How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 8 – Minimizing Costs on Entertainment

enjoying views from Koh Phi Phi viewpoint – Thailand

How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 8 –

Minimizing Costs on Entertainment

Let’s face it, the world presents an incredible diversity of wonderful things to do, no matter where you go. There are all kinds of sports & physical activities, outdoor adventures, socializing activities, culture & art events, relaxing hobbies and more passive activities like watching movies and reading books. The natural world presents a nearly never-ending variety of things to do. And there are just as many man-made entertainments as well.

But entertainment can be expensive, depending on your interests, habits and location. On the other hand, keeping yourself busy, happy and laughing can be incredibly cheap or even completely free. It all depends on your outlook, interests, budget and priorities.

hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal – Himalayas

While traveling, the cost of activities and entertainment is entirely up to you. If you’re on a tight budget, you’ll obviously want to avoid expensive activities and habits. Instead, choose free and inexpensive things to do. The good news is that there are so many amazing free and cheap activities available everywhere in the world that you will never get bored no matter how long you travel. That’s what I’ve been doing for over 15 years.

In this post I’m going to detail exactly what and how I’ve been keeping myself entertained for so long. I’ve organized travel activities into three groups: Free Activities, Inexpensive Activities and Tours.

Before I delve into those, I’d like to first tell you my two biggest tips for minimizing entertainment costs while traveling:

1.  Don’t drink alcohol or do drugs

2.  Take advantage of all the amazing free things to do in nature, cities and towns.

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Lash with blue margarita cocktail

Drinking

Many hopeful budget travelers might not want to hear this advice, but here goes:

The best way to minimize entertainment costs while traveling is to skip drinking alcohol and/or doing drugs. Sorry to tell you, but these two forms of entertainment are extremely expensive in the scheme of all possible things to do in the world.

If your idea of a good time is to go out drinking and socializing, then your travel budget is going to double, triple or quadruple what it would be without drinking.

No matter where you go in the world, drinking is an expensive pastime. Even in places where beer costs half or one third of the prices you’re used to back home, if you drink on a regular basis, it’s still going to significantly increase your budget.

If, on the other hand, you can enjoy traveling the world without that expensive habit, you’ll be able to travel much much cheaper, and thus much longer. (Lots of ideas below)

However, if you really enjoy drinking and don’t want to give it up while traveling, there are many tactics you can use to minimize your drinking costs as much as possible. In fact, I’ll devote an entire post to minimizing costs on drinking.. coming up soon.

Meanwhile, here are other types of entertainment you can enjoy while traveling plus my advice on how to cut down costs while still having an amazing time out in the world.

Wat Ben – the Marble Temple – Bangkok, Thailand

A. Enjoy Free Activities

The world offers so many free fun, exciting, educational and sporty activities that it’s practically mind-boggling. You can find free things to do anywhere: in big cities, small towns, rural areas, and of course out in nature. No matter what your interests, you can keep yourself busy in the world without spending a dime. Free activities include:

* museum and galleries

* outdoor music concerts

* visiting temples, mosques & cathedrals

* checking out architecture & historic buildings

* attending festivals and events

* outdoor sports, adventures and explorations

* exploring the area you’re in

* socializing and parties

* getting to know the locals

In fact, if you really want to, you can stick entirely to free activities while traveling the world without ever getting bored or running out of stuff to do, see & experience. Seriously. That’s mostly what I’ve been doing for 15 years of world travels.

I’ve already written 14 full posts and an eBook on Free Things to do around the world, so I won’t delve into the specifics here. Instead, check out my series 10 Free Things to do in.. with suggestions on fun, exciting and amazing things to do in destinations all over the world.

If you want that information all in one handy book format, check out my Free eBook 100 Free Things to do in Asia

here I am in Laos preparing to take an elephant ride

 B. Find Inexpensive activities

The cost of all sorts of paid activities, attractions and entertainment options varies tremendously from country to country and city to city. If you’re on a budget, you’ll have to research the costs of various activities in your destinations. Check out guidebooks, ask at information centers and guest houses, talk with other travelers or search online with travel bloggers who specialize in those destinations… Which is presumably why you’re reading this post. :)

So below I detail general tips and suggestions that I’ve learned while traveling/living overseas since 1991. Consult with other bloggers, guide books or tourist information centers for details on specific destinations. 

Singapore National Museum

Museums & Galleries

Museum entry fees vary tremendously around the world, even within one particular city. The cost depends a lot on the fame and/or quality of the museum. Expensive world-class museums like the Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida cost $20 US or more while other world-class museums, like the Smithsonian Museums in D.C. are completely free.

Luckily, many museums around the world are quite inexpensive. Common entry fees in Asia amount to only $2-3 US. However, other museums have entrance fees closer to $10 US or more.

If you love museums, check out each city’s information center for lower priced museums or consult current guidebooks.

Keep in mind that some expensive museums have occasional or weekly reduced entry fees on specified days or special holidays. Try to visit during those times.

National Parks and outdoor activities

Like museums, entry fees to national, state and local parks vary tremendously from country to country and even between parks within one country. This is another thing you’ll have to check out for each destination.

Some countries, like Sri Lanka, charge hefty entry fees and sometimes require guides or guided tours to visit. It can literally cost more than an American or European park.

Thailand has been charging foreigners 200-400 BT ($7-13 US) to enter national parks. If you’re going to stay one week or more, that’s not really so much. And most activities within the park, like hiking and swimming are free.

