# Travel Tips For Affordable Adventures

An episode of [A Little Bit Richer](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1706157445), 11 Apr 2024, 15 min.

Audio: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2e9a850c-e6b9-48c2-afec-a8f8010f70f4/61b6e292-1c73-49e1-81ce-b075010b275f/ee89e582-41ab-4ffc-8cf8-b14c00ddb452/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=aee4b1cb-b4f6-4283-99aa-b075010cd6b0

When being mindful with our spending, heading on holiday can feel like a splurge. From ‘Big World, Small Pockets’, Steph Parker shows us how to travel smarter so you can get away, without the price tag. Steph shares with our host Kia Commodore – the best time to book flights and hotels, how to manage spending while abroad and her favourite, more affordable destinations to discover. Money plays a big part in our holiday plans but by travelling a little bit smarter, you can still escape for an adventure! You can play the podcast and find other useful content on Legal & General’s website: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/podcasts/a-little-bit-richer You can follow Steph for more travel tips on social media and her website: https://www.bigworldsmallpockets.com Kia and her guests share their own personal thoughts and opinions in this podcast. These might be different from Legal & General’s take on things. They give information for a UK audience that’s relevant at the time of recording. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Kia: Hi. Kia here. If you follow me on social media,
[0:04] Kia: you will know how much I love to travel. In
[0:06] Kia: the last year, I've been to Spain, New York and
[0:09] Kia: Zanzibar. But while we all love to visit new places
[0:12] Kia: and have a break from the daily grind, money inevitably
[0:15] Kia: plays a big part in how elaborate our plans are.
[0:18] Kia: So whether you're a solo traveler or holiday with others,
[0:21] Kia: going on travel adventures is a big expense, especially these
[0:25] Kia: days. We want to find clever ways to head abroad
[0:28] Kia: without it feeling too much of a splurge. Welcome to
[0:32] Kia: another episode of A Little Bit Richer, brought to you
[0:34] Kia: by my friends at Legal & General. Here to help our
[0:37] Kia: money go further is the woman behind Big World Small
[0:40] Kia: Pockets, Steph Parker. Welcome to A Little Bit Richer, Steph.
[0:44] Steph Parker: Hi. Thanks for having me.
[0:45] Kia: Thank you for coming on. Right. So I want to
[0:47] Kia: get straight into this. As you heard, I love travel,
[0:50] Kia: but I want to start by asking you what sort
[0:53] Kia: of holidays offer better value?
[0:56] Steph Parker: I think there's two ways to think about this. So
[0:58] Steph Parker: I think you've either got one option, which is stay
[1:00] Steph Parker: in the UK so you keep your actual travel costs
[1:03] Steph Parker: down, but you've probably got a bit of a pricier
[1:05] Steph Parker: accommodation. Cost of living is a bit higher. Or you
[1:09] Steph Parker: splurge a bit more on a plane ride and you
[1:11] Steph Parker: go somewhere else where the cost of living might be
[1:13] Steph Parker: cheaper. That's one key way to do it. The other
[1:16] Steph Parker: thing to remember is that the more research you do,
[1:19] Steph Parker: the less you pay. So for example, I tend to
[1:23] Steph Parker: avoid using tour operators. Instead, if you can plan your
[1:27] Steph Parker: flights, your accommodation, your airport transfers yourself, you're going to
[1:32] Steph Parker: save a lot of money. And then if you still
[1:34] Steph Parker: want to do some tours to particular sites when you're
[1:37] Steph Parker: in a destination, that's totally fine. There's loads of sites
[1:40] Steph Parker: like Get Your Guide or Via Tour that offer day
[1:42] Steph Parker: or multi- day shorter trips, and that is a great
[1:45] Steph Parker: way to keep your budget down then going with a tour
[1:47] Steph Parker: for the whole of your holiday.
