Budget travel can be great fun but read these important tips so that you don't get caught having to find extra money or cut your trip short due to lack of funds. These easy to learn tips will can save you a lot of money.

Copyright (c) 2008 Kaye Dennan

If you are planning to travel on a budget and have the holiday of a lifetime, there is no reason why you cannot. Budget travel still makes exotic locations available and affordable.

Budget travel is more about information and planning than it is about just 'cheap travel'. Budget travel is about compromising certain parts of your travel to get a better deal, about selecting one particular offer over another, depending what the package is and similar decisions like this.

You can only make these decisions if you thoroughly research your destinations. As we all know it is a great big, big world out there and to catch the tourist, operators have to be inventive in their promotions and at certain times will lower costs or add in extras to get the customers. These are the little things that can make a difference when travelling on a budget.

Your research will help you find these facts and figures and when you have the answers you are searching for, then you can go ahead and book.

By researching everything in the area you are planning to go to, you can establish if there are any special events on at the time you are arriving, which of course will elevate the cost of accommodation and blow out any idea of budget travel. Such changes can cost you extra money that you had not allowed for.

Be careful when booking ahead and read the fine print on anything that you are paying. It is often in the fine print that there are extra charges. Examples that I can think of are, being charged extra for a room with a balcony, extra costs for toiletries or car parking, to name just a few.

In certain places like Aspen for example, you are going there for the snow and the fun, so you could probably have just as much fun living in cheaper accommodation, whereas if you were going to a place like Ibiza you may wish to be able to have a room with a view and cut back on other costs.

It is all relative as what sort of holiday you are looking for, and what your travel budget is at the time.

With any travel that you are going to do overseas, don't forget to check what visas, documents or other costs you may run into when entering different countries. These are all costs that you need to have allowed for when making decisions.

It is very important to check that the information you are reading is current. This is most important because if it is a couple of years old, anything could have changed in the meantime.

Budget travel can be just as much fun for you as for someone with an open check book. In fact you will probably meet more locals and have a greater experience by mixing with them. Locals make a trip. Beautiful views and clear blue oceans are one thing, but interacting with the locals is another. With budget travel you can experience both.