While I was reading the newspaper today I came across this article, called Travel Deals of the week.
Here’s what it says:
“We bring you some of the best travel deals going – both in New Zealand and abroad. Bookmark this new page and check back each week for all the latest specials.”
Of course, this is right down my alley, so I browse through it and by the end of it I’m rolling my eyes. In fact, I’m kind of annoyed. It’s articles like this that make people think travelling is so impossible.
7 nights in Bali for $2,399 NZD ($2,050 USD)
Hotels in Tokyo for $351 NZD a night ($300 USD)
The biggest newspaper in New Zealand is trying to make people believe that these are the “best travel deals” of the week. That’s pretty shitty. Most people I know, including myself, would take one look at those prices and think, “Wow, travelling must be expensive. I’ll never be able to travel to those places! I guess I’ll just wait until I win the lottery.”
And it’s also why I get so many people asking me, “How do you afford to travel so much? You must be a millionaire!”
I’ll tell you right now – I’ve travelled quite a bit, and I would really struggle to spend $2,050 in 7 days. (especially in Bali!). And I’ve never paid anywhere near $300 for a hotel room.
Take a look at this Bali bargain:
“The Our Golfing in Bali package from Our Asia includes three rounds of golf including caddy and cart, or two two-hour spa treatments. It also includes airfares from Auckland, seven nights’ accommodation at the Pan Pacific Bali Nirwana and more. It’s priced from $2,050 USD pp, twin share and must be booked by March 28.”
Let’s bust this myth right now.
7 nights in Bali for $2,050?
You could have 7 weeks in Bali for $2,050.
In fact I’ll prove it right now:
Flights
Return flights from Auckland to Bali for 7 weeks (at around the same time as our “deal”):
$693 USD per person (found using Skyscanner)
Accommodation
7 weeks (49 nights) in a private room with en-suite, A/C, TV + DVD player, free wifi, hot shower, parking, complimentary breakfast, 24 hour reception, and security:
$588 USD per person (found using Agoda)
Proof? It’s for the Warung Coco Hotel, at $12 per person per night.
In case you’re wondering, it looks likes this:
$2,050 for 7 days in Bali?
With a few simple internet searches, and you’ll get yourself 7 weeks in Bali, including flights and a private hotel room, for $1,281 USD.
I put all this together in about 10 minutes. Actually, it was more like 5 minutes and then another 5 to take screenshots and upload the pics for you. If I was planning this trip for real, I’d browse a few more accommodation websites, do some of my cheap flying tricks and I’m 120% sure I could knock another few hundred dollars off that price. There’s a lot of places to go in Bali, so finding something even cheaper wouldn’t be hard at all.
Also let’s not forget; your “travel deal” also included two 2-hour spa treatments. Let’s throw those in, just so we’ve covered everything.
They were going to put you up at the Pan Pacific Nirwana, so I checked out their spa menu. Their 2-hour spas are $70 each.
Since you’ve saved around $800, I guess you can now have 11 spas instead of just 2. Which is good, because you also have an extra 6 weeks of vacation to enjoy them all, along with all the other great things in Bali.
Anyway, you get the point. Travel being expensive is a common misconception that we need to break, because it makes people give up. It stops people from travelling. It makes people think you need thousands of dollars to see the world, and you don’t.
So why do we think like this?
It’s pretty simple. The reason you only hear about fancy 5-star resorts and super expensive holiday packages is because they are the only ones who can afford to advertise. B&B’s and guesthouses can’t afford a newspaper advert. They can’t afford a billboard. Not only that, no one wants to promote them because there’s no money in it. If you were an agent, would you prefer to collect commission on a $500 room or a $5 room? It’s lame, but that’s just the way it is.
This is one of the reasons I built this blog. I wanted to show you that travel is not expensive or impossible. There’s a good chance it’s even cheaper than your life at home right now.
Take a look at this place in Bali, for example. Its dorm rooms are $6 per night, with free breakfast and wifi.
It’s not glamorous, but if you stay here, you can forget about 7 weeks.
$2,050 would pay your flights and accommodation for 7 months.
Wouldn’t that be nice? Paying for a 7 month holiday with one paycheck?
