Tue, Jul 01, 2008 page2

• FEATURE: Penny-pinching travelers share their secrets

  THINK CHEAP Experienced travelers say going abroad doesn’t have to be a budget-busting experience, even with high air fares, and that fun need not be sacrificed

  • By Shelley Shan / STAFF REPORTER
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  While soaring air fares have prevented many people from traveling overseas, some people have managed to find innovative ways to travel cheaply without compromising on fun.

  Ma Chi-kang (馬繼康), an instructor at Shih Hsin University’s advertising department, is a devoted backpacker who recently published a book called Travel, Freeze-frame (旅行•定格).

  Airfare, lodging and meals account for a large percentage of one’s travel budget, so one has to find ways to save costs on these items, Ma said.

  “You can look into flight deals offered by low-cost carriers,” he said. “And the best places to go are Web sites hosted by backpackers, or you can go to sites like www.whichbudget.com, where you can get the ticket prices of all low-cost carriers around the world.”

  Staying in hostels, eating like locals or utilizing public transport are other strategies Ma has used. But Ma said he only starts looking for places to stay once he arrives at his destination because he said he can always find special discounts for accommodation that he cannot get online. He has never had to sleep on the street, he said.

  Ma has also discovered a novel way of getting souvenirs — trading his belongings for whatever the locals are willing to give him. Once, a woman in India asked him if she could have his plastic water bottle; in return she gave him a hand-made brass bracelet, Ma said.

  These methods have helped Ma cut costs. His trip in Iran lasted 17 days and cost a total of NT$60,000, flight and visa included. Two years ago, he made a trip to Thailand and Cambodia, on which he spent NT$15,000.

  In Iran, he met a couple on a train and started talking to them. They ended up inviting him to dinner.

  “There is no boring place on earth, only boring people,” he said.

  “The point is not a free meal or free place to stay; it is to experience a different culture in a different way,” he said.

  Tim Lee (李頲翰), a National Taiwan University law student, has just returned from a 50-day bicycle tour in Europe that took him through Spain, France, Belgium and Holland. Though he had saved NT$200,000 for the trip, Lee said he only spent NT$150,000.

  Lee stayed at hostels, friends’ houses and camped out, although he said you could also find cheap accommodation by looking at Web sites for couch rentals.

  He purchased train tickets online in advance because of the discounts, which ranged from 20 euros (US$31.50) to 100 euros.

  While staying at hostels, Lee bought food from local markets and cooked his own meals.

  He said food prices in Europe are generally higher than in Taiwan, except for milk or French bread.

  Talking to people, he said, also creates unexpected opportunities. While traveling in France, Lee was asking for directions from an Australian woman who had been living there for years. She and her husband invited him to spend the night with them before he left for his next destination.

  Inspired by Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, Fiona Chen (陳美筑) and her sister went on their round-the-world journey in 2003. They not only followed the route described in the book, but also visited Scandinavia. They traveled for 113 days and spent just NT$600,000.

  They did this by buying around-the-world tickets for approximately NT$100,000. They then sent e-mails to all their friends and asked them to forward the message to friends overseas who might be able to put them up while they were traveling. They also stayed at both hostels and three-star hotels.

  The sisters’ trip was not short of surprises. In India, they met the chief executive of a company who treated them to dinner at a five-star hotel. To see the Northern Lights, they found a lakeside house in Lapland, Finland, that cost just NT$2,000 per night.

  Sharing some of her travel tips, chen said people should: research and prepare for the trip; avoid traveling in high season; ask travel agencies about buying group tickets; find places where backpackers usually meet to get more updated information, such as Bangkok’s Kao San Road and look for ways to save, such as collecting coupons that will give you discounts for certain travel deals.

  “Just think and act like a local and not a tourist, and you’ll be able to save money,” she said.
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