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Save Money on Transportation

Lesson 16 from: Stress-Free Budget Travel

Matt Kepnes

Save Money on Transportation

Lesson 16 from: Stress-Free Budget Travel

Matt Kepnes

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Lesson Info

16. Save Money on Transportation

Lesson Info

Save Money on Transportation

So saving money on transportation uh, this is sort of like the part right here uh, local transport well, I vote in the section down into to what to do in a city much due out in the city in the city it's kind of like you take the bus, don't take taxis or super expensive buses, ferries, local chains the easiest thing to do umm yeah, hotels, hostels will have maps that have timetables if things like you know, we talked about japan and talk about just how crazy that subway system is. A lot of times they'll have, like, a translated english version for you that you can sort of use as a reference because I have been through the tokyo so way system, and I just sat there for like, twenty minutes you're like, I think this is where I want to go counting stops possible the hotels usually have, uh, translated information and this is the best way to save money locally, but you people know this, you know, is going to take longer it's going to be easier uh sometimes less convenient was going to be che...

aper don't take taxes, whatever you do never think taxes unless you really are it's a late at night you're unknown part of a place and you might be a little tipsy or maybe not tipsy you're just it's dark nine attacks and good during the day and they're uncertain why people take taxis iran it kills your budget also, make sure you have local fare cards, you know a metro pass, even if you're not going to be there the whole time, it can still work out cheaper on a you know, a purchase basis, for example, the metro pass in new york city is thirty dollars last seven days is to fifty purchase time to go. Well, if you're there for a weekend, you're probably going to because everyone takes a train in new york city probably use it more than twelve times, so I'm getting the metro path gives you flexibility, so just hop on, hop off when you want and you're most likely going to spend that much money anyway, but if you're pay as you go, then you're going to be like we'll have to pay another to fifty and it kind of adds up there sometimes in your state, I will take a change five times a day, especially if you're a tourist in your sightseeing around you're hopping everywhere you're going to want that flexibility, paris another uh, see where if you get the regular little tickets like a dollar seventy euros seventy five, but if you get ten it's ten, so you're saying a couple of euros there um doc homes most major cities if you get the path it's going to be cheaper so always kind of do the numbers on the path aa lot of people we'll say well not going to be here seven days so it's pointless to get the seven day passed and then spend more money because they keep recharging because they keep finding that they're using the subways and most subway metro passes work for buses and trains so it's dual purpose so look into the path path cars sharing services are another great thing that they have taken a taxi you someone's car zip car in the states is really popular that has a membership fee but it's I called jay reid let you you're looking for rights to go to l a so this would be good j reid basically it's you're going to l a I need to get that light and you hop on and you know car sharing with local same thing same thing with the site gun trade and craigslist find people who are going your way offered a share gas you now have a travel buddy hopefully he's not crazy and a ride to where you're going what do you think about mapping cities? I know this has become very popular in moscow now where basically just people drive by the sea standing on the side of the road they'll offer you on unofficial taxi for seven unofficial taxes I'm always I like to be helpfully suspicious of of things and those guys may be fine but I'd rather just go with an official taxi or something that has been better you know interesting thing is cause the muscovites really have embraced this so if you were the muscovite they'll say no let's get this car but I think there's an individual travel you need to yeah caution as an individual in a foreign land not speaking the language um I would shy away from it again you know we talked to say it's just with candidates you know, knowing what the local norma's how do what is normal in that city is really important you know it's normal for the must have to do that they're comfortable doing that they know how they could probably spot out whether that's I'm good card to get into a bad card to get into easier than you can as just a wide eyed bushy tail you know torres being like ho someone's offering me a ride so I think to the legal stuff unless you're with locals who you know are like if this is fine but so I was being you know use your intuition get iran is another good car sharing website um basically you know I need to get her on a need to get in rent rent a car rented bike uh more flexibility to get iran these air accused about ten bucks a day um or you can also use this cycle z lock the aisle okay you don't have a bike there's no like bike rental service in that city go on this website find a local who's not using their bike invented from them more of the sharing economy benefiting mithal is basically invent anything from this website you need skis with the lock you know you know ladder z lock share goods dot com is another web site um yeah run from people they tend to be cheaper to and then you can negotiate prices so so