It’s Not How You Go, but Where!

An Excerpt from The World’s Cheapest Destinations:

21 Countries where your dollars are worth a fortune

By Tim Leffel

Yes, traveling overseas can be expensive, but only to get there. The key to living well abroad is not airline specials, discount hotel vouchers, or finding the cheapest restaurant in Rome or Paris. The way to really travel well without spending your life savings is to go to where your first world dollars are worth a fortune.

For the price of a bed in a tiny dorm in Japan you can get a beautiful double room in a hotel with a pool in many parts of Southeast Asia. For the price of dinner for two in western Europe, you could pig out for a whole week in Indonesia, Nepal or India. For the $7.50 you'd pay for one beer in a bar in Oslo, you could buy a round of beers for yourself and about ten friends in Istanbul, Prague, or Saigon.

While all the practical advice on budgeting and finding a good deal is useful, it doesn’t help so much if the destination is expensive to start with. If you’re worried about money the whole time you’re traveling or are thinking about how much your dinner is setting you back while you’re eating it, you’re probably not enjoying the experience very much. A $40 "bargain" meal in Paris is still $40, which will feed you for a week in a lot of budget destinations.

Travel for $400-1000 per month

A couple can travel around The World’s Cheapest Destinations for $400 to $1,000 a month at the budget end, anywhere from $600 to $2,500 a month staying in mid-range hotels and taking the best available ground transportation. Compare that to what you normally spend for a one-week vacation at some beach resort or in Paris—or even what you spend just to pay your regular bills at home. Some homeowner travelers we met were renting out their house or condo while they were traveling and were spending less than the profit that was coming in!

There are several ironies that work in your favor when you travel on the cheap. First, many of the world's most awe-inspiring sights are located in the world's cheapest countries. Think of all the great man-made monuments: The Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramids, Macchu Pichu, Petra, Borobudour, Aya Sofia, Ankor Wat, and all the Roman ruins scattered outside Rome.

Or if you prefer natural wonders, you can explore the most unspoiled rain forests, go white water rafting on raging rivers, hike up volcanoes, kayak around some of the world’s prettiest beaches, or go trekking in the Himalayas (just to name a few).

Secondly, the less money you spend in any given location, the more likely you are to interact with the people who actually live there instead of just other tourists. You'll also get much better deals on everything than your "Eastern Europe in Seven Days" counterparts. These vacationers seal themselves in familiar chain hotels, travel in packs, and do everything in a hurry, including their shopping. With a little bit of effort, you can spend a tenth of what they do and have a better time as well.

If you visit the right destinations, you'll eat great meals, experience mind-blowing things, meet people you'll never forget, and come back with photos that'll amaze your friends and family—probably for less than you spend each month to put a roof over your head. If you work, volunteer, or study abroad, you’ll probably spend even less and get the education of a lifetime.

What’s the Catch?

"If it sounds too good to be true, it must be" the saying goes. Another saying says, "everything in life is a trade-off," which is probably more apt for this situation. In essence, The World’s Cheapest Destinations are are a bargain because the population is not nearly as rich as first-world nations such as Japan, the US, Canada, and most of Europe.

As a result, you’ll surely encounter inept and corrupt government officials, you’ll find that departure times are rarely more than rough estimates, you often can’t drink the tap water, and you certainly won’t have the vast choices and conveniences you’re used to at home.

You’ll also find scary bathrooms and you may need shots to prevent scarier diseases. You’ll probably find the idea of renting a car and playing chicken with the local highway drivers to be a bit too adventurous.

Each negative usually has a corresponding positive, however. You won’t find miles of bland strip malls and parking lots. You’ll be forced to try new food and customs, some of which you’ll end up really liking. You’ll learn something about other religions and traditions that doesn’t come from a textbook or a news soundbite. You’ll read and hear news with a whole different perspective. And you’ll see your own country through others’ eyes—something it wouldn’t hurt our elected leaders to do once in a while.

Lastly, you’ll appreciate what you have and realize that most of the world’s people lead happy lives having just a fraction of what we spend our money on.

For more information on the author and this book visit the website.

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The World's Cheapest Destinations: 21 Countries Where Your Money is Worth a Fortune, 3rd Edition