Frugal, low cost trips to new cities

[mathiverse]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to visit Austin, Texas for a week later this month. I'm looking for tips, mindsets, and perspectives that will allow me to keep this trip low cost, but fun and interesting. I like physical activity if that helps you with ideas.

I've already got housing and the airplane ticket there covered, so I'm mostly looking for tips on ways to keep the trip fun without spending money on tourist traps and other random stuff.

I've already got some ideas.

• I plan to explore what I can by walking around.
• When I go to sites further away, I will take public transportation, if possible.
• I may rent a bike for a day or two in order to hit some nearby hiking trails that are biking distance to where I will be staying.
• Obvious locations to visit that are free and interesting: Parks, hiking trails, tourist attractions that *are* free, religious services if that's your thing (other things?)
• I'm not really a foodie and I don't like trying new restaurants or new food, so in my case I think getting housing with a kitchen and cooking most of my food will be preferable to eating out. I can make this extra nice by cooking food with the friend I will be visiting with who enjoys cooking.
• I can probably find a list of free stuff happening in the city while I'm there and then I can choose activities from there.

Some ways I could have saved on housing or airplane tickets: credit card churning, staying with a friend, taking a bus or train (if I had time), other options?

Do you have experience going on low cost trips to new cities? Any advice for me? In your opinion, what kind of activities are particularly good when on a trip like this?

Also have you been to Austin? Is there anything in Austin that you think is worth seeing or doing?

[mathiverse]

It turns out that Austin has a Volksmarching chapter and there are three year round walks and there may even be some special events while I'm there. I'll have to check.

Side note: I was looking at the Austin year round events and I don't understand how I know where to walk once I get to the start location. Will there be maps at the start location? How does that normally work?

Along the same lines self-guided tours seems nice too. For Austin, I found this: https://www.preservationaustin.org/hist ... stin-tours

[mountainFrugal]

You should check out the bats at South Congress Bridge at dusk. They might be around later this month (although in fewer numbers in late Feb/March than summer). https://www.batsinaustin.com/

[Chris]

Being flexible -- in terms of both schedule and comfort -- are key to keeping costs down while traveling. Transportation and lodging are the biggies.

Cost savings on airfare can happen after booking, if you volunteer to get bumped. The compensation could easily cover the cost of your ticket, if you have flexible plans.

[Gilberto de Piento]

You mentioned renting a bike. Renting from a bike shop is probably going to be the most expensive option. Many places have bike sharing systems that are probably cheaper (bike rack with a computerized kiosk attached so you can rent the bike with a credit card). I haven't tried this but if there is a subreddit or similar for the city you could ask to borrow a bike for free and see if anyone wants to help you out, though the person might not show up or the bike might be a junker. Don't forget you will need a lock and helmet.

If there is something you really want to do, don't be so cheap that you miss out and regret it later. It's up to each person to figure out where to draw the line. It's easier to pay for travel now but for me experiences just don't hit as hard as I get older.

[mathiverse]

@GdP - Ah! Great tip about the bike share service. It looks like there is one in Austin. I'll bring my helmet and lock.

EDIT: Looking at the bike share map, unfortunately, the kiosks are mostly available in places that are easy to walk and the trip limit is 60 minutes, then you get charged extra every half hour after that. Still helpful in some cases, but there are several places where the 60 minute constraint means the trip might be more expensive than a bike rental from a store (eg bike to somewhere without a kiosk, go on a two hour hike, return to a kiosk). I'll compare prices when I get there. Either way, still a good idea in case I have to go shorter distances.

There is nothing I really want to do other than to see my friend, so no problems there. We can hang out with each other doing anything, so I'll prioritize things that don't cost money.

[chenda]

If there is something you really want to do, don't be so cheap that you miss out and regret it later. It's up to each person to figure out where to draw the line. It's easier to pay for travel now but for me experiences just don't hit as hard as I get older.

