---
title: 'How I Travel So Much (Without Being Rich) – Real Budget Travel Tips for 2025! 🌍✈️'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=wNs9MAIKkv4'
video_id: 'wNs9MAIKkv4'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 1199
---

# How I Travel So Much (Without Being Rich) – Real Budget Travel Tips for 2025! 🌍✈️

> Source: [How I Travel So Much (Without Being Rich) – Real Budget Travel Tips for 2025! 🌍✈️](https://youtube.com/watch?v=wNs9MAIKkv4)

## Summary

The speaker debunks the assumption that frequent international travel requires wealth, remote work, or debt. They explain that by planning smartly, using simple tools, and adopting a frugal mindset, anyone with a regular job can afford multiple trips each year. The video provides step-by-step budget travel tips covering flights, accommodation, luggage, and everyday savings.

### Key Points

- **Not Rich, Just Smart** [0:00] — Debunks assumptions that he is rich or works remotely; he has a regular job and higher-than-average expenses.
- **Specific Budget Examples** [0:44] — Aims for under £120 per person for a three-night European break; did Canada and New York for £350; Tokyo for £1,100.
- **Timing is Everything** [2:16] — Books when it's cheap, not when he wants to go. Midweek flights half price; shifting by one day can save 60-70%.
- **Tools for Finding Deals** [3:11] — Uses Google Flights, Skyscanner, Jack's Flight Club, and airline websites. Searches 'anywhere' with cheapest month.
- **Travel Light – No Checked Bag** [3:36] — Haven't checked a bag in almost 3 years for European trips; uses a £12 foldable backpack from Amazon.
- **Cheap but Decent Hotels** [6:46] — Accommodation in Europe: rarely more than £40/night for clean, well-located hotels. Example: Athens hotel for £20-30/night.
- **Little Savings Add Up** [10:30] — Saves small amounts repeatedly: water not soda, local food, public transport passes, bank travel packs.
- **Mindset: Travel as a Habit** [13:46] — Treats travel as a habit, not a luxury. Spent less than £2,000 total for 8 trips in 12 months.
- **Final Deal Example** [19:06] — Found 5 nights in Marrakech in June for ~£120 per person – flights and hotel included.

