My Amazing Budget Holidays

Expedia and Booking.com are your idea of cheap deals? You must be joking. Neither one will get you the lowest prices on just about anything they give a price for.

oh! that was my perception... maybe you can suggest some cheaper options..

Maybe what you mean by a budget holiday and what most people here mean by Travel on a shoestring are not one and the same Melina. It kind of sounds to me like you travel as a typical tourist rather than a backpacker. Most people who post here on the TT fall into the backpacker category. You talk about "my holidays" which is not how most here would refer to their travels.

So it's dorm beds in a hostel and food bought in a supermarket rather than hotels and restuarants. Using LCCs (low cost carriers) rather than major airlines. Expedia does not list LCCs at all as they do not pay flight consolidators or travel agents any commission. So you will never find them offering a flight with Air Transat from Canada to the UK for example. They'll offer Air Canada, British Airways, etc.

Most people here are more likely to use hostelworld.com than bookings.com. Are you getting the picture? I think you are a 'tourist' rather than a budget backpack traveller, no offense intended.

just seeing the pictures on your blog... It looks like you are having a good time, but it doesn't look very budget'ish. Going to maasai mara with a tour company in a 4x4? There are lots of cheaper alternatives with almost the same comfort.

I hitchhiked across Africa from North to South some years ago jepperobert. I saw all the big game and many other things you don't see on organized safaris. I met an anthropologist who took me into the bush to meet pygmys. A farmer in (now) Rhodesia who offered to take me cheetah hunting (they were killing his cattle) but I passed on that. Lay in a VW campervan with malaria at the foot of Kilimanjaro for a week. Along with numerous other adventures some of which were a bit hair raising. I probably spent in todays dollars around $1000 in around 7 months there.

Today my perception of shoestring is 4 star instead of 5 star but hey perceptions change with age and income.

Sorry guys... I guess I've posted in the wrong forum :)... I am passionate about travel, but haven't reached the stage where I can go backpacking for months together...
I live in Dubai where we don't really have options of LCC - atleast none that I know of... If I compare my trips to the trips taken by people I know and am surrounded by (family/friends/colleagues), then mine have definitely been the cheapest.... I understand this is a global forum and each one's perception would change.. This is my perception of budget travel so far... :)

Hopefully one day I will go backpacking using all the cheapest options available out there.. Will definitely look to you guys for advise then :)

Cheers,
Melina

My post might have sounded a bit harsh.. I am sorry then.

I guess ones perception of budget is relative to ones surroundings. In the end what "budget" is depends on the comfort experiences you get for the money you choose to spend. Meaning like travelinstyle46 said a four star hotel is the budget option for a person who normally stays at five star hotels.

In the end I guess I am just an unemployed student who gets jealous when I hear about what other people can spend for their traveling. Entirely my fault, I know :)

If you are still in Africa, I hope you enjoy it. EA is a fantastic place, no matter the budget :)

Nothing wrong with posting on this forum Melina, there are users who travel in the way you consider budget. It just means you need to clarify what you mean when you post something. There are probably plenty of posters who want to know about a 'cheap' 3 star hotel in Rome or Venice or wherever. If you check the Older Travellers branch here you will find far more posts on the type of 'holiday' you are used to. As I wrote, with age a desire for more comfort in our travels tends to become the norm.

Your contributions will fit someone's budget so don't decide you have nothing to contribute here. You may also want to check out some other forums like Frommers where posters tend to be more of the average tourist type rather than the average backpacker type.

Melina, I like your site, your photos are great and your enthusiasm for travel shines out.

As far as I'm concerned, anyone visiting a foreign country for pleasure is a tourist - a backpacker is just a tourist on a low budget and you're only a traveller if you have no home to return to. I've always referred to my trips as 'holidays' - not at work, having fun - what else would you call them?

Like you, I thoroughly enjoy planning my next holiday, whether it is 2 weeks in France (going next week) or 3 months in Africa (go most winters). I've been doing it a very long time, and certainly the internet has made it easier in many ways. Booking on line may not be the cheapest possible way to do things, but is almost certainly cheaper than phoning your local travel agency!