[1:48] Kia: Absolutely, and I agree with what you said, booking it
[1:52] Kia: separately. As someone who's traveled a lot like you have,
[1:55] Kia: you can see the difference in the price when you
[1:57] Kia: book a package versus splitting it up and you see
[2:00] Kia: you save a lot more money when you actually go
[2:02] Kia: and seek out, let's say the flights and the accommodation
[2:04] Kia: and the transfers separately, it can all add up when
[2:07] Kia: it's all in a package.
[2:08] Steph Parker: Absolutely. Because you're happy to do your research. It does
[2:10] Steph Parker: take a bit of time, but you can find some
[2:13] Steph Parker: real deals. And don't forget, you're cutting out the middleman
[2:16] Steph Parker: cost. If you are not using a travel agent, you're not having
[2:19] Steph Parker: to pay for them. So doing research yourself, using price
[2:22] Steph Parker: comparison websites, they're great ways to save on holidays.
[2:25] Kia: Absolutely amazing. This is a question that I'm sure you
[2:28] Kia: get a lot because I'm going to ask you, is
[2:31] Kia: there a best time to book a holiday to get
[2:34] Kia: the best deal and can you suggest some ways that
[2:37] Kia: people can find the best prices?
[2:39] Steph Parker: When you're thinking about going to a destination, the first
[2:41] Steph Parker: thing is forget school holidays. If you don't have kids-
[2:45] Kia: Oh, out the window.
[2:45] Steph Parker: If you don't have kids and you don't have to travel in school holidays,
[2:47] Steph Parker: don't. They're always much more expensive. I also really love
[2:51] Steph Parker: traveling in what I call the shoulder season. So that
[2:53] Steph Parker: kind tends to be the couple of months either side
[2:56] Steph Parker: of the peak season. So when we are thinking about Europe, might be
[2:59] Steph Parker: May, June, September, October time because normally the weather's still
[3:04] Steph Parker: good, but there's way less crowds and prices are cheaper
[3:07] Steph Parker: as well. So shoulder season for the win. And then
[3:10] Steph Parker: when it comes to booking flights, yes you might find
[3:13] Steph Parker: a flash sale down the line, but by and large
[3:16] Steph Parker: you are always going to get the cheapest flights by
[3:18] Steph Parker: booking as early as you can say two, even three
[3:21] Steph Parker: months in advance, especially for long haul. The reason is
[3:25] Steph Parker: airlines have tiered tickets, so once they sell out of
[3:28] Steph Parker: the cheapest tier, those seats are gone and you move
[3:30] Steph Parker: up to the next tier in the pricing ranking. So
[3:33] Steph Parker: doing it early is always better. With hotels, it's the
[3:38] Steph Parker: other way round, which is a sneaky tip because say
[3:42] Steph Parker: your holiday's coming up in a few weeks' time. If
[3:44] Steph Parker: those hotels have still got rooms available, they want to
[3:47] Steph Parker: shift them. They want to sell those nights. So booking
[3:51] Steph Parker: as last minute as possible that you feel comfortable with
[3:54] Steph Parker: when it comes to hotels is definitely the best way
[3:56] Steph Parker: because they'll start dropping their rates the nearer it gets
[3:59] Steph Parker: to the time that you want to stay there. So
[4:01] Steph Parker: hotels late, flights early is the best combination.
[4:04] Kia: That's the best combo. Do you know what? When it
[4:06] Kia: comes to booking hotels late, I'm glad you said that.
[4:09] Kia: I think the latest I've ever booked it, which did
[4:11] Kia: give me anxiety, I want to put it out there, so I wouldn't
[4:13] Kia: recommend it for people, was when I was in the
[4:16] Kia: airport about to get my flight and I had no
[4:20] Kia: accommodation. This when I was going to Thailand, I had
[4:22] Kia: no accommodation booked and I was out there for 11
[4:24] Kia: days. I had no plan whatsoever and I was traveling
[4:26] Kia: with my friend and I said to her, " I'll handle
[4:27] Kia: it. I'll do the accommodation." So we got to the
[4:30] Kia: airport, she said, " Okay, where are we staying?" I said, "
[4:31] Kia: I have no idea. I have no idea." So we
[4:33] Kia: were trawling online, literally like an hour or two before
[4:36] Kia: I had to board our flight, but I got a
[4:37] Kia: really good deal.
