Ideas on Traveling on a Budget

If you are tired of the hustle and bustle of Lagos, traveling could do you some good. It would give you a great deal of time to relax without having to think of work, family pressures, bills, traffic, noise pollution and all the factors that make Lagos one big place of constant cacophony.

But where do I travel to?

I don’t even have the money. I know that’s what you are thinking.

But you do not need so much to travel these days, all you need is to figure out where to go and a solid plan and budget to work with.

So how do you figure out where to go?

First, think of friends that you have outside Lagos. They could be serving, in school, starting life or a business outside Lagos. From Akure to Lokoja, to Jos, Enugu, and Bayelsa. Wherever these friends and family may be, your travel destination is already sorted.

Secondly, talk to them about your visit. Tell them of your intentions to come over and rest, maybe also to complete your book of poetry or read the hardcovers you bought at Ake Festival last year, or to just change your environment, eat and sleep without waking up to alarms at 5am, suggest also that they pay for one leg of your trip. What are friends for? You would be surprised that they would agree to it. If not in whole at least in part.

Now that you have had one leg of your trip paid for, you have reduced expenses on your travel which is great right? By road, most places in Nigeria can be reached with under N10,000 by bus. By flight, however, between N20,000 and N50,000. More expensive if you are doing major cities like Abuja to Calabar or Abuja to Port Harcourt, or Lagos to Abuja. If you are doing this destination, I don’t get, go to the inner states, and leave the major cities out of your travel that’s where the real experience is.

A third note to consider when traveling on a budget is to eat home meals. Food is ridiculously cheap outside of the major cities and you would do well to avoid big restaurants and eateries while there. Do home cooked meals unless you made a hotel reservation, but even with that don’t do room service. Find one of the cheaper restaurants, where the regular folks go to and get yourself a good meal.

While on your vacation, do not give in to the temptation to always be on the internet. You might find yourself buying another SIM card to switch to a stronger network reception in your new area, inevitably buying more data and perhaps fuel for the generator when your devices are out of juice. If it goes out of juice, let it stay out of juice until power is restored. Sleep or go out and enjoy the sights of your new environment. Interact with nature and speak to the locals. It’s a better experience than pressing your phone like you do every other time.

Also, if you traveled during leave, come back a couple of days early so that you might get yourself back into the rhythm of work. You may need to clean up the house, do laundry or your trip back may have one or two unintended delays.