During one of my seemingly endless search periods with Google, I found a best friend for any budget traveler planning to fly to Europe: Airhitch. Airhitch.org is an organization that lets you “hitchhike” flights accross the Atlantic, if you are willing to be flexible with your dates and European destinations. Signing up with airhitch has its advantages and disadvantages alot like becoming an air courier does.
After signing up for Airhitch, you get a predeparture itinerary that gives instructions on how to get your flights. They will give a listing of flights with vacancy available to get to your destination, and these flights will have a letter grade from A to F. A means you’ll probably get on, and F means its unlikely.

Even though your European destination may be a country or two away, and a day late, the total cost of the flight will still be much cheaper than any other possible flight available.

Another good reason to Airhitch is that you do not pay for your flight until after you’ve boarded it. This way, you will not have to worry about refunds for any prepayed tickets. For the service that Airhitch offers, they do charge a modest $30 fee for a flight.
A little cartoon backpacking hitchhiker I made with my photoshop skills

Another very similar site is air-hitch.org. Air-hitch.org runs in pretty much the same way air no hyphen hitch runs.

After a quick expedia airfare search with random dates in December, flying from New York to London at anytime, I came up with the numbers.

Airhitch: Roundtrip from US = $250 * 2 = $500

Expedia: Roundtrip from US = $625

That’s a savings of $125, but that is with fares booked 5 months in advance with Expedia. Without the early flight booking, Airhitch would save you even more.

So Airhitch has the potential to save you atleast $100 in exchange for your inconvenience. If your dates are flexible, and you are not bothered by not knowing when you will have a flight, hitchhiking your way to Europe is the way to go if you want budget travel backpacking vacation.

[tags] airfare, flight, backpacking, budget travel, travel, hitchhike [/tags]

Well, this weekend will be heading out to West River, South Dakota. This will be close to my twenty-ninth visit to the area, because I have a family event to attend. More specifically, I will be going to Spearfish.

So now that I’m talking about the area, I thought I would give a little guide of what you can see and do in the area, even though it is a bit off topic of budget international travel.
The Black Hills of South Dakota are actually home to a number of tourist destinations and traps. Most notably, Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore, aka the trademark of Dakota Territory, is a usually a must see if you have never seen it before. It’s one of the places where it’s nice to say “Hey, I’ve been there.” when the image pops up on some generic patriotic commercial.

Since the weather and climate has taken a toll on Mount Rushmore, a new monument is destined to take its place. Crazy Horse monument is slated to be the world’s largest statue when it is completed. It honors the famous Native American war hero himself. It is free to view the monument while driving by, but they do charge to actually go inside and see the museum and gift shops.

Those big sculptures make up what I call the ‘big two’ in the Black Hills, but there is plenty else to see in the area. One tourist trap that I enjoy is Cosmos Mystery Area. Cosmos is a crazy house that really messes with you.

There are plenty other tourist traps in the area that you will find brochures for, but most are just rip offs. Instead of going to the traps like the Rushmore Caves or Wall Drug, check out the Badlands and Spearfish Canyon. Both are really beautiful places to spend a day exploring. Get on a hiking path and walk around to enjoy the nature.

Another place to hike would be Harney Peak, the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains. However, one drawback is that the trail at Harney peak is usually pretty busy, so expect a small crowd.

So, there is my short guide to visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota. I don’t expect that I inspired anyone to rush out and get tickets to visit, but I just wanted to fill you in on the area I will be visiting. And, maybe, you learned something new about the the Hills.

[tags] black hills, rushmore, [/tags]

Australasia’s popular hostel chains Base Backpacker and Beyond Backpackers have merged to join the largest private hostel chain. The new, combined hostel group will take on the name Base. This private hostel chain now has 3000 beds, 10 bars, and 34 travel outlets throughout Australia and New Zealand. These hostels are very popular in the backpacking community.
For a full story, visit the article at stuff.co.nz

So what does this mean for backpackers going to these hostels in New Zealand or Australia? I think it is a good thing. Base plans to renovate and improve some of their hostels which will benefit the travelers. The only potential negative in merger situations will be the lack of competition between hostels. The competition can result in lower rates according to economics 101, so the bed rates could potentially rise. But I do not see it as too big of a problem.

[tags] hostel, australasia, backpacker, travel, budget travel. [/tags]

Jaunted.com has an amusing post on the best and worst online airline booking. Titled the Site Scramble 2nd round of awards , they have awards as following:

• Best overall: Jet Blue
• Worst overall: Spirit
• Coolest Features: Frontier
• Worst Features: all of them
• “Still Makes Us Laugh”: Spirit

Also mentioned was Southwest Airlines. Definitely check out their post linked above, because my short list here does not give it justice. Enjoy.

[tags]fares [/tags]

I just recently started following NY Times’ Frugal Traveler. Matt Gross, aka the Frugal Traveler is attempting to travel around the world in 90 days, “on the cheap.” So what is the budget at? $40 a day? $65 a day?

No, His budget is no more than $100 a day for rooms, and $40 a day for food. That does not sound too frugal to me. So potentially, he would have to budget (well actually the NY Times) $12,600. Even though he probably will spend less than $140 a day, it would be more interesting if he cut his budget down a bit.

Another problem I have with his budget is that it does not include ANY transportation costs. So with his European flights, bus rides, and taxis, the cost of the trip can really blow out of portion.

Ironically, many of the readers of his blog feel the same way I do. There are a lot of people commenting on his un-frugal-ness with his vast budget. That makes me feel better.

But even though I do not really support the cause, I will continue to follow his blog. I think that I will be able to pick up a few helpful travel tips, while being mildly entertained at the least.

[tags] frugal traveler[/tags]

Hey - I just created an about me page on the sidebar to the right.  Check it out if you want more info on my travel plans/aspirations. It includes my immediate future travel plans, and my top 10 list of travel destinations and backpacking trips.  The list will probably change though, as I continue my backpacking budget travel research.

[tags] travel, budget travel, backpacking, destinations, about me [/tags]