that's local transportation now there's sort of an easy think that you know sort of like god yeah of course buses trains let's talk about now you want to go from one city to the next what's the cheapest way to go one um this is big in europe train passes who has gotten in chain past great train passes or math problems they are really should you get one? I have no idea depends on where you're going because it's all about the numbers is exactly like do you get a multi around the world ticket a multi stop ticket or do you pay as you go? What works out cheaper trip houses are offered in many regions around the world on track in the states has won the rail in canada has one the euro real pass is probably the most identifiable train pass in the world there are train passes in australia and new zealand to none and central south america because they don't really have trained same in southeast asia the japan rail path is also really popular and when used properly these trains can really save you for upwards of fifty percent the train passed in australia is the best one of the best deals taking up to seventy percent it's unlimited rides on super cheap and I have no idea why they discount so much but great for travelers you could go on all of these beautiful trains through the outback, you know, across australia you know, for a couple hundred bucks these trains will allow you a set number of stops in a time period or in a limited number of ride in a time period really depends on the pastor getting, uh, more stops the more ride, the more expensive the past, so should you get a path that's the question? Maybe it depends where you going these passes, especially the ones in europe tend to be better if you're doing high speed trains and long distance trains in japan. Um, you know, it's really about where you're going and you know, the train you're taking high in japan, these train pastor grave, you're taking the japan rail line there's high speed internet strains, intercity trains a lot um but if you want alternatives like you're gonna book early or pick the slower change not so much same in europe you've got to do the math it doesn't have to be exact right because you know the beauty of these passes it allows complete flexibility you can go where you want when you want what time you want um but if you know that you're going to you're your general idea faith through europe is like paris amsterdam, berlin, rome integrys right? You kind of look up the change he gets and see where the cost and then prices out with the past what is cheaper and then do you put a price on flexibility? Ideo so if I know that after I sort of looked up the price of the ticket um it's like seven hundred dollars but euro passes eight hundred bucks I will probably spend the extra hundred dollars because I changed my mind a lot um I have always canceling flights and changing dates and changing routes because you know when you're on the road things were constantly in flux so I don't like to be tied down to a specific train um but if you know booking early and online specials can make, uh, trains really cheap, you know, if your book if you have a set trip to europe you know in six months from now book early trained change they're starting to adopt that airline pricing model and if you you know book a couple of weeks early, you can really get a cheaper ticket it's not as extreme as the airlines, but they tend to start ramping up ticket prices closer and closer to the date uh, so, you know, looking for specials online in booking early can make your train travel cheaper than getting a path, but if you're the type of travel who's like may and you're just like, hey, um, today I want to go to berlin or today I'm going to take the train from kyoto to tokyo romina you hop on the rail and canada are whatever those ticket prices going too expensive and that's when the pass is going to be good for you, you know there are other ways to get around let's talk about buses a lot of bus companies offer passes now that can be a cheaper alternative now I like trains better than buses because I liketo stretch I a little more and not be all cramped up, but sometimes chains are not good eastern europe I tend to take buses, trains they're slower, they don't go as direct in buses tend to be a little more comfortable south america buses for much your only option and they're quite comfortable too they have, you know, family called and understand full comma, which is a full bed you know, these overnight buses, they get certain food, they have bad. The seat goes on from bed is really comfortable. Essential america a buffet. But who's taken the mega bus. Yeah, about super cheap, making us in the u k company. You want to get around england on the cheap? Did you come to call the mega bus now? They also go to paris as well as brussels. So you can go from london to paris for a pound if you book foreign events, the ideal time to book far different from these buses is three months that's when they really released the seat and that's. When you want new zealand, they have the naked bus. You have to be naked on the bus. No, just you don't have to make it on the bus is no nudity on the bus. Same thing yet one dollars fares on the bus. Um, great, great way to travel super cheap your lines in europe, you offers buss pat passes that aren't as good. Your buses air longer, you know they might not be a spacious, but they're definitely a cheaper alternative to trains, especially nowadays, where you have these super, ultra cheap buses are offering one dollar when you're a one pound fairs, I mean, I may like trains, but if the train is one hundred bucks and I could get a bus for a dollar you know or ten dollars taking the bus I have better things to do