Does Budget Travel matter that much?
Most travellers you meet on the road are budget-conscious and travelling to find the cheapest room, the bargain sale, the two-for-one drinks, and the cheap street food, so Does Budget Travel matter that much?
Not to mention the fact that backpackers often choose to forego certain tours, experiences, and expeditions because they will stretch their travel budget way too far and cut time spent on the road way down, no one wants to be faced with having to go home earlier than they planned, or at all, even!
Having a budget-travel-conscious mindset is really important; you always want to ensure you can stretch the money further so you can do more and see more.
However, there will be times on your travels when you need to tell a friend to take a vacation himself.
TRAVEL IS ABOUT QUALITY.
Travel is about experiencing the new country you are visiting, and all it has to offer through its natural environment and cultural appreciation. Sometimes, to truly appreciate this, you have to spend money. And it might be quite a lot.
We debated whether to see the gorillas in the wild in Uganda. Gorilla Trekking was going to cost us $800 each to obtain the gorilla permit, allowing us to spend one hour with them. This didn’t even guarantee that we would see them.
Read:
How to go gorilla Trekking in Uganda on a BudgetTop 8 Affordable Safari Adventures in East Africa
This was a huge amount of money for travel in Africa, and we were on a tight budget; it wasn’t easy to see us spend the equivalent of a month’s travel on just one hour activity.
Actually, we decided that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we might never have again. Here we were; we could not say no. Instead, we had to find ways to cut down in other areas.
4 Day Budget Gorilla Trekking Safari
We camped the whole time, and for just $10- $50 per night, this really helped us. We also decided to trim down the number of safari game parks we would visit. There is no need to go to all of them. We had to choose the most suitable option for what we wanted to see, taking into account the season.
Cutting back in other ways allowed us to spend a magical hour with the gorillas. There is no price tag you can put on a silverback charging you in its impenetrable jungle home. This is a priceless memory.
TRAVEL IS ALL ABOUT THE MEMORIES
When planning and saving for your round-the-world travels, be sure to factor money for these once-in-a-lifetime events, such as the Masai Mara Great Migration safari, into your budget. Research them beforehand so you know just how much these experiences could cost you.
Plan for that. Work a couple of extra shifts at work, sell something you own that could not bring you as great a reward as the travel experience could. Put these extra dollars into a separate savings account dedicated solely to those extra special once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences.
If you don’t, upon your return home, you will regret spending the majority of your time knocking back on a couch in a hostel, afraid to walk out the door and do anything for fear of blowing your budget. Priceless memories would have eluded you, and you would have missed what travel is really all about.
Experiencing the best of what this world has to offer, learning more about yourself, and having some ultra kick ass memories to write home about.
What are some priceless memories you have from travel which you had to break the budget to experience? Talk to a consultant at Wild Travel Safaris Uganda Safaris for some great insights on what you can save to have a great holiday safari adventure in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.