## Transcript

You've seen me in Tokyo, Athens, New
York, Toronto, Paris, Bil Bao, Kov,
Athens, Stockholm, but I'm not rich. I
don't work remotely, and I don't have a
secret trust fund. And I'm going to tell
you how I do
it. Yeah. When you see how often I
travel in some of the places, I'm not
being funny, Tokyo, and New York.
They're most people's bucket list.
You're assuming that I either work
remotely, I'm absolutely minted, or my
credit cards are bursting at the seams.
The truth, I work a regular job, I live
in the UK, and my expenses are the same
as everybody else. In fact, mine are
slightly higher cuz I live away from
home during the week. I just plan
smarter. I usually aim to spend under
£120 a person for a three night European
break. That's around €140 or $150.
I've even done Canada and New York for a
week, including flights for
€350, which is
$410 or $440. And my twoe trip to Tokyo
was €1,100. And that was a package with
British Airways, decent hotel, decent
luggage allowance, the whole shebang,
which comes in at $1280 or
$1370. Obviously, you're only going to
get those prices if you fly from the UK,
but anywhere in Europe similar. Flying
from the States, slightly more. And
here's the main reason I have to do it
on the cheap. I'm usually paying for
some blood sucking, sorry, a somebody
else. For example, one of my kids, both
my kids, or in the case of Athens, my
mother. That budget has to stretch twice
as far. And a lot of people think what
I'm spending in total for two people is
what I'm actually spending per person.
I'm not rich. I'm just careful. I use
tools. I hunt deals. And most
importantly, I research. Research is
everything but making a note of your
research. Get yourself a pen and paper.
If you want to save money, if you don't
mind splashing a bit, get a
notebook. Let me show you how. And if
you stay till the end, I will run
through something I actually found today
that I think will blow you away.
[Music]
Here's the first secret. Timing is
everything. I rarely book flights solely
based on when I want to go. I book when
it's cheap to go. Midweek flight, half
the price. Shifting by just one day, can
save you 6070 or more. And these aren't
all random offseason trips either.
Paris, that was during the UK school
holiday in August, peak time. However,
for some reason, Paris isn't that busy
in August. Most of the Parisians choose
that time to go on their holidays. KCKO,
we went during February half term.
That's a peak time, especially for
people looking to get away from the
bleak British winter. Even though it's
cold in KCO, it's still getting out of
the UK in the winter. Toronto and New
York, that was during the May half term.
I will admit we did leave a day early
and that particular year the Welsh half
term was out of sync with the rest of
the UK. However, that can sometimes work
the opposite way as well. I don't avoid
holidays. I just plan smarter. I use
Google flights, Skyscanner, even Jack's
Flight Club, but also the airlines
themselves. Whiz Air are always cheap
and I search differently. Instead of
Rome in July, I search anywhere.
Cheapest month. You just got to learn to
play with it and what works for you. The
map function in Google Maps is quite
good. The magic of budget travel starts
before you even click book.
My next trip is Travel Light and Book
Smart. I haven't checked a bag in almost
3 years now, other than long haul. So,
you get no baggage fees, no standing at
carousels, and definitely no dragging a
suitcase through a crowded baggage hall
or cobbled streets at 2:00
a.m. And this is the bad boy I always
take with me. It cost me £12 on Amazon.
It's made by Narway. This thing has been
on every trip, even the ones with the
big baggage allowance. It folds into
this pocket here and it is a good
size, 12 quid. So, even my baggage
purchases a budget. You can get it in
more imaginative colors. Suin's got one
with elephants on it. The wife's got one
with flamingos on it. On all my European
trips, that is the only luggage I've
taken. Might have taken a coat with some
fairly stuffed pockets, but everything
goes in there. And bear in mind, I take
cameras and an iPad. It's a little bit
different for sewing cuz she likes to
take a bit of makeup. That's what her
pockets are for. And she pinches a bit
of space in my nar way bag. I do wear my
heavier stuff to go on the flight. So,
in other words, if I'm going somewhere
warm, but I want some jeans as well, I
wear the jeans, might wear a jumper,
might wear a shirt, and obviously a
coat. Sometimes I don't even use the
coat, but the coat's like an extra bag
with the pockets. Bingo. Uh, for Canada
and New York, we both took similar size
bags and we paid for one overhead. I
regretted it. cost too much, but we were
going for a week. Do I look like a
fashion blogger? No. Do I save 80 quid
on baggage allowance? Absolutely. Do I
blow 100 quid on a fancy bag that I then
have to pay to check? No way. In fact,
now way. But smart travel isn't just the
bag, it's booking, too. Cheap flight
isn't always cheap once you add luggage,