with the other ninety dollars on saving money when you're buying the rail passes is it better to your benefit to buy it in the country or have a friend like if you have a friend that lives in the country by the rail pass for you or buy it out of the country going back to the road passes if for the europe ass if your european you have something called in terrell if you are america and we have really europe same pass does the same things you cannot get if you're american you're not allowed to buy an inter rail path if you're if you live in europe, you're not allowed to get the rail europe version of that path uh your rail version so you have to buy it yourself in japan doesn't really matter you can buy overseas or or in the country doesn't really change the price that much the same thing with the australian train passed it's ready the stipulations for the european chain past so there's no real bennett benefit if you want to take the train in the united kingdom you maybe you could shed some light on why this absurdity I cannot buy a train ticket if I'm not I don't have in u k address yes it's beginning in the u k it's become very complicated I'm not sure there is just from a legislation point of view they broke up the monopoly of the wear railways in the early nineties it's now run by enormous number of individual companies none of whom are connected or talk to each other so that's possibly the reason it is a nightmare it is a nightmare it oh um I'm sorry not you can't find what so if you're in the uk if you want to take a train in the u k and you want to get your tickets ahead of time u k billing address yes have you by my credit card yeah yes but you can go to the window but yeah it is I a I don't think I know I when I used the train line dot com and london midland which is cheaper than the train line sometimes and I don't have a uk billing address if you use a credit card where you're out well, I think I'm getting might be very specific to train companies that yeah, every every track is owned by different so it could be very specific the site it could be a reseller site often ends in you book direct with the u k company you need the credit part I always use my hotel thehe dress uh so with that back here another way budget airlines there's so many budget airlines now that is often cheaper instead of taking the train to fly case in point paris to barcelona is a long long train ride it's like seventeen, eighteen hours and I'm taking it it's really kind of boring is a couple hundred bucks but you could get a cheap flight from barcelona paris like fifty bucks which ones in three hours or eighteen hours and more money uh so always look for budget airlines to you and then hitchhiking we've had checked before yeah so this is sort of the one sort of enter at your own risk I have hitchhiked and throughout central america and eastern europe um it's not really a problem musical in short distances and believe I have checked everywhere and believe uh but the locals which I can believe oftentimes they don't have cars buses are infrequent there's something on the side of the road when people stop it's just sort of the way people get around so you kind of want to use that ass is your own use your own judgment about that yeah it's free it's cheap it's great but you know there are safety issues you kind of if I was ah solo female traveler I might be might no one knew it's like all over the place there are countries I won't you know probably I'll be enough I don't feel too comfortable hitchhiking in the united states australia you know countries where it's part of the norm or I feel more comfortable doing it so getting from point a to point b is all about looking at the various options and finding the cheapest one because there are so many options our days that you know there's no hard and fast rule and you know you're really getting into this with the theme of today is what should you d'oh? It depends people love tohave like what is the golden rule what is like but the hard and fast rule but you know candace and I were talking about yesterday she's broken her rules all the time my twenty seven golden rules the last one talks about breaking rules there are things you should look out for uh but everyone situation is different everyone needs are different and sometimes I'll fly because it's cheaper sometimes we'll take the train and sometimes I'll take the bus I mean I love trains you know often take him but budget airlines they're just quicker and cheaper some people don't want to talk about the environment impact of flying and will never fly so it's really it depends on you just gotta do the numbers saying with the train passes before you buy one get a general sense of the cost the train to gets versus the cost of the path so yeah, you know here talking look these obvious buses trains destination in destination it depends any questions I'm talking a little bit anything from the audience because that's another sort of questions that are related to this for example more key three one three what's noted to have you ever used an attractive you don't I love it and I do too and I love them track their underrated great service no change fees I've canceled tickets like five minutes before departure I can't make it um okay when you find your card great service I really love and jack I mean there are more expensive especially when you have create bus options that are so cheap especially on the west coast and you know the new england area of the u s but I do like amtrak I've taken them I think I'm alive done them all the way up the west coast great trip isn't have you ever heard of relocation cars? This is actually come up as a suggestion and yes yeah so um hit the road at cia and um I