While you may love backpacking and are used to the small rooms and bumpy buses which come along with it, there may be a part of you which would love to have a traveling experience which is somewhat more luxurious. However, when you are on a tight budget, luxury travel is not a feat which is all that easy to achieve – but it is possible. A bit of pre-planning will go a long way towards giving you the sense of elegance that you crave. In this blog post, I am going to be providing you with a few tips which are designed to give your trip more of a five-star feel on a two-star budget!

Traveling

If you are used to taking flight which has multiple layovers along the way, you can make things more bearable by choosing a direct option – even if you don’t want to spend the vast sums required to go business or first class. Being more flexible with your dates will help you out in a big way. If you do happen to have a layover, you could invest in some lounge passes which often provide you with food and drink, a bed, and some entertainment options. Ultimately, this could make a big difference to a long wait at the airport. As for overland travel, if you book in advance, you may find that you are able to travel first class on the train or take a bus which offers a higher standard than the usual.

Accommodation

Booking at the last minute is often a good way of grabbing yourself a deal when it comes to the larger and more luxurious forms of accommodation. Traveling away from the peak season is fairly obvious but it can make all the difference. And you could also look into up and coming destinations rather than the ones which have been established already for a number of years. Sometimes, you are better off booking an apartment to yourself through a website like Airbnb as you will end up with a more luxurious setting than you would have at a hotel.

Activities

Whatever sort of luxurious activity you are looking into such as a spa day or yacht rentals, you are better off booking in a large group so that you can split all the costs between yourselves. Check out discount websites such as Groupon to see what sort of deals you are able to get yourself which you couldn’t normally afford. If you go to a cheaper part of the world such as Southeast Asia, you will be able to get luxury service for a fraction of the cost. Alternatively, going all-inclusive means that you don’t have to worry about each individual activity mounting up and hitting your wallet.

Just because you are on a tight budget, it doesn’t mean that you have to scrimp and save the entire time. Hopefully, this advice will provide you with some inspiration to make your next trip a little more luxurious.  Is there a destination where you would like to travel more luxuriously? Please tell me about it in the comments below, keep the conversation going!

Until our next rendezvous…

XOXO

Trudy

This post was a collaborative effort.