+1. Travel, especially long haul, just doesn't haven't the same appeal or give me the same satisfaction to me now as it did in my 20s. I don't know if thats due to age, wisdom, hedonistic adaptation or just the realisation one tropical beach looks pretty similar to all the others.

[shaz]

I like to check out the public library whenever I go to a new town. Sometimes the library can lead you to other free/cheap options too. Our local library has a state parks pass that you can check out, for instance.

Geocaching can be a fun way to explore a new place. There are apps that let you locate the caches. If you bring some small things from your home location you can add your own caches to repay the locals.

[WFJ]

Tons of activities near UT and Capital Building. If you are just on vacation, staying in this area is the most interesting, activities for all tastes within a few miles walk, bike, scooter. Parks, paddle board, kayak, hikes.

Social activities

https://6street.com/

or

https://hrc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/ ... 2663/rec/1

If it is a scouting trip to relocate to Austin, then depends on where you live. Traffic in Austin is oddly bad given the relatively small population. Austin is also dealing with a spike in crime, so also know not where to go and locals are the only ones who can provide this knowledge. Bats are a trip to see, but don't know the seasons.

[Laura Ingalls]

I try to look up free museums or free days at museums.
I also kinda geek out on learning the mass transit system in places that have at least ok systems.

DH and I also like just walking around new places. I unlike Chenda don’t seem to have ever gotten sick of the beach. Sunburned and prudently seeking shady or indoor activities perhaps.

Farmer’s markets and just the supermarket too for cheaper eats and beverages This is not an original hack but if you are traveling and don’t have the loyalty card/app for a chain just use the area code you are in and 867-5309.

DH also likes dive bars and visiting with or listening to locals.

[chenda]

I unlike Chenda don’t seem to have ever gotten sick of the beach. .

Oh I'm not sick of them Just I'll settle for the Med rather than long hauling it to the Caribbean...

[Laura Ingalls]

@chenda upon rereading you seem more averse to riding in the “metal tube” as we sometimes refer to it. A nice beach can come in lots of flavors which I totally get.

I miss having access to the clean cold lake just a few miles from our previous place in Wisconsin and in some ways prefer it to say Maui. But if an affordable opportunity to visit “not cold” pops up in the winter I am going to make it happen. DH is currently in Southern California alternating from going to the beach and helping his mom sort dead person stuff. Not a vacation because clutter makes him stressed so staying in the home of a deceased hoarder is not his ideal. Not exactly torture either as he takes his coffee at the beach sunrise and his sunset with a beer in his insulated coffee mug.

[chenda]

But if an affordable opportunity to visit “not cold” pops up in the winter I am going to make it happen.

I'm totally with you on this. Actually aviation is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, I love aeroplanes although I mostly keep it short haul now, partly for cost reasons and partly because I've maybe become less adverturess.

When I was younger I had a bit of a travel mindset and wanted to see everything everywhere. The further afield the better. But after a while I kinda maxed out and I didn't have the same enthusiasm for it anymore. Just my experience.

@OP - you could try a couch surfing event or something like tinder to meet up with some locals.

[mathiverse]

Thanks for the advice everyone! With your help, I've got a full schedule of stuff to do. Also hopefully the bats will be out when I get there! It looks like I'll be in town a little early for the usual bat season, but maybe I'll catch them on my last night there.

Also thanks for the tip on how to get grocery store deals with that phone number. I'd never heard of that trick before!

[conwy]

I love this post - low-cost frugal urban travelling / exploring is a super fun thing to do and the challenge of keeping it low cost can add to the fun.

Some ideas:

Accommodation - I've been thinking about this a bit. Apart from typical hotels, hostels and AirBnB, it seems like there could be a range of interesting alternatives here. One idea is to see if you can find some kind of volunteering or seasonal work in which your accommodation is paid for. You lose some travelling time to labour, but in exchange, you get free accommodation and maybe earn some cash. Another idea is to contact old friends or ex-landlords, from previous visits, to check if they would let you stay a few days in exchange for a fixed sum of money. This way you can stay in a more residential area that you previously lived in and are more familiar with, and possibly pay less than you would for an equivalent AirBnB.

