46 Simple Ways to Save Cash Now with Green Travel
The economy’s in a downturn. Your cash isn’t worth as much. And your must-see-before-I-die site has just been added to the endangered destinations list.
So, how exactly do you get there without drowning in debt — or in glacier melt-offs?
Here are 46 ways to save money make your travels eco-friendly at the same time.
Transportation: Getting There and Away
- Bus instead of flying
- Train instead of flying
- Take a ferry or ship
- Use Search Green Travel to save money on flights while saving the environment
- Buy your tickets online (since over-the-phone charges fees)
- Prepare your car for the trip by inflating your tires
- Take public transportation to the airport
Transportation: Getting Around
- Walk
- Rent a bike
- Buy a bike (if you’ll be in one place for an extended period of time)
- Hitchhike safely
- Take a bus
- Share a ride (also known as “slugging”)
- Drive to hypermile
- Take a tram
- Take the subway/metro
- Take a trolley car
Packing
- Carry one bag
- Pack light when checking luggage
- Bring an extra foldable bag with you
Accommodations
- Camp
- Hostel
- Stay in an eco-lodge
- Take overnight flights, buses, or trains to avoid paying for one night’s accommodations
Hotel Specific
- Put housekeeping on hold (uses fewer resources and saves on the tip)
- Request to stop newspaper delivery to your hotel door
Food
- Bring your own water bottle
- Bring a food carrier such as a wrap-n-mat to store leftovers and carry snacks
- Make your own food
- Skip the food on board plane/train
- Skip the drink on board plane/train
- Share a meal
- Eat from local food stands
- Buy food from local markets
In Public Places
- Recycle
- Use the air dryers and not paper towels
- Don’t litter (you’ll avoid fines, too)
Vacation Planning
- Plan a trip close to home
- Visit a park or forest
- Stay in one place instead of country hopping
- Volunteer
- Unplug all electronics and appliances before you leave home
Electronics
- Share converters and other electronics so you don’t buy new ones
- Use a digital camera
- Use rechargeable batteries
Purchases
- Don’t buy souvenirs (if you do, buy a sustainable one)
Watch for our next post where we calculate exactly how much you can save with these tips.
This post is part of Problogger’s Group Writing Project.
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Umm…In most of Europe it’s actually cheaper to fly. Not very green, but very cost effective. Check out our budget travel in Britain findings — it’s strange but true.
I agree that in some of Europe it’s cheaper to fly than bus or train. But there are also many itineraries where this isn’t true. Plus, if you train/bus overnight you’ll find that the savings on accommodations definitely make it cheaper.
Great title and post! Travel is not really expensive, maintaining stuff is. We have been traveling the world as a family going on our 3rd year now, much of it in Europe, on 25K a year total.
We have only taken 2 planes & interestingly the cheap fare one from Marrakesh to Madrid took longer than going in without a plane due to endless delays. We have fun thinking of names to rename easy jet like ” pain-in-the-butt Jet”, “still-sitting-here waiting Jet”, “are we ever going to get home jet”, “snack bar is now closed jet”, “4th bag of potato chips meal jet”, “I wish I had taken another airlines jet”, etc etc.
So keep that in mind as our flights have been the worse part of our heavenly travel. We have crossed over 7 seas via ferry and are very fond of them & freight ferries are particularly lovely and can be a good price. Trains & buses can be cool too. Gas prices will probably eventually kill the small cheap airlines in Europe.
If one lives like a native, eats in a wholesome vegan way, immerses deep into a culture ( slow travel)…one can travel cheap anywhere & be supporting the planet.
Hey great, useful, well-put-together title and post!
And I really jump for ‘green’ and ‘travel’ blogs and topics. So while I found you through the problogger title project and have linked the blog I entered in that project, I want to also tell you about a green blog network in the vein of treehugger.com (since you have that in your blogroll): Green Options Media.
A sheepish disclaimer, I am a blogger for that network (sustainablog.org, mainly). But it seems like you might be genuinely interested, so…
Thanks for your post and your contribution to the problogger project. I’ve got you bookmarked in my folder for green sites.
well this is useful… (at least for me)
very thanks
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holiday travel
@soultravelers3- “We have crossed over 7 seas via ferry and are very fond of them & freight ferries are particularly lovely and can be a good price.” This is a great piece of information! I still have yet to take an extended ferry ride and am looking forward to it.
I’ve been to India recently and it took some time to learn to use green ways of transportation but it was so much fun to rent a bike, take the local ferry and travel less like a tourist and more like a person that uses more sensible options of traveling
Thanks for the great travel tips. I am planning our family vacation (the first in a few years) for next year and intend to keep these ideas in mind. If we all did our part it wouldn’t be very had to be eco-friendly while saving cash . Again, thanks for the information and great site!