I went to Singapore and Malaysia last week. I made a little goal last year that I should travel to at least one foreign destination and at least one Philippine destination every year. Thanks to promo fares, this little goal of mine is achievable. Beyond the promo fare, the reality of having to spend Philippine-earned money in a foreign soil proves to be a challenge. I am budget traveler. I cannot afford luxuries. Thus, I find ways to spend as little as possible.
Here are ways I employ to afford a trip abroad:
1. Advanced booking. Promo fares are cheap because they are booked in advance. The downside: they are non-transferable, non-refundable, non-rebookable. The upside: there is no backing out. I got my June tickets as early as November last year.
The roundtrip ticket for 2 to Singapore from Manila only costs Php 4,700++.
2. Sleeping at airports. Our flight to Singapore arrived at 11:55PM. To save on hotel costs, I told my aunt that we should sleep on the airport. Many people sleep on airports. According to this website, Singapore’s Changi is the best airport for sleeping in 2011. Well, I got excited with this idea only to find out that the cool amenities are inside the transit area which can only be accessed after the immigration counter. This means I need to have a ticket that flies out of Changi to be able to access the cool sleeping areas. Still, I stuck to my sleeping-in-the-airport plan. We hit these chairs in the arrival area.
3. Traveling light. Because I do not want to earn my 15 minutes of fame by berating an airport personnel for losing my luggage, I travel light. Light travelers also save a few hundreds of pesos form their ticket cost. Pang-value meal na rin yung ma-save. Traveling light prevents me from shopping.
3. Free meals! I have friends in Singapore that I wanted to meet. They were generous enough to pay for our yummy meals. Below is our lunch at Din Tai Fung. My friend picked up the tab. Another friend treated us to breakfast and another one to dinner. Thanks, Gail, Maea and Jill!
4. Efficient Public Transportation. These Asian cities have a very efficient public transportation system. We used the MRT and buses to get around.
5. Bringing food. We brought instant noodles, biscuits, candies and coffee in case we get hungry. My aunt is not adventurous with food so looking for a familiar dish can be difficult.
6. Walking around. I like walking. It makes me feel like I am one with the locals. It is easier to find my way by walking. It is a form of exercise at the same time. However, I traveled with a 67-year-old. I often forget that important fact. Movement was a little slower when traveling with a senior citizen. I got dagger stares whenever my navigational skills failed me. HA!
Nice tips for travellers and wants to travel. I think, I cannot do the light traveller because I have my son that really needs to bring stuffs when travelling. hehehe.
And sleeping at the airport with a child is not advisable.
Thanks for sharing these tips! Will surely come in handy when I go to Singapore.
enjoyed this post.
last year, we spent our holiday in France and to save money, I brought along a can of Argentina, Knorr chicken noodle soup, 1 kg jasmin rice and even ginger (because europeans rarely know this spice) to fight those hunger pangs. We can’t be eating risotto and pate liver the whole 7 days =)
Filipinos need rice! Will take note of that when I get the chance to travel to Europe.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. I also have a friend in Singapore so I may visit it soon 🙂 I love the quote you posted, very well said.
Wow! Ang mura naman ng airfare mo. I want to try all your tips. Thanks for sharing, very helpful talaga ito.
Mommy Maye (http://momayes.blogspot.com)
these are great travelling tips. 🙂
the only tip i might have trouble with is the light travelling. 🙂 i’m not really a light traveler :p
I know a lot people having trouble with light traveling.
inggit! never been to sg and melacca! namiss ko tuloy kl and the train travel from titiwangsa to sentral. next on the list is sg, definitely! my mouth waters with the thought of eating curry!
on sleeping sa airport, been there. done that. masakit sa likod but mega tipid. hehehe
love! I am still praying for a promo fare to join your SEA backpacking trip. meron sana ngayon but wala sa date na kasabay ninoy. huhuhu
too many promos, so little moolah and leave credits. still have a couple of months – baka there’ll be another seat sale 🙂 hopefully maabutan ko ang bangkok open sa last leg of the trip!
[…] This is expensive than the hostel rate in Hong Kong so I looked for savings in other ways like sleeping in the airport and taking a bus trip at […]
Great tips! I am yet to travel abroad but I seriously need to learn how to travel light. I mean I can do that on my own but with a toddler with me, I just can’t. I have to be prepared and have everything handy.
Moms are expected not to travel light. 😀
Thanks for the tips, we need all the info we can get since traveling with kids complicate things. First time posting here.
Thanks for visiting. I might have a different gameplan if kids travel with me.