FINANCE
HOW DO YOU VACATION ON A BUDGET? ARTICLE & PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENNAN HALLOCK
Above: Vaduz Castle, official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein
I
just returned from vacationing in Europe for three weeks with my family of five. And the itinerary included about a week in two of the most expensive cities in the world—Zurich and Geneva, Switzerland—among other incredibly expensive cities in France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein. I love traveling, but I don’t like spending excessive amounts of money. So when preparing for this trip it brought up the question How do you vacation on a budget? There is the obvious answer to this question: Just travel to a cheaper location. But this eliminates traveling to some incredible destinations and experiencing what they have to offer. For example, it eliminates most of Europe. So here are some tips for traveling on a budget—even when visiting
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expensive countries like Switzerland. Be flexible with your flights and destinations: Your flights are often the most expensive piece of the trip, but they don’t have to be. Be flexible about what day you travel on—midweek is usually cheaper than the weekend; be flexible about what city you fly into—check out cities near your destination; and be flexible about where you fly out of—if you drive to a nearby city it may be cheaper. If you plan to vacation soon, start paying attention to flights in the general area you’d like to vacation. For example, pick a certain month you’d like to vacation and a certain country or region you’d like to visit, then consistently check flights in multiple cities in that region and multiple dates in that month. Google Flights (google.com/flights) is a good site for do-
ing this. Click on their map and use their “Flexible Dates” option. Be flexible with your schedule: You should create a schedule for your trip, especially if you are visiting multiple locations, but be ready to change plans. If you’ve never visited a location, you’ll know a lot more about it after you’ve arrived. You may learn there are cheaper ways to travel between cities or find hotels or entertainment. Travel on the edge (or outside) of tourist season: Prices increase during tourist season. If you travel out of season, prices for hotels, entertainment, flights, transportation—nearly everything—will decrease. There is a reason tourist season is during a certain time of year, and this is usually weather. Outside of tourist season it may be much colder (or