Belongings - I like to travel as light as possible, carrying everything on my back and avoiding checked luggage.

Food - I purchase all food from local supermarkets, grocery stores, etc. I always bring a small plastic sealable microwave container, which can be used to cook breakfast or lunch at any place that has a microwave oven.

Transport - I try to research free or cheap transport options ahead of time. Many cities feature a free shuttle or cheap/off-peak discounts on public transport. Or you can arrange your travels to be almost entirely on-foot after you reach the city/town.

Timing - Recently I've become interested in "weather-hacking" - that is, choosing travel dates and locations so that I have ideal weather during a whole trip. With some care, it may be possible to combine this with off-peak timings, so that you can find a sweet-spot between good weather and low congestion. Also I try to have a small number of lengthy stops rather than many short stops. You can avoid all kinds of unexpected costs if you have more of a time buffer. E.g. instead of being rushed into paying for an expensive taxi ride to get to the airport in just a couple of hours so you don't miss your flight, you could block off a whole day and get to the airport in a cheaper and more leisurely way, enjoying the sights as you go.

Fitness - Most cities have outdoor gyms / fitness areas, so I use these if the weather isn't too extreme. Otherwise you can usually get a free one-off trial visit at a gym. Worst case, your accommodation (especially hostels) might have a shared gym, or you could do some basic body weight workouts indoors.

Friends - I like the idea of building and maintaining a casual network of contacts -- colleagues, housemates, meetup groups, etc. -- who I can meet with whenever I re-visit an area. It could be anything from a quick catch-up at a local cafe to paying them a visit at their residence. We can exchange information, enjoy eachothers company and maybe lend eachother things.

Locations - Local public spots can be a great place to spend long portions of the day - public pools, libraries. Or you could attend very nice up-market cafe, especially at an odd hour when there are fewer people around, and the overall cost isn't too bad.

[Stahlmann]

Accommodation - if you're not defined by political ego and won't show that you don't have to go to job for the next 5+ years and you can create relationships with people different from you - maybe try joining for a night (and maybe longer) at local squat (I'm not sure militant/closed lefties communities are in different part of the world... but they have been getting mellow since WWII, some action happens in Third World). You can always do some work or even offer money donation. Don't go there with shiny shoes and shirt from your corporate gig (on the other hand, being bipolar transexual programmer can land you job in Big Tech in SV and you can be impolite to other people over Twitter without consequences in your work).

Maybe I overestimate "moral goodness" of leftism, I was once on the modern (unfortunately, identity) left party (as in being at bar and enjoying Friday) and I was simply astonished nobody talked about some kind of revolution.

Also, this was posted in @Jean's journal:
https://www.youtube.com/c/VagrantHoliday

[bos]

I traveled through Europe for 7 weeks. Visiting many cities and villages along the way. The whole trip was less than what I would have spend at home. Around 1800 euro. Here are some general things that I noticed that kept the cost down.

Lodging
Couchsurfing is a platform where people offer to host you. It is active in almost every city. I would say that I slept half of the trip at people's place. This is not completely "free". Be nice and give a small present or cook a meal for the host. Also a great way to make friends. If you keep in touch, you will have a place to come to next time.
I had a small tent with me. Pitching up when weather did not allow me to travel further or If I wanted to stay close to nature.

Food
Supermarkets and do not eat out. Fresh bread, cheese, wine, pre-boiled pasta salads. In Southern Europe you can get dried meat for almost nothing. great snack and easy to take with you.

Activities/Entertainment
Talk to locals. Couchsurfing helped a lot with this, but also apps like Meetup can give you access to local knowledge. Locals do not spend every weekend 100 euro for activities. They know about the great local markets, a nice lake to swim in or free museum to visit.

Timing
A car rental in Sicily costed me 6 euro per day in low season and will cost 40 in high season.