[4:37] Steph Parker: Well, there you are. I was going to say, did you get a bargain?
[4:38] Kia: But, I will say, it was a bit prickly.
[4:41] Steph Parker: Yeah, that's bold. I think I might've done that when
[4:44] Steph Parker: I was younger. Now not so much. Yeah. And if you've
[4:46] Steph Parker: got the luxury of time, say you're backpacking for longer
[4:49] Steph Parker: or traveling for a few months, yeah, you can be
[4:51] Steph Parker: a bit more flexible. If you've got a week, you might-
[4:53] Kia: I was pushing it. I was pushing it. I was very much, and I can
[4:57] Kia: hold my hands up. I was definitely pushing it so
[4:59] Kia: I wouldn't recommend it, but like you said, last minute's
[5:01] Kia: always good. Maybe a couple of days before, not the
[5:03] Kia: day of. That's what I-
[5:03] Steph Parker: A couple of days sounds reasonable.
[5:04] Kia: A couple of days is good, yeah. Okay. And what about ideas to consider when actually
[5:10] Kia: looking for accommodation? You mentioned obviously you want to book as often
[5:13] Kia: as possible to get the best deals, but when you're actually
[5:15] Kia: looking, there is so much choice out there now. Before it
[5:19] Kia: used just to be you got to book a hotel, but there are so many
[5:20] Kia: different variations of accommodation. What should people consider when they're
[5:24] Kia: looking for accommodation?
[5:24] Steph Parker: I think you really need to think about the type
[5:26] Steph Parker: of holiday that you want to have. If you're happy
[5:28] Steph Parker: to self- cater, which can be a great way to
[5:30] Steph Parker: save money, then Airbnb's apartments awesome choice for you. There's
[5:35] Steph Parker: actually a new company called Vrbo. They're like Airbnb. You
[5:37] Steph Parker: might have find some better deals on there as well.
[5:40] Steph Parker: Hotels, if you really want to relax. If you don't
[5:42] Steph Parker: want to do the washing up, if you don't want
[5:44] Steph Parker: to go to the supermarket, think about that because if
[5:46] Steph Parker: it's your holiday of the year and you want to
[5:48] Steph Parker: have a good time, it might be worth spending a
[5:50] Steph Parker: little bit more to go in a hotel if you
[5:52] Steph Parker: don't want to do all the other tasks, cooking and
[5:54] Steph Parker: cleaning and all those sorts of things. House sitting's great
[5:57] Steph Parker: if you're on a longer trip. So if you're traveling
[6:00] Steph Parker: for perhaps a few weeks or even a few months,
[6:02] Steph Parker: then house sitting can be a great option as well.
[6:04] Steph Parker: People will give you their house to look after for
[6:06] Steph Parker: free if they've got pets or they just want someone
[6:09] Steph Parker: to stay there and they're verified. There's review systems. It's
[6:12] Steph Parker: that kind of process and you can do that all
[6:14] Steph Parker: online as well. So it's really about thinking about the
[6:17] Steph Parker: type of holiday that you want to have and matching
[6:20] Steph Parker: accommodation for that and thinking that sometimes when you spend
[6:24] Steph Parker: a little bit more, you might get more of the
[6:26] Steph Parker: experience that you're looking for and that is actually good value.
[6:29] Kia: Absolutely. I think it's not all just about the numbers.
[6:32] Kia: This is the cheapest and we're going to go for that. It is like you
[6:34] Kia: said, do I want to relax? Have I had a
[6:37] Kia: stressful time at work and I just want to put
[6:39] Kia: my feet up? Maybe Airbnb and figuring out breakfast, lunch
[6:42] Kia: and dinner isn't the way to go. Maybe I will
[6:44] Kia: go for a hotel. Like I said, it is personal
[6:45] Kia: circumstances. I've done pretty much all of them and they've
[6:48] Kia: all offered different experiences. It's just figuring out what kind
[6:51] Kia: of holidays do I want.
