Travel gurus would always remind us that backpacking around the world or going abroad for a student workshop do not require heavy budget. Unless you fancy souvenirs and expensive restaurants, it's much easier to subsist on a controlled budget. Actually, one of the top reasons for the cheapest packages or the friendliest agents offering the best travel rates we still grope for our credit cards is the fact that we are not grabbing opportunities, and it's almost a cliche. For example, if I am going to book a flight to Nevada, I'd probably take a direct flight so less waste of time. So I check out icheapfares.com for instance and find discount airfare rates. However, unless I make further research, I won't realize that I could actually take two flights to get there, both costing less than the direct flight to Nevada even when combined. Moreover, the search only allows me to find 'affordable' hotels or motels, but never apartments near the area. So looking for the best rates online can sometimes be a narrow and stupefying process.



Fortunately for those who love to browse travel guides, Fielding's, Fodor's, and Frommer's can easily be accessed online as well as on many travel kiosks and bookshops. But there are budget traveling secrets that are too subtle for the human perception to notice. For example, ask yourself: Do you actually enjoy the travel or the destination itself? Most of my friends confess that they hate airline food and the plane flights or cruises make their stomachs queasy. Not to mention the fact that traveling itself drains their wallets! So to make things convenient, they had to think of creative ways to stay on land, revel on the surroundings, and cook their own meals. That would mean checking out the nearby apartments instead of a discount hotel, or buying their own food from the grocery instead of marauding the local restaurant. Now, we're talking controlled budget here!

There are travelers who insist on going certain fixed days when they could have gone on off-peak days such as Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. You can bet that you will often get the cheapest tickets during these days, as well as during certain off-peak months, such as summer in

Aruba or April until October in the Pacific Islands. One example is booking a flight to Honolulu for $485 -- or elsewhere in the US at Orbitz.com. At Orbitz, you can take advantage of tickets sold 'today' at discount airfare rates which you can use next year. Also, travel buffs sometimes register to discount travel sites such as Tripadvisor.com in order to take advantage of the newsletters they offer. These newsletters update them on the latest deals on both travel and hotel packages.

Another question you should ask yourself is: Am I traveling as a tourist or as an ordinary citizen who wants to spend Thanksgiving with my relatives in Miami? This should give you a hint whether to take an international or domestic flight. Domestic flights are far cheaper to the point that you can actually squeeze your budget and still have something left to buy an extra pair of jeans. If you travel outside of the country, be sure to take with you my word of caution: The natives will always hike up the prices for almost all the goods and services that you will consume -- most notably a cab ride. Let them know that you're a budget traveler, or at least ask for the real price before accepting offers.

Now, are you set? Traveling on discounted prices don't have to be a pain in the neck. When an opportunity for a cheap flight arises, be the first to snatch it. Remember that a holiday spent in the Bahamas may be just as cozy as the one spent at home -- but an inexpensive treat to the Caribbean can make a whole world of difference if you get a flight ticket that's a real steal.