desired destinations or take public transportation? If either of these options are feasible, then take the time to slow down and smell the roses. You never know what you’re missing until you get out and see things from the point of view of a local. You’ll get some fresh air, exercise and even find a hidden shop or café that you can come back to. This is also a great time to let your kids take the reins and learn to navigate the subway map or figure out the best walking route from your hotel to wherever it is you planned on going.

Stay in an eco-lodge – If you’re looking for alternative accommodations from your typical hotel, consider staying in an eco-lodge. They come in many different types, but strive to do their best to impact the environment as little as possible, with low-flow toilets, use of sustainable materials, farm-to-table programs and more. You will find that many are a lot more luxurious than expected and even more affordable. Be careful, though, as some offer electricity, while others do not. If lights after sundown are important to you, then make sure you confirm that it is included before you book.

As a budget traveler that tries to do my part for the environment as much as possible, I’m always looking for new ways to save on my whole vacation. By just making the effort to get out and see your destination from a new perspective, you find different ways to experience your trips and change up your travel style a bit to make it more affordable and green at the same time. 

How do you travel green?

Getting the Most From Your Hotel Budget

There are plenty of things to consider when finding a place to stow your belongings and close your eyes at night. Price may be the biggest factor for you, but that doesn't mean the less you pay the worse your stay. There are plenty of budget and moderate hotels that offer wonderful service and surroundings if you know where and how to look. It's important to weigh all your options when deciding on where to sleep. Does it have a restaurant? Is it close to fun activities? Is it convenient to public transportation? Does it offer free breakfast? Free Wi-Fi? Is it on a busy street? Do the rooms offer kitchenettes? All these questions are important and if the answer is yes, you could save big. The more inclusive extras you can get on a vacation, the further your money goes.

Track Hotel Rates

Use Yapta to track hotel rates. Find a great deal? Search for the hotel(s) you are interested in and then track those specific ones. Even if you have reservations with them already, keep them on your list and keep waiting for prices to drop. Yapta will alert you to any prices that are lower than what you’ve already booked. If the price goes down, get on the phone with the establishment and see if you can change your reservation to reflect the lower rate.

Get Rewarded for your Loyalty

Sign up for Hotels.com’s Welcome Rewards and get free hotel nights. For every 10 nights you book through Hotels.com, you get one free night. You don't need to stay 10 nights in a row, in the same hotel or even in the same year. Your credits just accumulate until you've reached 10 nights and then you are eligible to receive your free night. The price will be based on the average of the price per night you stayed for each of your 10 paid nights. If you wish to stay at a hotel that costs more than that, you will just pay the difference. If you frequent the same hotel or hotel chain, get on their loyalty program and start racking up points with each stay. You can trade these in for free nights and upgrades when you need them.

Avoid the Weekend

Hotel rates are almost always cheaper on Sunday through Thursday nights. Most people travel on the weekend. They know this, just like the airlines, so they make prices for Friday and Saturday stays more expensive. In some cases, they can be twice as much as on weeknights.

Stay in Business-Minded Hotels on the Weekend

Unlike most hotels, those that cater to business travelers don’t get much action on the weekend, so rates drop to encourage visitors to stay. These hotels are also ones to book over holidays, because they can be fairly empty and prices plummet.

Stay in Brand New Hotels

Hotels that have been newly built or totally remodeled often have an introductory period right when they open that offers rock-bottom rates. HotelChatter is a website that not only shows reviews of hotels, but they also list the opening dates of new hotels and update them if they change. The list shows hotels worldwide, so you can search before you book your room.

Go All-Inclusive

I know you’re paying to stay at these places to be entertained and well-fed; most of them also offer free activities in the form of non-motorized watersports and even have nightly entertainment. That’s a freebie in my opinion, though you may feel differently. I suggest pricing out what you would expect to spend on your trip if you didn’t go all-inclusive and see if the savings are significant enough to go one way or the other.

Stay in a Vacation Rental

If you have a large family, this may be your perfect solution. Rentals are booked per night, not by guest counts, so whether you have three people or eight people in your travel party you pay the same price. The other plusses to a rental are: having more space to stretch out, having a kitchen to cook your own meals in (or at least store some snacks and leftovers), there aren’t 20 potential neighbors waking you up at all hours and many rentals have a washing machine.

Look for Freebies

Free is always a great price, but if you don’t know how to get it, then it’s not really all that helpful. I love travel freebies and try to maximize them on every trip I take, because that’s less money I have to pay out of my own pocket. The more money I save, the better trip I can take or the more I can put towards a future vacation. There’s also the fact that if you save more, you spend less and suddenly a trip that was a little out of your reach is now within your budget!

Free Breakfast – Free continental or buffet breakfast is a fantastic saver! On the low end, say you usually only have coffee and a bagel in the morning, you can save $5 per person, but on the higher end, if you like to eat out and have someone wait on you in the morning, you could be looking at $12+ per person.

Kids Eat Free – If your hotel has a restaurant and they offer free dining for kids, this is another big savings. Usually, you can get free meals for up to two kids this way if you purchase an adult entrée. Assuming a kid’s meal is an average of $6, that’s up to $18 per day, per child.

Free Wi-Fi – I always like to stay in touch while I’m on vacation, so I tend to bring my iPad and netbook everywhere I travel. This way my husband and I can both check up on what’s been happening while we’ve been gone and also communicate with friends and family. Hotels and resorts sometimes charge for internet service, or you can wait in the lobby and use one of their computers free of charge for a few minutes. Your best bet on this is to find one of the many places that give you free Wi-Fi, because it can save you weekly or daily rates, or those per-minute rates charged by Internet cafés. You also can’t do much business if you’re on a time limit.

