| Inexpensive travel can be accomplished in two basic | | | | I never felt deprived or bored. I had a great time, eating |
| ways. First, get the best deals on the specific things | | | | wherever it was cheap and clean, doing inexpensive |
| you want. This approach is very limited though. For | | | | and interesting things, and traveling across the country |
| example, if you find the lowest price on the best hotel | | | | to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my |
| in Honolulu at the height of the season, you'll save | | | | wife Ana. |
| money, but still have a very expensive room. Trying to | | | | How To Be An Opportunist Traveler |
| get exactly what you want - or think you want - is an | | | | Can you drink rum at a dollar per bottle, instead of |
| expensive proposition, in travel and in life. | | | | your favorite beer? Can you eat chicken instead of |
| The other approach to inexpensive travel is to be an | | | | steak? How about visiting the free sights first, and |
| opportunist. This may be difficult for some, and entirely | | | | dancing in the street festival instead of the disco? |
| unacceptable to others. Nonetheless, the travelers who | | | | As an opportunistic traveler you'll have more fun, and |
| get to travel the most, learn the most and do the most, | | | | almost everything you want - eventually. Just stop |
| are the opportunists. | | | | trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you |
| When I first went to Ecuador, I went because it was | | | | want it. If the guide for Chimborazo hadn't dropped his |
| cheap. If it wasn't, I would have had a great time | | | | price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a |
| anyhow - somewhere else. A month cost $1045, | | | | bus and gone hiking on El Altar, another great Andean |
| including airfare, a $130 fee for a guide to take me to | | | | mountain. It would have left me with enough money for |
| the top of glacier-covered Mount Chimborazo, and | | | | several other minor adventures. |
| everything else. | | | | There are many things to learn about how to travel |
| I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in | | | | cheap. On our last trip to Ecuador, for example, my |
| Michigan to Miami. Round-trip ticket: $158. The round-trip | | | | wife and I discovered a way to save $1000 on plane |
| flight to Quito from Miami costs $256, because it was | | | | tickets. Good information can save you a lot of money. |
| a courier flight. This meant I signed for some luggage | | | | A flexible, open-minded approach, however, is the real |
| (car parts), and could only take carry-on luggage. | | | | key to inexpensive travel. |