owe either drive away I that's on the my website I'll have to just reconfirm it but you have two big websites that you know people are moving they need to get their car you drive their car for them you get paid the gas coverage as long as you get the car back by the state you know have free transport you know across canada and across the u s and these are popular services yes vienna is asking the question how do you assess the safety of car sharing services and people what's the verification process for the different services so those services heather they verify the drivers themselves so you know they vet them through background checks and looking at their insurance and safety records so they do the company yourselves does that you know on the sites where like you are renting out your car they provide insurance everything now this may come up in our last section today but one thing that's been a running theme of questions that people are concerned about languages exactly so let's just throw this one in here now when you are hiring a tax is that you're dealing in a country where you probably are not comfortable with the language what what's your best advice there's a great question so let's talk about languages in general ok uh I have only been a couple situations where they couldn't communicate at all verbally most countries we'll not have basic english at least tourist thing this called tourist english like where's the train that way with the bathroom that you know check um but when that doesn't work when you are in there like a sign language pantomime thing okay I once had a friend allow clock a chicken teo signal that he wanted chicken and then he went and they broke the egg and that was actually like oh, an egg um I was in a taxicab and ukraine it was like a train station and kind of looked at me funny and I was like, sometimes I mumble my words as you might have noticed I was like, train look to me finance like train and I was like, I got, you know, speaking I saw I was to chew I god, blah, blah, blah, blah we lined up with the train station, you know, so back that kind of stuff can really go a long way people want to try to figure out what you're trying to say so they can help you and pointing a maps and, you know, panty miami goes a long way have a body language course coming up here you can learn some tips on how to use your body like chicken so easy to particularly when the hotel most hotels generally with certainly three stone above do have a concierge they are very happy to write down in the local language. What you didn't even show that to your taxi driver. Yeah, and not only hotels hostels will do that thirty two in the ukraine. English is not why I spoken and I went into the transition the hostiles have throw down the ticket I wanted, you know, to kiev and she was like, just show it to the person point is, you're okay, and she wrote a number and then back to may, and I'm hoping that was a number of the train beyond her fee or anything but, you know, still helpful buses oftentimes I don't understand, you know, bus might be a daughter and it's all just give a bigger bill and then just give me change back instead of china. I have this ten minute confidential about how much is it over pay? Get the change back biggest taxi battle I've ever heard comes comes in thailand, where I have actually seen apparently near bangkok, where taxi drivers want to quote you a price, but you've got to get them to put the meter on because it's always going to be cheaper and you can stand there for ten minutes. Well, they say this is the price they put the meter on. This is the price put the meat on, you're always going to be better off by going with the meters, you never going to be much less than what they're telling you. Oh yeah, that's actually negotiations the tricky thing when you don't have the language but you've really got to push and someone who is in bangkok let me tell you, if they say no, get another taxi yeah, I get it, I'm like me there oh, yeah, four hundred. But few people have asked me. I don't want to go back with too much, but megan, another something. Can you just quickly repeat those sites for the car relocation? Ok, so one is hit the road dot okay, and the other one's auto drive away air or something similar. It's have a list on my side. I'm pretty sure the other driveway dot com and that's for the pretty in the u s.

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a Creativelive Student
 

I discovered this course via Matt's blog. It's a fantastic course with a ton of practical information about budget travel that can be applied to any trip—whether it be a year long around-the-world adventure or a two-week family vacation. Matt covers everything from booking flights and accommodations to what backpack to buy, how to find jobs abroad, how to keep your tech stuff safe, and so much more. He also has quite a few knowledgeable guests who offer their own great advice. But the best part of the course is how inspiring it is. Matt really helped me understand that travel is possible. You don't have to be a millionaire; you just have to be willing to do a little planning. I'd definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in traveling.

Andrea Magee
 

I used Matt's travel blog city and country guides on my recent 3 month trip through Southeast Asia and New Zealand. This course got me thinking about where next, and how to travel for longer. Coming into the course, I already felt like I knew a lot about travel, but Matt has great insights and things I hadn't considered before. New travelers or seasoned ones, it's a big world out there and stress-free budget travel can help you get going!

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