[6:52] Steph Parker: Exactly.
[6:53] Kia: So for anyone looking to get a good deal, what
[6:55] Kia: about price comparison sites?
[6:57] Steph Parker: Always use a price comparison site to start. They're a great
[7:00] Steph Parker: place to begin your research for budget travel. When it
[7:03] Steph Parker: comes to flights, top tip, remember to use an incognito
[7:07] Steph Parker: browser when you're searching because it is true that they
[7:10] Steph Parker: track your cookies and the prices go up the more
[7:12] Steph Parker: you look so incognito browser. And if you're flying with
[7:15] Steph Parker: a budget airline, I always go direct to their website
[7:18] Steph Parker: because it's cheaper to add baggage on at the end
[7:22] Steph Parker: of the booking process rather than one of the packages
[7:24] Steph Parker: that you get priority boarding and all these things that
[7:26] Steph Parker: you don't need to add on, just add the luggage
[7:29] Steph Parker: and it's best to do that for budget airlines direct
[7:31] Steph Parker: with them.
[7:32] Kia: Amazing. What about hotels?
[7:34] Steph Parker: Hotels, I use it for research. So I always look
[7:37] Steph Parker: on a price comparison website like booking. com or hotels.
[7:40] Steph Parker: com to find the kind of hotels or places that
[7:42] Steph Parker: I want to stay. Lots of them do Airbnbs or
[7:44] Steph Parker: apartments now as well. But then I go direct to
[7:47] Steph Parker: the hotel. And the reason is the hotels have to
[7:50] Steph Parker: pay these price comparison sites a commission, so that can
[7:53] Steph Parker: be up to 17%. So if you go direct, you
[7:56] Steph Parker: can normally negotiate a discount of around 10%.
[8:00] Kia: Wow.
[8:00] Steph Parker: And everybody's doing better on that. So yeah, give them
[8:03] Steph Parker: a call or an email and you can normally work
[8:05] Steph Parker: a better deal with hotels straight.
[8:07] Kia: Amazing. So what's some of your favorites but more affordable
[8:10] Kia: places to discover?
[8:12] Steph Parker: Long haul if you're looking for a Safari, which I
[8:15] Steph Parker: think is probably on everyone's bucket list-
[8:16] Kia: For mine as well.
[8:17] Steph Parker: And it's one of my favorites too. South Africa is
[8:20] Steph Parker: a real bargain right now. There's parks there where you
[8:24] Steph Parker: can do south drives that make it really cheap, but
[8:26] Steph Parker: otherwise cost of living there is quite affordable and it's
[8:29] Steph Parker: such a diverse and amazing country to visit. Park entrances
[8:32] Steph Parker: are cheap. So if you were looking for a budget
[8:35] Steph Parker: Safari, South Africa is my tip. Across in Asia, Sri
[8:39] Steph Parker: Lanka is one of my absolute faves.
[8:43] Kia: Really? Okay.
[8:43] Steph Parker: I went there for the first time last year and
[8:45] Steph Parker: I was blown away. And again, super affordable. If you're
[8:48] Steph Parker: say looking for a luxury honeymoon, you can get five
[8:51] Steph Parker: star hotels there for a fraction of the price that you would
[8:54] Steph Parker: in Europe. There's beaches, the food's amazing, there's tea plantations,
[8:59] Steph Parker: epic train rides. It's an all- round gem. So yeah,
[9:03] Steph Parker: Sri Lanka, highly recommend.
[9:05] Kia: Wow. Now I have to ask you, Steph, what are
[9:07] Kia: some of your personal favorite places to visit?
[9:09] Steph Parker: I'm going to give you my top five.
[9:10] Kia: Okay. I want your top five. I'm ready for the list. Let's go.