Malaysia tends to have low entry fees, if any, to its parks. But it varies from park to park.

 Movies

Here’s another form of entertainment with a hugely varying price tag. In many Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, watching a movie at the cinema costs only about $3 US. ON the other hand, in Singapore cinema tickets costs close to $10 US.

Again, check out the prices when you’re in town. Chose to visit the cinema in cheaper countries rather than expensive ones.

Many hostels, budget hotels and guest houses show dvds on a regular basis in their lobbies or restaurants for all the guests to watch. When movies are set in the lobby, they’re free. If they are set in the restaurant, the staff generally expect viewers to at least buy a drink. If you’re a regular or long-term guest they might not require a purchase every time. Still, the price of one drink isn’t much to pay for a movie.

In popular tourist places, many cafes,bars and restaurants also often show dvds on big screen TVs. Just buy a drink, even a small bottle of water, and you’re welcome to watch a flick.

Some travelers carry a laptop with movies. They’re often happy to have new travel friends join them while watching a dvd.

 Books

Guest houses, hostels and budget hotels often have a collections of books, magazines and newspapers that travelers have left behind. Some places allow guests to simply take any books they like. Others have an exchange system whereby you give 1 or 2 books in exchange for taking one.

Popular tourist areas and many cities also have used book stores where you can pick up books cheaply.

travel bloggers get together in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

Socializing

Chatting with other travelers or locals is a very popular past time among world travelers. Clearly, talking is free. But where you choose to talk can make a big difference in the cost involved. If you sit at guest house restaurants, tourist cafes, chain coffee shops or other upscale restaurants and bars, your chat session might end up being expensive.

Instead of hanging out at trendy cafes and tourist restaurants, sit at a local tea shop, street stall or restaurant. If you don’t need to eat or drink, you can just as easily sit on a beach, in a park or garden, in a hotel common area or other free public space.

clubbing for free in Singapore

Clubbing & dancing

Many big city dance clubs and bars don’t have entry fees. Others are free to enter before a certain time, but then start charging admission after that time.

At islands and beach destinations, many beach-side bars & clubs have outdoor parties with no admission fees. Parties might be held nightly, weekly or just on special occasions.

Of course most clubs and bars do expect people to buy at least one drink. But you’re usually not actually obligated to do so. If you don’t feel self- pressured to drink, you can dance completely for free all over the world. One or two non-paying customers isn’t going to make much difference to any club or bar’s profits. And if you’re a good dancer, the staff and guests will appreciate the entertainment value.

In addition, many places have ladies’ night one night a week, with various offers. Some let ladies drink for free between certain hours. Others offer 2 for 1 or other discounts. This is a great chance for women to have a free night out, drinking, dancing and socializing.

busker on bus in Java, Indonesia

Music

Again, many clubs and bars don’t have an entry fee, whether they’re playing spun music or have live entertainment. For the price of a small bottle of water, juice or beer you can listen to music for many hours, socialize and dance.

Many guest houses and budget hotels have an acoustical guitar on hand that people can play. Usually at least one staff or local guy can play. People hang out, playing music and chatting. Join in or just listen.

Music concerts usually cost money, but sometimes cities, towns and tourist areas have free outdoor concerts and festivals. This is another thing to check out at information centers and at guest houses when you arrive.

taking a boat cruise through Halong Bay – Vietnam

C. Joining Tours

Most tours are expensive. So if you’re on a budget, you’ll generally want to steer clear of tours, doing activities independently instead.

Full trip tours are the most expensive and can cost double, triple, even 10 times more than traveling independently. For example, a fully guided trip could easily cost $1000-2000 per week in a destination that would cost an independent budget traveler $100-300 per week. That’s a huge difference in price!

Shorter specialized day trips and half-day trips are also usually pretty pricy, costing anywhere from $20-100 US per person.

However, in many popular budget traveler destinations, short specialty tours are often quite cheap. There are two ways such tours work.

In some places local tour agencies organize day trips & half day trips with a low per-person fee. The agency gathers up 10-20 guests and take them all out on the tour. I’ve joined these kind of tours in Vietnam, specifically the Perfume River and Halong Bay trips.

In other places, you basically have to organize a tour yourself. Depending on the destination, you might have to hire a car & driver or a boat & captain to make a trip. The full price is usually rather high, but if you can organize several people to join the trip, then the cost per person can become quite reasonable, even cheap. I’ve done this for a day trip to Kawah Ijen Volcano in East Java and several snorkeling day trips in southern Thailand.

Basically, minimizing costs on specialty tours amounts to joining up with other travelers to share costs.

in Australia on camel ride

Summary

That wraps up my tips and advice for minimizing travel expenses on activities & entertainment. By taking advantage of the amazing assortment of free things to do everywhere in the world, you can significantly reduce your costs while still having a fantastic time.

In addition, look for less expensive activities and admission fees. Avoid expensive attractions & tours. And as much as possible, skip drinking and drugs, which will significantly increase your expenses.

Happy Travels!

cheers, Lash

You might also find the other 7 posts in my series How To Afford Long-Term World Travel useful. 

Don’t forget to check out all my tips in 10 Free Things to do in… Series here

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You might also enjoy:

How To Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 3 – How Other Long-Term Travelers Do It How To Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 5: List of Income Sources While Traveling How To Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 6 – Minimizing Costs on Accommodation How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 9 – Minimizing Costs on Food