Alright guys, I have to come clean about a very serious condition I have…

I have the travel bug, and I have it bad.

See, this bug has a nasty habit of draining my checking & savings accounts💸 So what’s a lady to do but adapt?😎

Alright so speaking from experience, it’s easy to make costly ‘mistakes’ when traveling. Don’t feel too special though, plenty of novice and seasoned travelers alike make the same mistakes on the reg. But please, learn from my previous blunders and avoid spending more than you need to. After all…

More money=More room for activities!

Alright, let’s cut the crap, slice the shit, dice the doo-doo and get down to the nitty-gritties…

Here’s my Top Travel Tips for Frugal Females:

1. Money Saving Investments

Quality backpack: This is my #1 item to definitely NOT skimp on. In 2017 I lived out of an old high school backpack for 2 weeks on Maui, then in 2019 I did it again out of an Osprey Kestrel 48 Pack in Belize. Hot diggity dog what a difference! A quality pack allows you to bring necessities from home instead of buying them abroad. The Osprey pack also allowed me to bring my tent & sleeping bag, saving me literally hundreds of dollars on accommodation. I did my shopping at REI for a few reasons but mainly because of their excellent customer service (make sure you get an employee to help you choose the right one), a rad return policy, and who doesn’t love annual dividends?

Quality Tent and/or Hammock: I opted for the REI Co-op Half Dome 1 Plus Tent because it’s lightweight and super fast & simple to set up…by yourself…in the dark…when your headlamp batteries just died and you did not remember to charge your solar light….yeah anyways.

Hammocks are excellent money-savers as well because they can provide a place to sleep for the night as well as a day-time hobby headquarters for reading, napping, drawing, or other activities. And sure, you could drop a couple hundred bucks on something super fancy…or you could snag one for $20 at a your local chain superstore whose slogan is something like…”Save Money. Live Better.” Seriously though, I’m not a fan of shopping at wally world but honestly the fact that my cheap-o hammock has survived such heavy usage over the last +2 years is seriously impressive.

Packing Cubes: Investing in packing cubes is a key money saver in the long run because they keep my pack minimalistic and organized. These ensure that I don’t over-pack and pay for heavy luggage or lose/have to replace anything. (“Where the HECK did I put my toothpaste?!” 🤦‍♀️)There are a wide variety of packing cubes to fit your needs. Personally, I have the Travelon® Packing Squares – Set of 3 from Eddie Bauer. They’re small, lightweight, and most importantly for me, they close with a zipper. Nothing worse than losin’ ya biscuits on the road. 💁‍♀️

Shoes: I travel with 1-2 pairs of shoes. Yes, really. Hiking shoes & MAYBE a pair of lightweight sandals if there’s a high probability of litter/broken glass. (I’m a minimalist and a fan of barefoot hiking/I may or may not have ditched my heavy-ass Chacos at a Belizean Hostel😮) Either way, invest in quality footwear that’ll survive multiple expeditions. I know the $1 Flip-Flop Sale at Old Navy is tempting, but really how long do those things last? Invest in your feet. Invest in yoself gurl, it’s a guaranteed return. On the other hand foot(?)…

Next up…Wait for it…A bar of soap: Okay ladies…We’re traveling, not entering a foreign beauty contest. Do you really need to waste money on travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, and laundry detergent? Sounds heavy, wasteful and expensive to me, but you do you Boo. I prefer to stash a bar of soap in a plastic bag in my toiletry-dedicated packing cube along with my favorite mascara, dental care items & extra tamps, just in case.👍

P.S. Wanna save precious time and money while traveling? Welcome to Travel Laundry 101! Required Materials: Bar of soap & 2 wooden clothespins. Each day, wash 1 or 2 clothing items while showering. Wring well & line dry with your quick-drying microfiber travel towel. Wear the next day. Ta da!

Small TSA padlock(s): These are cheap & handy, and could save you a lot of money for obvious reasons. Use on any vulnerable/exposed exterior backpack zippers while traveling around & for storage lockers in hostels. I’ve also used mine in place of a carabiner to fasten my sandal straps to the outside of my backpack to free up some room.

