How can you travel so much on a fixed income? These are all the tricks and info you need to travel the world, rich or not. I am tired of seeing guides that Nigerians cannot relate with so this is for Nigerians with all our peculiarities! Guys, WE CAN TRAVEL TOO!
There is nothing like FREE travel. Those you see exploring the world ‘for free’ are trading their skills for the trip. Most times, sponsors require value in exchange for trip sponsorship and they need to be sure that they will earn significant (ROI) for sponsoring your trip.
So, you can work hard towards sponsored trips but I don’t want you to think anything will come to you for free. Most people will have to pay cash for their trips and it is important for everyone to know exactly how to travel no matter what your income is.
1. Build Your Travel Savings: If you have a steady income, dedicate a percentage of your salary for travel. If you want to travel often, you have to make efforts to save for trips. After saving towards rent, your future, investments, etc, you can put aside money for trips.
2. Start With What You Can Afford: If you’re travelling for the ‘gram’ and spending money you don’t have to travel, that’s really silly. There is always a travel option to fit any budget! Travel can be done responsibly and in a way that makes you wealthier, not poorer.
5. If you save 5k Naira monthly, you can visit Abeokuta or Badagry in 4 months. If you save 25k monthly, you can visit Benin Republic in 5 months. If you save 100k monthly, you can visit Kenya or Zanzibar in 5 months. You get my drift? There’s something for everyone!
6. Change Your Travel Period: Most major holidays fall during peak periods. Some of the busiest months to fly are July, August and December. However, if you do not have to travel during those months, why not try January or February? They are the cheapest months to fly!
7. You can save a lot of money. Hotels, flights and some tours are often cheaper during off-peak periods. In fact, most hotels and tour companies will give you great discounts because if they don’t they will have to run an empty ship anyway. Better some than nothing, aye?
8. Also, you can arrange your leave days in such as way that you maximize them for travel. Leave periods + public holidays = GREAT TRAVEL TIME! I wrote an article on all the public holidays in Nigeria for 2018
9. Adjust Your Travel Dates by 2 or 3 Days: Did you know that when searching for flights, you can tick a box that shows you the cost of flights 3 days before and 3 days after your chosen dates? Sometimes, we have a few days to spare and it can make all the difference!
10. Last week, I needed to make a trip to Rwanda but the round-trip flight ticket for my date was over 500k Naira. When I moved my departure date by one day, the RT flight ticket cost 128k Naira. What a steal! Don’t forget to check the ‘flexible date’ box when searching.
11. Choose countries that are visa-free OR visa -on-arrival: Did you know that there are at least 45 countries that you can visit with no visa (or you can get a visa on arrival)? Some fancy ones are Barbados, Mauritius, etc.
12. Do you have a valid US or UK Visa? Can you believe that there are countries you can visit if you have one of the above visas? If you’ve gone through the stress, why not maximize these visas and visit Mexico or Costa Rica?
13. Book your hotel through platforms that allow you save money. Some of my favorite ones are: – Jumia Travel NG: @jumiatravelNG – Hotels NG: @hotelsng – Booking: @bookingcom The first two will allow you pay in Naira and some will allow you pay when you get to the hotel.
14. Consider staying in an apartment or alternative accommodation: Hotels are cool but did you know that there are many options beyond hotels? You can book a cheap room in a home, a private apartment, a luxury villa for your squad, a penthouse or even a unique tree-house!
15. These are my fave booking platforms: Flights: – https://wakanow.com – https://www.travelstart.com.ng/ Accommodation: – http://booking.com – https://www.airbnb.com – http://hotels.ng – https://travel.jumia.com
16. You can save on trips by racking up your air miles. I will explain. First, let me say that if you do not travel often, it makes sense to buy the ticket that works best for your budget and itinerary. However, if you are a frequent traveler, you need to understand miles.
17. Every time you fly, you earn miles. The miles depend on the ticket price, travel distance and airline. Miles are like points or currency. The more you fly, the more you earn miles (airline currency). These miles can be exchanged for flights, hotels, gifts, etc.
18. Here’s the trick. You might not always be able to fly one airline but you can fly different airlines within an alliance. It is almost same as flying one airline because alliance partners share miles! The more you fly within an alliance, the faster you accrue miles!
19. I use miles A LOT! Every year, I book at least one trip using miles because I try to stick within my alliance for most trips! Miles are rewards you get for flying often. Below is a list of the major airline alliances and the relevant member airlines that fly out of Nigeria:
