IS BUDGET TRAVEL BETTER THAN LUXURY TRAVEL?

Over the years debates on luxury v budget travel have raged.

What is best?

Here are a few insights that will support Budget travel as the most fulfilling form of vacation.

Yes, it is great to sleep in a clean luxurious bed, to have all of your needs catered for, to travel in air-conditioned chauffeur driven cars, but are you really seeing the chosen destination from a “warts and all” perspective.

I know there is little glamour or appeal in not washing your clothes for weeks on end and staying in hostels that have questionable insects invading your bed and next to no privacy.

However, the first point I will make in this debate is that budget travel costs a lot less than luxury travel, and this will equate in enabling you to spend more time travelling than you would be able to afford when you opt for the luxury alternative.

The added advantage in staying in a crappy Hostel is that you will invariably want to get up and go first thing the next morning as against luxuriating in you 5 star hotel bed.

There is more to support budget travel than simply the cost, you will invariably meet many more travellers that have opted for the budget alternative.

A stay in a Hostel will invariable mean that you will be invariable thrown together with plenty of people you would never, otherwise,  have the chance to ever meet. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, however it is still an experience, and the good ones will surely outweigh the bad.

In making your way in a foreign land as a budget traveller you will have to interact with the locals (the Hostel owner will invariably be a local), you will get to see the city from their perspective, take their recommendation on the best sites to see, the best restaurants etc.

This open minded approach will provide you with a better insight to the local environment than a pristine 5 star tour and eating itinerary.

So, on your Budget vacation you are out and about early to see the city you are visiting as you walk around, taking in the sights and sounds looking for somewhere to eat your breakfast. If you were staying in 5 star accommodation you would be barely out of your bed or having breakfast at the buffet by this time.

By walking through the city you will be surrounded by the sounds, smells and ambiance that abound, much more than you would if you were to move around by taxi or air-conditioned chauffeur driven vehicles.

Have you ever been to New York if you haven’t ridden the subway or to Paris if you haven’t travelled on the Metro?

It is the little things that you will never pick up unless you get in there amongst it all.

For the full experience, a Budget can give you a true and personal experience of your chosen destination.