5 Things Travelers Shouldn't Skimp On
Don’t Overlook These When Vacationing on a Budget
1] Your Health
It’s easy to skip meals or overdue the partying when on vacation. Don’t do it. You won’t enjoy your trip at all if you get sick or run down.
Make sure you eat enough to keep your energy levels up, and try to do it with healthy foods, not hits from energy drinks. Take a multi-vitamin every day. Enjoy the nightlife, but know when to call it a night so you don’t miss the next day’s scheduled events with a hangover.
Keep your body happy and healthy, and you’ll enjoy your trip so much more.
2] Downtime in Your Schedule
This goes hand-in-hand with your health, but no matter how tempting it is to pack every available minute with something to do, you also need to remember to schedule in a few breaks every day.
It can be something as simply as fifteen minutes for a cup of coffee at a sidewalk bistro or two hours for an afternoon siesta. But you’ll actually have more fun if you just leave yourself small pockets of time here and there to just relax and enjoy your surroundings.
3] Comfortable Walking Shoes
Chances are, you’ll spend more time on your feet when you travel than you normally do at home. Don’t get sidelined by blisters or worse on your feet.
Make sure the shoes you wear the most are extremely comfortable and foot friendly. If your current shoes are worn down, invest in a new pair, but make sure you break them in before your trip. Buy shoe pad inserts for extra comfort.
Do whatever you have to do to baby your feet so you don’t spend your trip hobbling in pain.
4] Car Maintenance
Even with the price of gas at record highs, budget-minded families and groups are still choosing to road trip. And while it can help keep costs down if you get enough people to split the gas bill, a sudden flat tire or roadside breakdown can add hundreds onto a budget unexpectedly.
To combat this, make sure you get an oil change and, if possible, a tune-up before any long-distance road trip. Check your tire pressure (underinflated tires not only lower gas mileage but can be dangerous) and make sure you have a road-worthy spare, just in case. Consider investing in a road-side service like AAA that can help you if you breakdown somewhere far from home.
Preventive maintenance and daily on the road checks of tires and fluid levels can help prevent huge repair bills from derailing a travel budget.
5] Your Safety
It may be tempting to save an extra $20 a night by booking a hotel in a sketchy part of town, but you don’t want your travel memories to be of getting mugged. Don’t flash wads of cash in public and make sure you keep your valuable travel documents safe and close at hand. Buy locks for your luggage or book places with in-room safes. Yes, it’s great to hang out with the locals because they know how to save money where they live, but if your sixth sense tells you to beware, listen to it.
All things that may seem common sense, but you’d be surprised at how often people leave themselves vulnerable when traveling. No matter how tight your travel budget it, always remember your personal safety is so much more important than saving a few extra bucks.
