Hello everyone! I’m happy to say that I am almost at the end of my Baguio blog series. After writing and sharing about the places we have been and our experiences about commuting, I will be sharing to you next our thrift travel in Baguio City.
(Honestly, I am not sure if this can be considered as a cheap travel. But it was, for us.)
(image source: Pixabay)
Traveling doesn’t necessarily mean splurging lots of money. Most people have this notion that traveling has to be grand and luxurious so they need a huge budget to do it. That's not true. In fact, there are ways which we can still travel and enjoy without breaking our piggy banks. Want to know how? Keep reading.
Last year, mhaiiiself and I were planned for an overnight vacation at Baguio City. However, due to our conflicting schedules and lack of funds that time, our December vacation was moved to January. While searching for some tourist spots on the internet, we’ve seen some blogs about cheap travel and mhaiiiself was like, “Let’s try this too!”
(I didn’t protest and actually liked the idea because I was also saving up for my pocket money and band’s merchandise for the ONE OK ROCK concert.)
Okay! So here are our tips and tricks for a thrifty overnight vacation in Baguio City!
My budget: Php 2,500 ($47.82 USD)
TIPS AND TRICKS
■ SELF-CONTROL
(image source: Pixabay)
First thing one must do is to practice the art of self-control. If you have it, you can conquer the world! I mean, you’ll be wise and spend only on what’s really important.
Mind over matter!
Remember. Mind over matter.
It takes lots of concentration and persuasion to control our greed with things especially when we are on a new place where everything just turns to be candies to our eyes. Sometimes we overlook its purpose to our lives and just buy it impulsively all for the reason that it looks beautiful and because we “want” it. It gives us happiness, but do we really need it?
(image source: Pixabay)
Oh, and there you go. The want versus need. I am very much guilty of this. I bet everyone too. When we're trapped on a decision of buying it or not, we have this feeling that we have an angel and a devil on our shoulders trying to convince us what to do.
So the next time you travel and got caught on a dilemma of buying something, pause and ask yourself, "What is its purpose in my life? Do I really need it?"
If you want to travel cheap, let go of the wants and only purchase what you deem is necessary.
■ FOODS
(image source: Pixabay)
An old hack that most of us seem to forget is to pack foods. Whenever we travel, we always allot funds for our meals, right? Who wouldn’t survive without food, anyway?
Mhaiiiself brought with her biscuits, a pack of Yakult, and a medium-sized container filled with rice and a slice of chicken. I was surprised with all the foods she brought and applauded her for being well-prepared for our trip. She then mentioned that the chicken is for our lunch because we’re making the cheap travel challenge. She ain’t prepared for this, right? (Lol.) I didn't know she was serious about it. I thought she was only kidding when she told me that we're making the challenge. However, despite her eagerness to travel cheap, she forgot to bring spoon and fork. But oh no problemo! Because I brought a pack of fork with me. Before I left home, my mom just randomly said to bring some of the spare disposable forks we brought during our December trip. I never thought it would be very useful this time. Indeed, mother knows best!
(video source: Holly Perkins via Youtube)
Meanwhile, I also brought a liter of water and two packs of biscuits with me. To be honest, none of us talked about bringing these. It’s so hilarious but amazing at the same time that we unconsciously brought things that complemented each other and fit our needs for the trip. Looks like luck was on our favor that time.
So bring foods to cut the cost of meals while traveling. It really helps, I promise!
■ PLACES TO VISIT
(image source: Pixabay)
Of course, the best way to lessen the expenses is to visit tourist destinations with no entrance fees! Sometimes, entrance fees can be quite expensive which can eat a huge part of our budget. As a result, this hinders us from visiting other places. Relax! There are lots of tourist spots in Baguio City that you can visit for free and they are actually nice and popular destinations. (The best things in life are free!) Just allot money for your fare and a cup of strawberry taho and you're good! However, if you wish to visit places with entrance fees, then better allot some budget for it.
■ TRANSPORTATION
(image source: Pixabay)
Oh wouldn’t it be nice and comfortable to ride taxi all throughout your trip around Baguio City! Well, maybe next time! We’re trying to be thrifty here, remember? So if don’t want your money to be spent much on transportation, the best way is to ride a jeepney instead of a taxi.
The most expensive jeepney fare we had paid during the trip is just Php 10. Most of the time our fare would only cost Php 8.50. If you are just going somewhere within the city proper, you can save up money by just walking to your destination.
You might also want to check my blog about commuting in Baguio City. (Baguio City Public Transportation Experience)
■ SOUVENIRS
(image source: Pixabay)
Souvenirs are optional. Again, don’t forget my first tip! Self-control! But don’t be so hard on yourself. Of course, you can purchase some souvenirs too sometimes. Just don’t spend so much on it and try your haggling skills too because who knows they might work!
Strawberries and other delicacies of Benguet province can be a bit expensive too. So here’s our trick to keep our expenses low. We divided each food into two, so each of us will only have to pay half of the price. Example, for a kilo of strawberries which costs Php 210, we only paid Php 105 each then divided the strawberries for both of us when we got home. (Kudos to mhaiiiself for suggesting this idea.) This is another good reason why you should travel with someone. Divide the expenses, multiply the fun!
BREAK IT DOWN YO!
(image source: Pixabay)
Welcome to the revelation!
I will now share to you my entire expenses for my second Baguio City trip. To remind you again, my budget for this trip is Php 2,500.
(Note: Those in pink highlight were my sudden and unexpected expenses while those in green highlight were the expenses mhaiiiself and I shared together.)
(image source: Katsanslimites)
List of my expenses during my trip with mhaiiiself.
As seen on the photo, I have spent a total of Php 1,811.50 ($34.62 USD). If I didn’t have those unexpected purchases, I could’ve had a lesser grand total only amounting to Php 1,438.50 ($27.49 USD), which is just a hundred difference compared to mhaiiiself’s expenses Php 1,338.50 ($25.58 USD). Well, that’s a part of traveling and that’s why it is very important to bring extra money with you for some unexpected cases like this. I never thought I would be buying socks, pads, and others for this travel. I need it that moment so I have to. Running out of money when you're away from home is surely a nightmare. I'm glad I still haven't experience it. If I didn't bring extra cash with me to buy those things, the back of my ankle could've been severely scraped and bleeding on my pants the entire travel.
Despite my expenses, I was still able to save Php 688.50 from my budget for this trip! And that’s already an achievement for me. Honestly, I guess this is the cheapest travel I had ever done because I would usually return home with only a few Pesos in my pocket.
LESS IS MORE
(image source: Pixabay)
Less expenses is equal to more savings. Thus, less is more. That's true but I'm just kidding on that part. What I meant for "less is more" is that cheap and simple travel can also be fun. You don't have to burn money to feel happiness and have that sense that your travel was worth it. Sometimes price doesn't define its worth. You can visit historic and popular places and most of the time, these are free. You can walk within the city to immerse yourself of the city's vibe and life. These simple things, I guess they're more worth it.
(video source: PsychoTraveller via Youtube)
I know our cheap travel challenge isn’t the cheapest. Even though it isn’t the cheapest, I am very happy because I never thought we could travel without spending so much. I was able to save up and keep my expenses to a minimum. I believe this challenge was still a success.
You don’t just have to be a traveler, you have to be a thrifty traveler sometimes too. It’s fun and makes me realize that I don’t need so much money to see other places.
Will you try it too?
Thanks for reading!
✧ Katsanslimites
