The Guide to Budget Travel with Picodi

Whenever we ask a regular Joe why he has never been abroad or why he so rarely even leaves his city all the most common answers will revolve around money. Well, the money is necessary to travel, that's true. But so it is to live our day to day lives at home.

All the expenses that we should consider in our travel budget can be put into 4 basic categories. Those are the following : transport, accommodation, attractions and food.

The first one is pretty obvious. You have to get to your destination - that's pretty much what travelling is all about. You can take a bus or book a flight depends on where you are headed but you have to remember about flexibility. If you have a specific date in mind you are bound to overpay.

The easiest way to grab the best deal is to be ready and snap it as soon as it rears its ugly head. Unfortunately, that's not always an option we know. We all have jobs and it's not that easy to take a vacation time basically overnight.

But there might be a way out of this… :)

Most of the travel companies offer some discounts and coupons for their customers. But they are very often spread all over the internet and not so easy to find. That makes sense though. The company loses some money whenever someone uses a coupon code. It's in a way a secret weapon in the hands of customers that when overused might as well prove deadly to the business.

Here at Picodi, we stay behind the customers and help them save some money. We are an international company with presence on over 40 markets. Thanks to that we know how diverse and wonderful the world is and we wish more people had a chance to travel and experience it too. We wish travel was cheaper and more people could afford it.

So how we can save on transportation? We still can go with some of the most popular bus operators and travel sites but we have to be a bit savvier than a regular user. Let take Redbus for example. As far as you travel domestically and not covering thousands of miles you can get to your destination by bus. You've never done it before? Well, that's even better because of the special codes for first time customers.

Then, when you finally arrive and you have to spend your first night in the new place. That's when most of the people start to panic.

We've all been there. You're in a new place. Probably alone, anyways not with the locals and you're an easy target. Since you don't know the prices you're easy to take advantage of, or let just put it straight - easy to rip off.

You should do your research and all that jazz, but still the smartest way not to be caught overpaying is to be a fox yourself. You should check what kind of discounts and promotions you might be qualified for and what kinds of coupon codes are up for grabs. You can stay in a 4* or 5* hotel with some of the Goibibo offers or you can enjoy the pomp and splendor of the European hotelry with MakeMyTrip flight coupons.

But talking about Europe, sometimes we want to go further and taking a bus is simply not an option. For all the travel out of India we recommend planes. There are some rules that you should mind when booking your flight. First of all, a rule as old as entire airline industry - book it in advance. The sooner you book the less you spend. That's simple.

Then the second one. Don't be afraid of layovers. Unless you live in some of the biggest cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi you won't be able to take a direct flight. But don't worry. That's how you save money and actually travel more at the same time.

Then lastly, check out the discounts. For flights there is a bunch of go-to destinations. We recommend Cleartrip and Expedia. They are as good for international as for the domestic flights. You can book a flight or have it in a package deal with the hotel - that's another way to save! :)

When it comes to attractions we're not the experts but we know who is. There is the company called xoxoday​. They offer hundreds of attractions and activities throughout the country. Airbnb's Experiences are a way to go as well. But both of those are paid and we were supposed to talk about travelling on a budget…Most people don't realize that most of the attractions are actually free. You can take some photos, walk around the city, take a free tour or or simply enjoy the culture. And the culture means food. There's hardly a better indicator of what people are like in a given country than the food they eat. Remember, you have eat like a local. And locals don't go to those fancy restaurants on the main street. They buy their food in a supermarket and so should you. Not only does it bring you closer to the culture it also turns out not costing you any additional money.

You would have to do the grocery shopping anyways, wouldn't you? Even when at home. Summing it up we have a one more advice. Travelling is shopping. You shop for a flight, you shop for a place to stay, so you do for food and entertainment down the road. Savvy shoppers don't spend a lot of money and so don't savvy travelers.
Because a savvy traveler is a savvy shopper.