Laundry On-Site – While usually not free, it’s still a minimal charge to use the machines there compared to the local Laundromat or worse, the laundry services they offer where you leave your bag of clothing and then come back to fresh clothes and a bill. Generally, the machines off-site can range anywhere from $1.75 - $3.00 per load for both the washer and the dryer. If you do laundry out of the country, it can cost almost $8 just to wash your clothes. Anytime I’ve used the on-site facilities, they range from $.50-1.00 for each machine and most times they were free. It’s easy to throw clothes in while you’re resting from your day out walking.

Free Coffee and Snacks – Many hotels offer free coffee/tea and snacks (like fruit and cookies) in the lobby. There’s no reason to not take advantage of such things that are included in your room rate. Think about all the times you want to snack during the day while you’re sightseeing. If you had a banana or some other snacky thing that you snagged on your way out, you wouldn’t have to shell out any money again until lunch or dinner. The free coffee and/or tea provided, while not fancy, can save you a trip to Starbucks in the morning.

Free Alcoholic Beverages – If drinking is one of your favorite vacation pastimes, there are a few ways to get free drinks on your travels. The most obvious way is to stay at an all-inclusive resort where this is included. I consider it free, because you’re paying for your accommodations, entertainment and food all in one lump sum. Anything beyond that is a plus in my book. Another thing you can do is find a hotel that offers a free cocktail hour. They are kinda few and far between, but if you’re lucky you can find them.

While this certainly isn’t an inclusive list on all the ways you can save your dollars on accommodations, it’s a good start to help you travel within your means. Maybe that extra money you don’t have to spend is just enough to allow you to go to that one place that was just out of your reach budget-wise before. Every little bit helps when you have to pinch your pennies, so get planning and find all the ways you can lower your bottom line. You might be surprised at how all those little discounts can turn into one big one.

How do you stretch your hotel budget?

Be a More Organized Packer with Lewis N. Clark Packing Cubes

I feel like I'm an organized packer. I use a packing list, I roll everything, I have 98% of my packing done weeks before I travel. When I pack to come back home, I do things the same as when I left, including using my packing list to make sure I have everything I came with and then figure out how to include anything I've purchased along the way. Of course, one can always be more organized, especially when you can add pockets and/or compartments to your carry-on. Lewis N. Clark knows that being able to find everything in your bag is helpful and even necessary in a lot of cases. I travel with my husband almost all the time, so packing cubes can be useful in keeping each of our things together and easy to find whatever we need for the day.

Here's the thing. You thought that all packing cubes were created equal. Not so. Lewis N. Clark has tapped into an improvement that I can't believe hasn't been on the market since packing cubes have hit it: Expansion. When I stopped at their booth at the Travel Goods Show, I was admiring all their new products (because previously, they had a lot of luggage locks, but not many other things) and picked up a lightweight packing cube set and realized there were extra zippers. Whoa, what? Yes, these nylon cubes come in a variety of sizes, but also become even more versatile because they expand to give you a little more room, so it's like two packing cubes in one.

Sometimes you buy stuff when you travel and you want to organize that as well when you travel home. Simply unzip the expandable part of the packing cube and voila! Now you have extra square inches to play with!

The above large cube was big enough to pack my husband's clothes for a weekend getaway. Because it isn't rigid, it allows you to pack things any way you like, then zip it up and you're ready to pack it in your bag. Got a little extra packing to do? Expand the cube and add those things. It still fits in your carry-on as well as it did when it was its original size.

I used the medium size to pack my own items for our weekend at the beach and then decided to see how it compared with the medium plaid packing cube that is a little more rugged and doesn't expand. The items fit just as well, but needed a little reshuffling to get in there perfectly. As you can see, it doesn't bulge out anywhere and keeps its rectangular shape easily. I also like the soft feel of it. If it gets dirty, just wipe it off with a damp cloth.

I then used the medium expandable for swimsuits, undies and socks. Another great thing about these cubes is that they have nice handles on the top, so you can quickly pull them out of your bag and toss them in a drawer at your destination. Then you can pull them out of the drawer each morning to find what you need and then throw it back in there. I love to keep one specifically for swimsuits, so I can grab it and go when we're off to the beach or the pool. I add a tube of sunscreen and a plastic bag, that way when we're done for the day, the cube goes into the plastic bag to keep everything else dry.

All the Lewis N. Clark cubes have a mesh front, so your clothes don't get all musty inside, especially if you're like me and like to keep some things packed all the time. There are certain things that I only use on vacation, because it's convenient and then I don't have to go track it down every time I pack for a trip. It also helps to see what's inside quickly, so you aren't opening them all to find what you need.

If you're a backpacker or travel with a soft-side bag, like a duffle, the ElectroLight cubes might be more your speed, but if you have a hard-side bag or like a little bit of rigidity, then the plaid cube that doesn't expand may work better for your bag and travel style. Now that you have all your cubes packed, you can stack them in your bag, where they will fit like puzzle pieces, and arrive organized and happy. 

More specs

Where to buy: On Lewis N Clark Website

How much: $12.49-$43.99

Colors: ElectroLight expandables: bright blue (shown) | charcoal | neon lemon | red

Plaid: beige/mint (shown) | taupe/pumpkin | charcoal/yellow

Sizes: Plaid medium: 11in x 8.5in x 3in | ElectroLight Packing Tube: 13in x 4in x 3in | ElectroLight set: Medium: 8.5in x 11in x 2in - 5in (expanded), Large: 12in x 14.5in x 2in - 5in 

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