There are many ways that travellers can help each other save money while exploring the world! If you are fortunate enough to have like-minded travel companions the possibilities for sharing travel costs are seemingly endless! But even if you travel alone, you will cross paths with many people who will be happy to cooperate with you if you ask them!

For many people walking up to a stranger and striking up a conversation can feel unnatural. Follow me on social media and keep an eye on this blog to learn ‘how you can easily talk to a stranger’! – Pepijn DC

I’ll go over some of the main aspects of any trip and how you can share these costs with others. If you have any other creative ideas or want to share experiences, let me know in the comment section!

Sharing Transportation

Not all methods of transportation are costs that you can share. While plane or train tickets will often have a price per person, you can easily share a taxi, uber or any rental vehicle. In this post I will focus on sharing costs, but there many other ways to reduce transportation costs that will be revealed in a later post!

Let’s give a concrete example: your flight is over and the plane touches down at the destination airport. Usually airports are located some distance from the cities they are associated with. The moment you exit the airport you and most other passengers have a shared goal; find some way to get to the city centre. Playing in on this need, cab drivers will be waiting for you the moment you leave the exit gate.

Here’s what I will do in this situation and how you can start saving money!

1. First I will check if there is a local uber service available because those prices will be much more agreeable than what the cab drivers offer.
2. I will look around for fellow travellers leaving the airport and usually it won’t take me long to find some that show any of the following signs that they have the same goal as you:
   • Focusing on the cab drivers, indicating they did not arrange any pick-up yet.
   • Staring at their phones, using uber or map apps trying to figure out their next step.
   • Looking completely confused or disoriented.
   • If you see travellers looking in the distance while refusing cab offers, or if they look like locals, these are signs that they probably already arranged pick-up and might not be suitable candidates for sharing costs.
3. Once I see travellers that show the right signs, I will approach them and ask if they are also heading towards the city centre. Once they confirm, ask if they want to share a cab or uber. You should be answered with some happy smiles and nodding.

We can all work, but together we win!

In this way I have saved quite a bit on transportation costs, sharing with travel companions but also with people that were complete strangers until the moment I walked up to them. And you can do it anywhere, ask around in the lobby of your hotel or homestay if anyone else is planning to go to where you need to go. Who knows you might even make a friend or two!

Try it out and let me know how it goes! I’ll be happy to hear your stories as well.

Sharing the cost of Attractions

While many attractions will have an entrance fee per visitor, there are practical and clever ways you can lower this cost by working together with others.

• Group discounts: often attractions will have discounts for groups reaching a certain number of people. Some places have lots of people lining up at the entrance. So why not talk to a few of them, suggest that you want to buy tickets together and everyone can pay less? It can make a big difference. If you never thought of it before, you will now! Be sure not to forget other available discounts such as student/local reductions as well.
• When you see attractions or tours where no clear price is displayed, this usually means that there is room for bargaining and another vendor close by might be selling the same. In this situation having more people join is a strong way to lower the individual price.
• Sometimes the price is not determined per person but by ‘service’, for example renting a boat or guide. It is self-explanatory that sharing this service with others, even those not in your travel group, will allow you to share the cost and the experience while meeting new people!

Sharing Lodgings

Hotels and homestays use up a big part of your travel budget. You can greatly reduce this cost by sharing the price of any room with your travel partners. But there are even ways you can use the help of strangers to save money! There are several platforms and apps out there such as ShareARoom that bring travellers with this goal together. Or if you want to experience the local lifestyle, you can always share a room with local people. A well-known platform for this is couchsurfing.

Sharing Food

You read it correct, food! Even here I’ve found that there are ways to share costs that might at the same time even improve your health.

While the main benefit of sharing dishes is that you can try different tastes and experiences, I have learned that sharing one meal at a time before ordering the next one will result ordering less overall and having fewer leftovers. But what is even more interesting is that after your first meal you can evaluate if you are still hungry enough for another round. And guess what… you might be surprised to notice that often you’re quite satiated.

Sharing Economy

Just a quick word on the ‘sharing economy’. This refers to organisations that facilitate the sharing of goods and services between individuals for a price. This price will usually be lower than what is commercially available, or it might even be in the form of a trade. Some examples of this are:

• Airbnb: This platform is great for finding budget-friendly alternatives to hotels. Locals rent you a room and often give you travel advice about the area as well. I have found some great budget-friendly places that were even nicer than the expensive hotels in the area that I will share in my travel guides! Click this link to make your Airbnb account and get €30 discount on your first booking (while supporting this blog as well!).
• Housesitting: Another great example of sharing economy is housesitting, where people offer their houses as lodgings in return keeping an eye on their place. Or how about taking care of a pet in return for a free room? Check out sites like housesitmatch.com to find opportunities like these all over the world!

Tracking apps

When you go travelling with others it is useful to have some way to keep track of the expenses made. In the past it could be time-consuming and impractical to settle these expenses if for example some of your group didn’t have the right cash on hand. Fortunately there are several good (and free) apps out there nowadays such as Splitwise or SettleUp that make it easy to keep track of expenses and settle them smoothly.

I hope this advice gives you new insights on how to save money while travelling! Let me know what your experiences are and enjoy roaming the world budget-free! – Pepijn DC