[9:12] Steph Parker: It's Ethiopia.
[9:14] Kia: Okay.
[9:14] Steph Parker: Lebanon.
[9:15] Kia: Oh.
[9:16] Steph Parker: Georgia.
[9:17] Kia: Yes.
[9:17] Steph Parker: Peru and Sri Lanka, which we've talked about.
[9:20] Kia: Yes. That's a good list. But just to circle back,
[9:22] Kia: Georgia, we're not talking about the state.
[9:24] Steph Parker: No, right, we're talking about the country.
[9:26] Kia: The country, okay.
[9:27] Steph Parker: Yeah, so on the edge of Europe, just the other
[9:29] Steph Parker: side of Turkey. Again, I think I love these countries
[9:32] Steph Parker: because they're really diverse. They're a bit off the beaten
[9:34] Steph Parker: track, very affordable to travel. Georgia has amazing food and
[9:38] Steph Parker: wine, mountains for hiking or skiing in the winter. History.
[9:43] Steph Parker: It's just beautiful. The people are so friendly and it's
[9:46] Steph Parker: still in Europe, but it feels quite different and feels
[9:50] Steph Parker: a bit unique and it's still a bit undiscovered as
[9:52] Steph Parker: well. So get there before everybody else does.
[9:55] Kia: Well, I'm booking my trip after this. I have to
[9:57] Kia: get there first now. So thank you for that insights there.
[9:59] Kia: Thank you. Travel insurance, how can you make sure you
[10:03] Kia: get good value on your policy?
[10:05] Steph Parker: First of all, check if you already get travel insurance
[10:08] Steph Parker: with your credit card or debit cards, anything else that you
[10:11] Steph Parker: might be a member of if you get travel insurance
[10:13] Steph Parker: there. If not, use a price comparison website to shop
[10:16] Steph Parker: around and get the best deal. Special offers run all
[10:18] Steph Parker: the time, so hop onto those if you can. Think
[10:21] Steph Parker: about your cover, the two main points that you want
[10:24] Steph Parker: to make sure are covered are the most common things.
[10:26] Steph Parker: So is it your electronics getting stolen? That might be
[10:29] Steph Parker: a big thing for you. Is it baggage delay? Make
[10:31] Steph Parker: sure the most important things to you get covered. Look
[10:34] Steph Parker: at the excess. No point going for a cheaper policy
[10:37] Steph Parker: if the excess is huge because you're going to have
[10:39] Steph Parker: to pay that if anything happens so often it's worth
[10:42] Steph Parker: paying for a little bit more for a lower excess.
[10:45] Steph Parker: And if you're not heading to the US or North
[10:47] Steph Parker: America, make sure you get a policy that doesn't include
[10:50] Steph Parker: these countries because that will significantly reduce the price because
[10:55] Steph Parker: medical health insurance tends to be a lot more expensive
[10:57] Steph Parker: in those countries. So choosing an insurance policy that doesn't
[11:00] Steph Parker: include them, it's automatically going to be lower.
[11:03] Kia: Amazing. How can you manage your spending while abroad?
[11:05] Steph Parker: First of all, do not eat in touristy areas. That
[11:09] Steph Parker: is my 101. So even if you want to go
[11:11] Steph Parker: out to a nice restaurant, often walking just 5, 10
[11:13] Steph Parker: minutes away from where you're staying, you can get a
[11:15] Steph Parker: much more local place, much better deal. If you're self-
[11:18] Steph Parker: catering, same. Do local supermarkets. Make best use of those.
[11:22] Steph Parker: Think about walking, particularly in European cities, free walking tours.
[11:26] Steph Parker: Use Google Maps to get around really easy. If not,
[11:29] Steph Parker: use public transport where you can. Don't get a taxi
[11:32] Steph Parker: from the airport. There's often transfers or shuttles. You can
[11:34] Steph Parker: research that online before you go. And find out if
[11:37] Steph Parker: there's any travel card deals. Like you can use public
[11:40] Steph Parker: transport for two, three days and you've got an unlimited
[11:43] Steph Parker: card. Loads of places do that, and that often works
[11:46] Steph Parker: out cheaper as well.