seat fees, and check-in chaos. For
example, a10 flight can become 60 70
pound by the time you've paid to select
a seat and put a bag on it. So, always
check what's included. And sometimes,
for example, British Airways, even on
their short hall, are a little bit more
generous. You get a personal item that
goes under your seat and an item of hand
luggage. Book is going to Canada in June
and they've got more than enough luggage
space. Might ask them to bring me back
some duty-free. And the same goes if
you're going longer hall. A package
sometimes works out well. For example,
with Tokyo, we were allowed two 23 kg
suitcases each. God knows how we'd have
got them anywhere. A overhead bag and a
personal item. We're not crazy. We took
one suitcase, one personal item, and I
think we took a spare small rucks sack.
We were well within the limit. However,
you brought that as separates, you would
have paid for the baggage. And let's
face it, if you're going for two weeks,
you do want a bit of space, but with
Tokyo, you need that space for bringing
stuff back. Budget travel's great, but
only if you're getting what you actually
pay for or what you actually
[Music]
need. Let's talk places to stay, cuz
accommodation can often make or break
your budget. If you get it wrong, you'll
pay a fortune, but it can also make or
break your holiday. There is no point
staying in a doss house unless you're
prepared to stay in a doss house. But
here's the one thing for Europe. I
rarely spend more than £40, $50, $50 a
night, and I'm studying decent clean
hotels with a location. Location is
everything when you especially when
you're only going for a short break.
Take Athens. The first time I went, I
went with Book and we stayed in the
hotel Pergamos, which was in Ammonia,
which unfortunately isn't famed for
being the nicest part of Athens. We
actually had to walk through a red light
district. However, we were close to the
main metro station and it wasn't bad.
Books are streetwise, early 20s. I've
traveled the world and I've seen worse.
It wasn't bad at all. There was a really
nice takeaway nearby, a restaurant
nearby, and the hotel was clean. That
was the main thing. But more
importantly, the location worked. I've
seen that one down as low as £20 a
night. I mean, you're close to the
action. Sometimes closer to some action
than you'd like to be, but 20 quid a
night. You can go even cheaper if you're
willing to stay in a hostel, but the one
thing in a lot of cities is the
location. When I went back to Athens
with mom, I found a slightly nicer hotel
a little bit further out. It was the
other side of Ammonia, but the criteria
for me there was mom's not overly
mobile. We needed to be right next to a
train station, which we were. And we had
a balcony cuz mom likes a cheeky vag.
Again, that one kicked in at just over
£30 a night. Boom. We could have had
much nicer and stayed in Sintagma
Square. You're talking £100 a night for
a similar size room with a posh dorman.
Do you really need a posh dorman if
you're only going for a weekend?
Probably not. But if that's what you
want, go for it. Now, this is where
Google Maps really kicks in. You need to
know how are you going to get there from
the airport and how are you going to get
from there to the things you want to do.
The crazy thing was we booked a long
15-hour coach trip and the pickup for
that coach trip was next to our hotel.
The people that were staying at the £150
a night places were getting up an hour
before us to go on the same trip.
Sometimes cheapest it really is best.
But another important thing is to scroll
the reviews and learn how to read
reviews. I would say half the bad ones
are people who didn't get the upgrade
they wanted or thought they were getting
five star when they were paying twostar
budget. If there's a few good ones
recently cuz that's the other thing is
the place can go downhill and the good
ones are in the majority. ignore a lot
of the bad ones unless they're really
bad. You know, they're talking multiple
complaints of staff stealing and that
sort of thing. And the beauty with Trip
Adviser, people who are hacked off will
always show their worst pictures. I'll
be honest, some of the worst pictures
are nicer than some of the worst places
I've stayed. You've got to pay, you
know, you pay your money and you take
your choice. But I've just I've been
just as unhappy in a £100 a night hotel
as I have in a 20 a night hotel. But you
can do a lot to make yourself happy with
the 80 quid difference. But I'm not
suggesting you stay in deaf traps or
ratinfested hell holes. I I haven't yet,
but I just haven't spent big bucks. Go
for something that's slightly less
modernized, but still in great condition
as opposed to something that's all
marble. And that that'll be falling
apart in 4 years as well. The only
exception was when I went to Tokyo. The
best located hotels had small rooms. I
was traveling with my child. We wanted a
twin room, which isn't that common in
Tokyo. So, we downgraded to a
businessgrade hotel, and I think we got
