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Budget Travel Tips

Why Every American Traveling Abroad Should Mark June 15 On Their Calendar

Posted by on 9:09 am in Blog, Budget Travel, Expat Life, Travel Tips | 29 comments

Why Every American Traveling Abroad Should Mark June 15 On Their Calendar

Enjoying a hike in Asia? Kicking back on a beach in the Caribbean? Who has time for taxes? However, reading this can save you thousands of dollars in unwanted penalties and fees.

Being a U.S. citizen or resident alien has its benefits. There is the right to religious freedom, freedom of speech and the right to live permanently in the United States. Those are the positives.

The downside? Well, contrary to what many people believe, U.S. citizens or resident aliens are taxed on their worldwide income regardless of where they live. The typical tax deadline is April 15. However, if you are outside of the country on that date, the IRS will allow a 2-month extension to file your tax return and pay any tax due.

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How to Survive a Long Haul Bus Ride

Posted by on 10:35 pm in Blog, Budget Travel, Road Trips, Travel Tips, Writers | 32 comments

How to Survive a Long Haul Bus Ride

The excruciating misery of confined legs and sore necks, lack of sleep and constant anxiety attacks – these are some of the reasons people don’t look forward to long-haul bus rides.

And while some companies have made the experience a lot easier, with facilities like toilets and TV, that doesn’t change how terrible it can be to find yourself stuck on a bus. It’s one of those ideas you can usually file under “seemed like a good idea at the time”.

Most people are happy acknowledging that the long haul bus plain sucks, though there are many reasons people continue to travel this way; they can’t afford or don’t want to spend their money on expensive plane tickets, or, to reach some destinations, there may not be any other choice.

Luckily, there are simple ways to make the experience more comfortable and fun. Here are some tips and suggestions to help you how to survive long-haul bus.

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Want to Travel Overseas? Here’s How to Budget For It

Posted by on 10:01 pm in Blog, Budget Travel, Travel Tips | 12 comments

Want to Travel Overseas? Here’s How to Budget For It

Budgeting for travel can be one of the most exciting parts of a trip – it’s the first step in the planning process, and a great way to get psyched about your destination as you start your research.
Though it can also be quite intimidating, especially if you’re traveling for the first time. There are a lot of costs involved and can be quite a lot to consider.

But it’s incredibly important to sit down and run numbers before you commit to taking a trip – there’s nothing worse than running out of money halfway through and having to max out your credit card, beg family and friends to send money, or clean toilets to cover the hotel bill (been there, done that, you don’t want to follow in my footsteps).

To help you out, use the following tips to budget for an upcoming trip.

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How to Make Money While Travelling

Posted by on 1:19 pm in Blog, Budget Travel, Expat Life, Travel Tips | 32 comments

How to Make Money While Travelling

Travelling is fun but it doesn’t come cheap. If you plan to travel for several months or more, you may need to pick up another job.

Working on the go has never been easier with technology that allows us to communicate from across the globe. Pick up a job that will help you financially and also allow you room to explore.

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The Hotel Search Engine Which Saves You the Most: Use Sears Vacations for the Cheapest Hotels

Posted by on 1:25 pm in Accommodation, Blog, Budget Travel, Travel Tips | 50 comments

The Hotel Search Engine Which Saves You the Most: Use Sears Vacations for the Cheapest Hotels

Let’s be honest, it’s a claim that most hotel search engines make, that their prices are the lowest you’ll find anywhere else online. But to date it hasn’t really mattered which search engine you choose – from the Booking.com’s to Agoda and Expedia, it’s much of a muchness, and you usually end up paying the same price.

This is because there’s very little room for hotel search engines to undercut each other; each hotel has an online login and sets their own price. The search engine then gets a small % of the booking, around 10% of the rate. And there are so many websites competing with each other that they’re usually all offering the lowest price.

So when we hear that a hotel search engine claims to offer better prices than other third party booking sites, I’m skeptical. It would take a fresh and creative approach to the established business model to be able to offer big enough savings to pull people away from their already bookmarked sites.

But a company called Sears Vacations has done just that; come up with an original approach which will noticeably save you the most.

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Should You Take Out a Personal Loan to Travel?

Posted by on 11:00 am in Blog, Budget Travel, Opinion, Travel Tips | 66 comments

Should You Take Out a Personal Loan to Travel?

In an ideal world, everyone would have enough money to travel. But in reality that’s not the case. And for many people, their best option for travel is taking out a personal loan.

And in many situations there’s nothing wrong with that. Personal loans are a great way to reach a short term goal, and with better interest rates than credit cards, are a much safer way to fund your holiday. However you do need to approach this sensibly. Banks see the yawning gap between reality and aspirations as a tremendous opportunity, and you need to be smart enough to borrow responsibly.

So if you’re considering taking out a personal loan for travel, make sure you’ve understood the following.

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How to Find the Best Travel Deals and Save on Flights

Posted by on 7:45 pm in Blog, Budget Travel, Travel Tips | 30 comments

How to Find the Best Travel Deals and Save on Flights

There’s no worse feeling than booking your flight, getting excited about your trip, and then having an airline rain on your parade by offering everyone else a better price. It obviously happens all the time, but is it just a matter of luck that the person sitting next to you paid half the price?

Chances are that it could have been luck, but it’s more likely that they knew how to find the best travel deals to save on flights.

Flights are often the biggest expense of a trip, so they shouldn’t be something you book blind. Use our following tips to know that what you’re paying is not overpriced.

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Why Heading on a Cruise is Fantastic Value for Money

Posted by on 12:32 pm in Budget Travel, Family Travel | 20 comments

Why Heading on a Cruise is Fantastic Value for Money

Cruises are a fantastic way to discover the world, and travelers who haven’t yet tried this form of travel are definitely missing out. Couples cruise for the romance, families for the stress free and family friendly environment for their kids; solo travelers cruise to be social, and others to enjoy excursions in multiple exotic lands in one trip.

Though perhaps one of the best reasons to take a cruise is the value for money. Whether you decide on Europe, or to embark on an Alaskan cruise, everything you could possibly need for a great trip is bundled into the one fare. That’s all meals, accommodation, entertainment and transport between destinations at substantially lower cost than if you were spend the same on land for a hotel, taxi, dinner and a show.

No matter what your reason for taking a cruise, the following are 5 reasons heading on a cruise is fantastic value for money.

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5 Ways To Keep Travel Costs Down and Still Have The Best Experience

Posted by on 8:23 am in Budget Travel, Travel Tips | 26 comments

5 Ways To Keep Travel Costs Down and Still Have The Best Experience

Often, we associate keeping costs down with sacrifice. We think that to spend less means to get less. But this is not always the case. Some of the ways in which you can keep costs down when traveling can actually lead to more wholesome and immersive experiences.

The key is to be able to keep your costs down so that you can do more of what you like, or stay on the road for longer. It’s a classic discussion, but in this article we want to show you how to keep costs down without assuming you want to stay in a two-man tent on the moors.

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Broke on the Road? These Websites Let You Earn Cash Online

Posted by on 5:15 pm in Blog, Budget Travel, Travel Tips, Writers | 20 comments

Broke on the Road? These Websites Let You Earn Cash Online

Running out of money while traveling can be a nightmare. And for most travelers this means having to head home. But what if you could earn money while traveling, without having to worry about work visas, and it was enough to keep you on the road?

As luck would have it, there are always ways to earn extra money so long as you can find an internet connection. Broke on the road? The following websites let you earn cash online!

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