[11:48] Kia: Brilliant. And now what are some of your favorite more
[11:50] Kia: affordable places to discover?
[11:52] Steph Parker: I'm a big fan of a budget travel hack. So
[11:55] Steph Parker: instead of Croatia for example, which is growing really popular,
[11:58] Steph Parker: think about Montenegro. Similar experiences, but for much less price. Same,
[12:03] Steph Parker: instead of going to Scandinavia, Norway, Finland really expensive, just
[12:08] Steph Parker: a few kilometers away, Estonia, an amazing Nordic country for
[12:12] Steph Parker: half the price. So I always think is there a
[12:15] Steph Parker: cheaper country that offers the same kind of experiences, but
[12:18] Steph Parker: for less?
[12:19] Kia: So when you're abroad and you come to pay, it's always
[12:23] Kia: that thing, right? Do you pay in the local currency
[12:27] Kia: or do you go the conversion for example that is
[12:29] Kia: offered to you? What's the best thing to do when
[12:31] Kia: you come to pay?
[12:31] Steph Parker: Always go for the local currency. So if you've just
[12:33] Steph Parker: eaten dinner and they've come over with a card machine
[12:36] Steph Parker: for you to tap and pay, do not select pounds.
[12:39] Steph Parker: Always select the local currency because what happens is the
[12:42] Steph Parker: banks will convert it for you at less good rate.
[12:45] Steph Parker: So yeah, if you pay in the currency and you've
[12:47] Steph Parker: got a card that has a great conversion rate on
[12:49] Steph Parker: it, which you should, that is definitely the top tip.
[12:52] Kia: Amazing. Lastly, I want to ask you, what are your
[12:55] Kia: three top tips on traveling smarter?
[12:59] Steph Parker: When it comes to traveling smarter, my three top tips
[13:02] Steph Parker: are, first of all, check your roaming charges on your
[13:04] Steph Parker: phone. If the country that you're going to isn't covered
[13:07] Steph Parker: by free roaming, get an eSIM. They're amazing, work really
[13:10] Steph Parker: well. Top hack. Tip number two is check your debit
[13:14] Steph Parker: card. Don't use it abroad if there's transaction or bad
[13:18] Steph Parker: conversion fees. Get a card that allows you to take
[13:21] Steph Parker: money out from the ATM or spend abroad for free.
[13:24] Steph Parker: Take a spare card, leave that in your room in
[13:27] Steph Parker: case one gets stolen, and always take a credit card
[13:29] Steph Parker: if you plan to hire a car. And the third
[13:31] Steph Parker: tip is a filter water bottle. These are so good
[13:35] Steph Parker: for just stopping the plastic waste and as well saving
[13:39] Steph Parker: your budget a little bit on bottled water that you
[13:41] Steph Parker: keep have to buy. You can fill them up from
[13:43] Steph Parker: any tap in the world. They've got inbuilt filters and
[13:45] Steph Parker: it means you can safely drink the tap water anywhere.
[13:47] Steph Parker: Game changer.
[13:48] Kia: Game changer. I co- sign that one. I've been doing
[13:51] Kia: that as well. Amazing. Steph, thank you so much. Travel's
[13:55] Kia: on everyone's mind and you've given us some tips and
[13:58] Kia: gems that we can take to book our next holiday.
[14:00] Kia: So thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
[14:02] Steph Parker: Thank you so much for having me. It's been great.
[14:04] Kia: Next time on A Little Bit Richer, we're looking at
[14:07] Kia: scams and what to watch out for. Don't forget you
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[14:24] Kia: exclusive tips from a range of our experts. A Little
[14:27] Kia: Bit Richer is brought to you by Legal & General. Thank
[14:30] Kia: you for listening and see you soon.

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