Travel beyond vacations: Spend less. Experience more.

Tips and links from Reid Bramblett's talk at the 2013 Philadelphia Inquirer Travel Show

Below are the main bullet points (with a bit of explanation) from each section of my Philly Travel Show talk.

The links that appeared on the screen during the talk are all here—but if you click on the bullet point itself (or the "more" button) you can read a page with much, much more in-depth information about each topic complete with even more links and resources (usually, there was only room for the top two or three links on the slides).

As a bonus, you'll also get the sections I had hoped to talk about but had to skip so I could fit it into the time allotted. Enjoy!

Be flexible
Never pay retail
Time your trip

When should you book big ticket travel items? Full Story

Look beyond the obvious
Stay for free

Stay for free Full Story

Eat your way to savings (bonus section)
  • Make meals cheaper Full Story
    • Try a fixed-price menu- Set price means and tasting menus can offer great savings, if limited variety. Full Story
    • Splash out at lunch — Fancy, famous restaurants often offer less expensive lunch menus.
    • Look before you tip - Service will often be included in foreign countries (if not mentioned on the menu, ask.) Full Story
    • Sip tap water - Usually free, if not bubbly.
    • Order half portions - Also helps with over-indulging on the road.
    • Uncork the house wine - Usually just as good as the $45 bottles at a fraction to price.
    • Avoid main courses - Mains are usually the priciest menu items, but also the ones you could probably make at home anyway (and much more cheaply). On vacation, I like to let the chefs fiddle with fancy appetizers, complex first courses, variety vegetable sides, and neat desserts—and I end up having a meal with much more variety while skipping the $40 slab of meat.
  • Dine like a local
    • Follow the locals - Eat when they eat, where they eat, and what they eat.
    • Browse free buffets - During Italy's aperitivi hour (5pm to 7pm), many bars in Rome, Milan, and Turin lay out sumptuous spreads of free snacks. Full Story
    • Stand at the bar - In many places—from European cafes to Japan's sushi bars—eating while standing up is cheaper than sitting at a table.
    • Be your own chef - Bring back ingredients to make a meal in your room—cold stuff if your lodgings don't have a kitchenette, or cook when you can.
    • Picnic like royalty - A crusty loaf of bread, array of local cheeses, spicy salamis and thinly sliced prosciutto, fresh fruits, flaky pastries, a bottle of wine, another of water, a prime spot overlooking the cathedral or in the park of even just back in your room... this picnic is turning out to be better than any restaurant. Full Story
    • Indulge in street food and (local) fast food - Not "Le Roi de Burger," but street cart food, hole-in-the-wall eateries, and other local variants on fast food.
Experiences trump sightseeing
 

Tours Under $995 G Adventures


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This article was by Reid Bramblett and last updated in Janaury 2013.
All information was accurate at the time.

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Copyright © 1998–2013 by Reid Bramblett. Author: Reid Bramblett.