Travel + Leasure came out with their World’s best rewards. Not exactly budget, but kind of fun to look at. I was surprised at how many of the best hotels were in Asia.

Their international airline and domestic airline list was kind of interesting too. Check it out.

Laos is a relatively new popular budget destination in Southeast Asia because it has only been opened up for travel since 1989. This means a) it’s really cheap and b) there are endless oppurtunities to experience the culture of the inhabitants here.

You can exolore the rugged and untouched areas in the North, or the more developed areas of Vientiane and Vang Vieng. There is a bus that runs between these cities for about $6.
Accommodations in Laos usually cost $7 a day, but expect to pay more in popular places like Vientiane. Food is usually rice, and $5 a day is plenty to budget. Usually, USD or THB is used for currency, but do not expect finding atms in Laos during your trip, so you should get your cash in Thailand before.
Mekong, Laos
Getting to Laos is somewhat difficult, as it usually requires entry from the Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai, Thailand. Here you can purchase 15 day visas, and go through immigration. 30 day visas are available, but must be purchased elsewhere.

For activities in Laos, there is a lot to do and see. You can visit the Buddhist temples, or shop in the open air markets. Many travelers enjoy just wandering about the city and countryside. Laos has a lot to offer all budget travelers.

[tags] Laos [/tags]

Today DailyMail.co.uk has an article about the EU cracking down the dishonest advertised prices for tickets thay some budget European airlines have. The main European airlines guilty of this practice are Ryanair and easyJet.
The EU is gettting fed up with the bogus low advertised prices, because in most cases the prices are a lot higher because of extra surcharges that every customer encounters.

It gives an example of a ticket purchased from Ryanair, which costed 2400% more than its advertised price. The ticket was for a flight between Dublin and London, which after all of the surcharges, costed £20 ($38) - still a good deal.
It gives one example where the price for a purchased ticket from Ryanair between Dublin and London had a 2400% difference than the advertised price. Even with the many extra surcharges, the ticket was only £20.22, or $37, a pretty good deal.

It’s good that the EU is going to crackdown on this because it can really mislead airpassengers, especially those with a tight budget. Tyanair and easyJet might as well advertise their ticket prices honestly, because they are still a good deal at around $40, and their customers would definitely appreciate it.

Alot like my previous post on WWOOFing, I found another site called helpx.net (help exchange) which offers pretty much the same programs as th WWOOF sites do, but on a smaller scale. Help exchange is another way to gain free accommodation and meals while traveling abroad.

One difference between WWOOFing and going through help exchange is that HelpX does not limit its work to only organic farms.

… an online listing of host organic farms, non-organic farms, farmstays, homestays, ranches, lodges, B&B, inns, backpackers hostels and even sailing boats who invite volunteer helpers to stay with them short-term in exchange for food and accommodation (board and lodging)…

So if you were intersted in WWOOF, but the whole organic lifestyle would not fit, HelpX can offer you a different type of working holiday for travel.

I’m kind of late to the party, but I just ran across an awesome travel blog idea. Its Europe on an Alphabet, and is about a woman who decided to travel all across Europe to cities starting with each letter in the alphabet. It’s a really unique idea that I find appealing

It’s too bad I did not find this earlier, but here is the post that started her blog it all back in February. Enjoy.

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[tags] travel, backpacking[/tags]

At the top of every budget traveler’s bookmarks should be the new hip CouchSurfing 2.0, a website that offers free accommodations, and possibly meals, to almost anyone. Couch surfing is two year old online community with about 50,000 members offering their a room or couch for a free bed to travelers.

There is not real hitch, except that to join the community, you would be expected to offer a room or couch of your own for someone to stay at. The majority of couch surfers age anywhere between 20 and 30 years old, and its members reside in pretty much every country worth traveling to.

Couch Surfing is not the only hospitality community available to use on the internet. HospitalityClub.org is another alternative that was started in 2000. Hospitality Club is actually the largest hospitality club, and it works the same way Couch Surfing works.

A third and final free travel and accommodation website is GlobalFreeloaders.com. I believe this is the smallest of the three, and they are alot like the other hospitality sites. Although, Global Freeloader states that if someone should accept a free stay from someone else, they should be able to offer a free stay at their place in the next 6 months. This is a good idea to discourage people who want to cheat the system.

[tags] couch surfing, budget travel [/tags]