You’ll also notice it has a 79% rating on Hostelworld, which is pretty good (anything above 80% has been excellent, in my experience). If I were heading on a backpacking trip to Bali, this is probably where I’d stay.
This is how people travel for so long – if you look in the right places, be smart with your money and stop yourself from being too fussy, long term travel is not a mystery at all.
For you aspiring world travellers who have been putting your trip in the “too expensive” box, I hope I’ve changed your mind at least a little bit. If you’re planning on travelling somewhere this year, use my searching for flights guide to get a super cheap flight. Use my accommodations guide to find a cheap place to stay. Be your own travel agent and book it all yourself. And if you have any questions, just ask. Hopefully you’ll be able to do more travelling this year than ever before.
Oh, and please don’t bookmark that travel deals page. Unless of course, you’re a millionaire.
Enjoy your 7 months in Bali!
Bren
thanks for the sharing your best views. all are so much nice…
Thanks for reading π
Thanks, Bren! So true! I travel to Bali regularly and can usually do it for just over $1000 staying at a 3 star resort in a private apartment for two weeks, including return flights from Brisbane.
Yes! It’s amazing how cheap it can be to travel when you do it yourself. Where do you stay usually?
When I saw a travel deal to go to Indonesia I thought the same. Yeah flights from Canada to Indonesia are expensive (the cheapest one I saw was by flying to singapore and use SE asian airlines to get to Indonesia) but if you know where to stay you can spend the same amount but longer periods π
Absolutely. You can only do so much to save on a flight, but accommodation usually has endless options.
Hey Bren that article was spot on mate, perfect analogy!
Hi Joe, thanks! Glad it was of help.
π Bravo…Thats the spirit. The truth is that tourism is big industry, but look at those prices.. shameless.
Yeah, tourism is unique as an industry since your customers are generally in other countries – this makes it hard for the cheaper options to afford any real advertising exposure. Luckily with sites like Agoda and Hostelworld this is becoming more possible though.
Ben, I’m a full-time traveler myself (getting close to 3 years now), and I’ve read my fair share of travel blogs, but this is probably the best post I’ve ever seen for explaining to people how inexpensive it is to travel.
In South America and Eastern Europe, I’ve also found that you can get even better deals by booking a night or two, walking around once you get there, and looking for hotels that aren’t listed online. I’m curious – have you found that to be the case in Southeast Asia, too?
Thanks man.
Whoops! Typo there Brendan, I called you Ben. Sorry! I hope you’ll forgive me since our names are so similar π
Hi Brandon, yes, this is definitely true in the smaller towns where you will find a lot of family run guesthouses and such. Most of them have a website, but will not be listed on Agoda, Hotels.com etc. In the major cities though you will find great deals on Agoda and hunting down unlisted places isn’t really that necessary.
Yes, Yes, Yes!!
People always look at me like I’m rich when I say I’m travelling for over a week anywhere (and I don’t travel anywhere near as often as I should!), umm the reason why isn’t because I’m rich, it’s because I don’t pay $300 per night on my accommodation!
Isn’t it crazy…after I’ve been living in Bangkok for a couple months, people always ask me, how do you pay for it? And they don’t believe it only costs $10-$12 a day when I tell them. Travel really is just that cheap!
Very well written! I’m in Indonesia at the moment. My girlfriend and I spent 2500 Australian $ for 2 in 6 weeks travelling overland (no plane) from Kupang (Timor) to Bandar lampung (Sumatra), enjoying some (cheap and negotiated) tours and beers along the way. I think it is important to add that if you negotiate everything, you can stay even longer as people will always expect more from you just because you’re a foreigner!
Nice share. I spent almost a month from east java-bali-lombok and I spent only $100 not including the flight
This was both informative and pretty hilarious….travel agents and holiday ‘deals’ websites are such a scam. I’m looking to go to Bali in the summer and I’m super stoked! Thanks for sharing π
Np hope it helped!
I was a victim to this! I used to book through tour agencies such as intrepid travel, G adventures or Geckos. Untill I travelled solo to Nepal. Now I realise how much further my money can go for less of the price too!
Yep! π