Kuripot Tip #4
In this day and age, travel is no longer a luxury. You can travel on the cheap by doing a bit of research and devoting some time and effort. In this Kuripot Tip #4, guest blogger Girl Kuripot will show you how to maximize your travel budget by following some of these Kuripot practices.
Boy Kuripot in Busan
Editor’s Note: This is a guest
post from Melody Co. You can find
her on her blog Girl Kuripot and
read about her adventures on Guiltless Getaways. You can also follow her Facebook page for a healthy dose of travel inspiration.
Want to travel and have a wealth of experiences? Here are a few girly “kuripot” tips for you!
- Redefine
“TRAVEL”. Traveling isn’t just
about getting to far-away places. Go local.
Look around you. Many of our everyday experiences can be transformed into a memorable getaway.
o Visit multi-cuisine restaurants and be introduced to an interpretation of food from all over
the world at the cost of a meal.
o Watch film festivals in Manila or in your area. Most of them are free and you get to
watch award-winning (and already select) international films.
o
Pickle your brains, take a journey back in time and check out your
favorite childhood places. Go visit your parents, grandparents, titos and titas
and hear their stories of long ago.
o Visit museums and galleries in Manila. October is Museum Month. Entrance fees are free ;) I joined this free Manila Postal Heritage Tour before and it was a very informative cultural tour.
(Carlos Celdran also has barter tours.)
- When you travel and go around the metro, accept
that you’re going to spend one way
or the other. And there are things that you can do to lessen the outflow of cash.
o Join travel contests for Pinoys. Even if they’re not all-expense paid trips, part of
the expenses that you could have spent on lodging for example is saved for your
next trip! My latest winning trips include the Wiki Korea Tour, Visit Indonesia Tour,
Japan with Air Asia X, Tagaytay, Boracay and many more.
o When you spend, use a Philippine-issued credit card that earns miles and gives out rewards at the same time. Offer to pay for your barkada expenses and just collect the cash from
your friends. Of course, don’t forget to pay your bills on time!
o
Know
the baggage limit before your flight to avoid baggage fees!
o Compare
airline rates. Even if one is having a seat sale, sometimes the all-in price is
lower in another airline.
o Travel on a weekday and non-holidays.
Fares might be cheaper and majority of people are not traveling. Sometimes you even get a whole row to yourself! Haha.
o Check out homestay
options. They give you a local flavor and can sometimes cost less than a hotel. We had a blast with our Busan Homestay host!
o Walk
if you can and when it’s safe. Look for free things to do in that area and other suggestions online like from Pinoy
Travel Bloggers.
o Share
the cost with your friends. Sample: Form the numbers and travel together to hire your own boat in Coron.
o
For international: Apply for all those frequent flier mileage cards. Type
“alliance” (sample: Korean Air Alliance, Asiana Alliance) – means airlines band
together and you can rack up those miles in one card. You can also earn miles
with their partner hotels.
- I don’t always follow this haha. If you can, don’t spend on other things that are less important than your travel goal. I
also use GCs on a sale or spend on a store that has a travel promo to make it
double sulit! Hehe.
- Travel on off-peak
season. Boracay in August is my favorite!
Not much people, no sun, cheaper rates. Hehe. You can also try traveling in
unholy hours haha. You can sleep on a train or on the plane to skip the hotel for a night.
- Travel longer to one or just a few places. Less headache in my opinion and less time
wasted in transit.
Finally, don’t just cross things off
your bucket list. Repeat your travels.
The experience is always different ;) Do more of what makes you happy. You’ll
find a way to get there.
Happy Travels! Follow me @miloodee on Twitter!
