Beyond the outposts I will venture all alone;
Some never-never lands my goal,
For wanderlust has ruled me -
And the wanderlust has schooled me.

~Robert Service

Only a few unlucky amongst us won’t be thrilled by the prospects of travel for fun away from the country. Most of us in Pakistan, despite the dainty desire, cannot go on foreign trips now and then. Budgets are understandably a key reason but are we doing the math right? I think not.

Of course travel, sightseeing and fun can be expensive but only if we want it to be so. Most people in the world travelling for fun do so on a budget and come away having had as much fun as anyone with planeloads of money. Ask me -- budget travelling has made it possible for me to travel about 50 countries in all the five continents in the last five years alone - including all three Baltic states, Portugal, Spain, most Balkan states including Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, lots of other eastern, central and southern Europe states, countries in Africa, large chunks of Asia and northern, central and southern Americas, South Asia, Gulf and the Middle East, my earlier travels from the age of four not counting.

Like most people, I’m a salaried individual who doesn’t make large savings. So, how do we travel on a budget without sacrificing too much comfort and convenience and yet come away fulfilled and be ready for more soon thereafter?

All things come at a price but adding value to them requires some common sense and a bit of advance planning. It all starts with you being clear about what you like and what you want. Want to visit global landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Times Square, or natural wonders like Victoria Falls and Grand Canyon, or museums like the Louvre and the Smithsonian? Or maybe soaking in local culture and nightlife? Or, instead, experiencing landmarks and neighbourhoods that hold a personal appeal and link your deeper interests in literature, history, politics or sports?

Chances are you’d like a combination of these in more countries than one. That’s your starting point for planning a trip, then -- choosing two or three (if not more) countries that are contiguous or at least close to each together. Visiting one country at a time is fine but visiting more than one country in a single trip will be obviously cheaper than making separate trips. Then you decide how many nights you’ll stay in each country. Depending on the time you have for the entire trip -- let’s say a week -- you can have about two days of 10-hour sightseeing time per country. In Western countries, and some Asian states too, where transport is organised, this is ample time to see in detail four to five key landmarks as well as any personal-interest venues per day. The best way to do this would be to, in these countries, take the hop on-hop off bus which offers two advantages: (a) For a single ticket averaging between $15 and $25, the bus will take you all around the city to almost all key touristic places and landmarks in town and give you a running commentary on the city and those places’ histories, and (b) You can get down at places that interest you, some of which you would have hopefully listed beforehand, to explore in detail, and come back and get on the same bus service to finish the loop. The ticket is valid for a full day of limitless hop on-hop off travel. In some places, like Athens, it is valid for two days.

Another trick is doing your internet homework beforehand -- in many cities there are organised walking tours of key landmarks, localities and even major chunks of the downtown that are free. Lasting between two to three hours of walkabouts these start off at fixed times and fixed places, usually in the downtown areas or close to key landmarks. Your hotel can also inform you where these happen. You can simply join them for free. These are amazing tours as the guides conducting the tour usually have rich knowledge about both old and contemporary histories of the places as well anecdotes and quips you’ll never find yourself.

It’s amazing how much through a combination of hop on-hop off bus tours and free walking tours of a city you can see, learn and enjoy for a rich experience.

A key trick is booking yourself a hotel in a city’s downtown. This will provide you a rich menu of places to see, restaurants for culinary experiences to savour if you’re so inclined -- all within easy, walking access. Because downtown is the heart of a city, they are repositories of rich historical tradition, current custom and a wealth of both mainstream and the odd discoveries waiting for you. This holds true for both larger cities like London, Athens and Paris as well as relatively smaller cities like Vilnius, Sarajevo, Cordoba, Panama and Colombo. And because downtowns grow with time, you get both -- expensive 5-star hotels as well as small hotels and boutique establishments, which can save you lots of money.

Other smart hacks to save money include buying return air tickets and booking hotels online between one and three months in advance for up to 50 per cent cheaper prices. Use the safe and extremely reliable portals like cheaptickets.com and lastminute.com for flight options. They give you comparisons from different airlines with different option filters like direct flights or flights with stops, etc. Smaller airlines offer spectacular discounts for advance bookings. For hotels use portals like booking.com. Use their filters for your preferred options on location (always choose ‘downtown’/‘city centre’) and price (for example between Rs3,000 and Rs6,000). You’ll be amazed at the deals you get, including payment on arrival or payment online. You’ll get a single-page convenient printout of your booking with all key details. For inter-country and inter-city transfers, you can explore air, train or bus options with similar results. The earlier you make your online bookings, the cheaper the payments. Off-the-shelf, on-spot purchases can be expensive so go for online bookings. Early booking give you discounts for even the peak seasons. For all this, you’ll need a credit card.

Lastly, a time-saving hack that is also a money-saving tip: travel extremely light. I prefer the backpack -- no suitcases, or trolleys. This frees you from the tyranny of collecting your luggage and lugging it all around. When traveling between cities, I check out from hotels in the morning so that after my sightseeing I can proceed directly to the airport or train/bus station. Don’t worry about looking too good and taking lots of clothes. Trust me, nobody’s looking at you. Shed all that extra luggage!

Following the tips above, the budget for my travels this year have cost me the following average per day: Hotel $35, sightseeing $55 (hop on-hop off bus and entry tickets to museums and palaces, etc.) and food $25. That’s $115 a day. Even my ‘expensive’ day is rarely above $150. For days of travel from one city/country to another through either planes, trains or buses, add between $50 and $150. The return ticket from Pakistan, for example to Europe, America or Africa, booked a couple of months in advance, will rarely be above $500.

Still have an excuse not to travel?