Accommodation (2/5)

Accommodation

This is normally the single most expensive, and important, aspect of anyone’s travelling experience and how much you spend on accommodation usually dictates how much, or how little, you have left to spend on anything else. Here are a few tips on finding accommodation that won’t break the bank.

Couchsurfing: Couchsurfing is an exciting and authentic way to meet locals and, what’s even better, it’s free! Through the website you can create a profile (it costs nothing), contact hosts (or become a host yourself) and bag yourself a floor, couch or bed in a friendly local’s home. As a general recommendation, I would suggest contacting hosts with positive reviews (for obvious reasons) and, for women, for safety reasons, to generally try to stay with female hosts. Also, send out lots of requests as you normally only get about a 40% response rate. The picture above is at Plitvice Lakes in Croatia with a couple I stayed with from couchsurfing who went out of their way to help me explore the local area and make me feel at home.

Camping: Now, while I generally tend not to camp, it is a cheap, or free, means of accommodation while on the road. Be sure to check out wild camping laws and how well they’re enforced in the countries you’re visiting if that’s how you’re planning to sleep and, if natural camping isn’t an option, organised camp sites are usually affordable and comfortable. Also, know what kind of animals to expect wherever you go – camping in the bear filled forests outside Brasov, Romania is probably not recommended.

Airbnb: Similar to couchsurfing, Airbnb is a platform for residents to rent out a spare couch, room or entire apartment to tourists and travellers in their area. The difference here is that there is a charge for your stay, albeit it a lot cheaper than local hotels, and usually less interaction between the guest and the host. The website is easy to use and you can choose to filter your search depending on your price range and how private you want your sleeping space to be.

Hostels: What accommodation cheap-list would be complete without mentioning budget hostels? Yes, they can be grimey, yes, you may be woken in the night to the sound of people boinking in the bunk above you and yes, you’ll have no privacy. BUT, they are cheap! I tend to go for a bottom bunk to avoid clambering up and down a dodgy ladder in the night to use the toilet and I always put a few drops of citronella or tea tree oil on the corners of my sheets and pillow to ward off any creepy crawlies. Also, don’t forget to bring earplugs!