So, you’ve been working hard, making your own money, and saving your hard-earned cash. It makes sense that you want to treat yourself. And rightfully so!

If you plan on getting away, especially during reading week, you’ll need to know how much a trip is going to cost you and know how much you need to save. Here are some tips and tricks to plan your trip!

LOCATION
First things first, you’re going to need to figure out where you want to go. If you’re thinking of traveling to places like Europe or Asia, you have to recognize that it’s going to be more expensive than if you travel throughout North America. Visiting places like Europe or Asia is definitely doable, however you might have to cut your vacation length a little bit in order to save some money.
OPEN UP THAT EXCEL SPREADSHEET
Now that you know where you’re headed, open a spreadsheet and start thinking about what you’ll need to bring and what you can save money on. Organizing your trip with a spreadsheet allows you to easily add up your costs and see how little changes may affect your final cost.
TRANSPORTATION
It’s now time to figure out how to get there! Your flights and overall transportation costs can add up and potentially be the most expensive part of the trip. To lower costs, do some research on the local public transportation methods available, as it will more than likely be cheaper than taxis.
If you’re planning on hitting multiple spots (especially in Europe) it’s important to consider the order of travel to have a logical route for travelling. Along with that, it would be beneficial to consider the cheapest country in which to fly and depart because each country varies in their average cost of outbound air travel so, you’ll want to save those extra dollars where you can!
Try taking a bus or train between each country. Not only can it save you money, but these routes often offer beautiful scenery of its countryside.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Next, you need to figure out where you're going to be sleeping at night! You have a lot of options to consider like hotels, AirBnBs, hostels, or even couch surfing. Depending on your budget and what kind of experience you’re looking for on your trip, hotels and AirBnBs can offer a more luxurious stay. But, if you’re more tight on money (and want to come back with a good story) hostels and couch surfing may be more your style.
If you’re traveling in a larger group, (4+ people) I would consider finding an AirBnB. You could split the nightly cost among the group and may give you more bang for your buck with a more private stay with access to personal amenities (kitchen, private bathroom, individual rooms, etc.)
In my experience, I opted to stay in hostels because of my student budget and disclaimer: hostels are not as scary as people often make them out to be! Not to mention, a lot of the times the hostel staff will hold socials in the lobby so you can meet other travellers!
ACTIVITIES AND OTHER EXPENSES
Don’t forget about your daily expenses which would include buying food, buying clothes or gifts.
I would always recommend bringing some extra money in case you splurge a little too much one day or something happens, and you need extra money.
There are a lot of free attractions to visit and most countries also offer “free” walking tours (you’ll tip the tour guide what you felt the tour was worth) where they’ll show you around the city and share some of the history of the place.

With that, I hope these small tips showed you that it is possible and affordable for students to go and travel! We all know the trip will be more meaningful knowing how hard you worked for it and what it took to earn it.

Good luck and bon voyage!

Written by: Valeria Widjaja