Sarong or something similar: Having a lightweight, durable piece of fabric can be infinitely versatile and hella convenient. Need a beach blanket? An emergency towel? Light sweater? Swimsuit cover? Pop-up privacy screen? A lumpy ‘pillow’? Sunshade? The perfect accessory for your next Insta post? Boom. Done.
I chose this small circle tapestry I got from a Sunday Market on Maui. I definitley spent way too much on this thing, but it’s been through a lot with me and I absolutely love it. No regrets. Find something cheap yet durable and getchu one, girl.

Lantern: If you’re in the market for a lantern, I HIGHLY recommend the Luci Outdoor 2.0 Inflatable Solar Lantern. This thing can really take a beating! It’s cheap, hella durable, lightweight, as bright as Einstein and doesn’t require expensive batteries🎉😎🌞👌

2. 📆Timing: 🌞VS.🌩

Once upon a time, there was a magical time of year, called the “Shoulder Season”. During this time, activities, accommodations and transportation is cheaper. Destinations are less crowded, and traveling becomes much more relaxing…like how it should be…almost like it’s a vacation or something…weird.

So yeah, each place you go will have its own shoulder season. So do a little research. I enjoy traveling in the Spring before the Summer crowd hits, but going in Fall before cold/crappy weather hits is also a popular choice. Unless you’re one of those weirdos who enjoys the cold. But if you are, lucky you! You get to travel during low seasons when tourists are scarce and prices drop even lower. Beware though, some popular attractions and accommodations around the world will close during low season for repairs, maintenance, etc.

3. Accommodations🏕

This will differ depending on what type of traveling you’re planning (backpacking, work-trade travel, vacation, wandering through an existential crisis praying to discover life’s purpose, etc.)

No matter the kind of traveling you’re partaking in, here are my favs…

WWOOF/WorkAway: These sites are my favorite way to live like a local when I’m traveling without a time-crunch. For each, you sign up & pay a yearly membership fee. By the way, if you actually use your membership, its a guaranteed return on investment! Then browse hosts (Look for verified hosts for additional security) and travel to your dream destination. (P.S. WorkAway gives you access to hosts in 179 countries, while WWOOF is country by country so you have to sign up/pay a fee for each country you want to wwoof in. Worth it though.)

My top tips here:

1. For optimal adventure opportunities, find a host/farm that supplies food staples and requires only 10-15 hours of work per week. Any more than that and you won’t have much time to explore. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re work-trading to learn rather than travel, by all means go for the 25-40 hours of work per week.

2. Don’t be a lazy dingus. It’s a WORK-trade. So yes, you have to work. It’s okay to use these sites in order to travel, but please don’t take advantage of your host! Find a host who needs help with something you’re genuinely interested in learning about. Do your best, make friends, live like a local, Grow.

AirBnB/HostelWorld: These are excellent tools for finding cheap accommodations. If you sign up through these sites you get added bonuses (free cancellation, easy-to-use interface for contact, etc.) But honestly, I prefer to use them to find a place, then I go book direct through the hostel to save myself the arbitrary $10 or so.

4. Frugal Flights ✈

This is typically the biggest chonk out of your travel budget, so it’s important to book smart. No matter how you go about it, the KEY to saving money is being flexible. Also, put your browser on secret/private mode while browsing flights so the prices don’t get jacked up when your indecisive ass finally books that flight.🙄

Scott’s Cheap Flights: Stop what you’re doing. Go to Scott’s Cheap Flights right now and Sign up. Set your departure airports, sit back and wait for the insanely cheap airline deals to flood your inbox. Okay, so I get emails only a few times a week, but honestly they have screamin’ deals. $160 one’way from San Fran to Barcelona?? YAS. QUEEN.

Caution: Please book responsibly. I have a habit of booking instantly when I see these amazing flight deals. Is this a bad habit? Nahhhhhhh.

SkyScanner: This is my go-to BFF for flight research. I use it mostly to compare flight prices at different times of year and to help plan out future trips. I typically book direct through the airline though.👍

Alright Girly Pops, that’s all for now. I’ve got a million more travel tips I cannot wait to share with you, but that’s for another post. If you enjoyed reading this, or hell even if you didn’t, send me an email to my personal inbox at hayniemariah@gmail.com

I want you to get out there and explore the world! So let me know what you need to take that first step. What are you curious about? What travel topics would you like me to cover? I can’t wait to hear from you!

Do what makes your heart soar, not sore.

Thanks for reading, Happy Travels!

❤ Mariah