a better hotel than a lot of the ones in
Shinjuku, and it wasn't a bad price. I
think the hotel worked out as about £50
a night, which for Tokyo is a steal. It
was still well located. We were next
door to Ryoko train station, and we were
walking distance from Aexa. So, to sum
up for a break, if it's less than £40 a
night, the location works and it's
clean, it's a 10 from me.
Next up, it's the little things. This is
where budget travel goes from bare
minimum to actually brilliant. I don't
just save big, I save small, but I save
small over and over again. For example,
a pinchos tour in Bill Bao. You're
combining drinking and eating and
getting a bit of exercise. £20,
£25, $26. Bilbao also has the Barrett
card which is one of the cheapest ways
to charge up a card because the public
transport system there is so
unbelievably cheap. A lot of journeys
work out as about
5050 including something you would
normally consider touristy like the
bridge and the finicular. A free course
meal in Sophia you can hit them for
under £10. Go two streets back from
where it looks trendy that 500 yen which
is about £350. temporet meal in Tokyo
still lives rent free in my head. I've
just been out tonight. I have just paid
for a similar meal £16 in Birmingham and
it wasn't as good. And don't overlook
transport passes. They're not always a
great deal, but in most cities they are,
or at least it puts a cap on what you're
going to spend. For example, in
Stockholm, you can get all around the
city for 72 hours for £20, and that
includes your airport transfers. Very
seldom does the most popular way of
getting from the airport. Work out the
cheapest. For example, in Stockholm, the
Islander Express is amazing. It's about
20 pound ahead. It's fine if you're on
your own. Bit of luxury. Save you 15
minutes on getting into the city. When
you're paying for two freeloaders, I
mean, children, you better get on a
flick bus. It takes 10 minutes longer,
but it's only 4 quid. Boom. In Dublin,
the leap card, £7 covers all your
transport for 24 hours. you get on the
airport, um the official ferry bus from
the ferry's terminal, that's £8. You
only got to use a well, you don't have
to use a bus at all. You're already in
front by the time you get into the city.
The other thing is look for your bank,
your travel packs or deals with your
credit card. I use Barclays. I've got a
And this is not sponsored. I subscribe
to their travel pack. I get six free
airport lounge visits a year. If you're
paying for them out your own pocket,
that's 40 quid. I get me RAC cover
including Europe and I get multi-rip
travel insurance for the whole year or
anywhere in the world for me and any
dependent children or children under 21
that are traveling with me and my wife.
The only thing it doesn't cover is my
mom because she's over 70. She's
actually 15 years over 70. Yeah, we have
to stump up for that. None of these are
flashy, but they all add up. For
example, yes, eating out's nice.
However, in Japan, the mini mart, you
know, the gambinis, the meals there are
amazing and they're pennies. Um, in
Greece, I think it's law there, they
can't seem to charge more than £5 for a
girros. A girros is like a kebab with
chips inside. It's unbelievable. Even in
a restaurant, you'll get a girros for
about £7. Boom. That's nothing. That's
less than a Big Mac meal. There was one
night in Greece. Me and Book were back
late, so we just couldn't be bothered to
look for a restaurant. Yeah. Two jeros,
two cans of pop, and two bottles of
water for a trip in the morning for £8.
That's about £650 for a meal for two.
Sometimes staying in the shitty area
pays
off. And I think the biggest thing I've
learned that you can take as a tip or
just listen is I stopped treating travel
as a luxury and started treating as a
habit. It's something that I really
enjoy doing. I think it broadens the
mind. My kids are 21 and coming up on
18. were in those twilight years of them
actually wanting to come on holiday with
their dad and I don't think I did enough
of it when we were young. That's why I
want it to become a habit. Book is an
art student. I've taken them to MoMA,
the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
They've been to the National Gallery of
Bulgaria. More interesting than you
think. They've seen some of their
favorite art pieces in Tokyo. Now, how
does that complement an art degree?
You're giving them an investment in
travel. I build my year around it. I
skip impulse buys. I keep a notebook of
prices and flight alerts and I plan way
ahead. For example, if you look at
British Airways, they release their
prices 355 days in advance for their
packages and they often start them off
at a low level, sell the first few
seats, see how it's going before you do
your pricing. Um, some of the more
obscure airlines like Air China, 3
months in advance is a sweet spot there.
You've got to, it's like anything in
life, you've got to learn about it to be
able to do it. Whiz Air about three
months are the sweet spot and with
EasyJet you have to keep an eye on when
they're releasing their flights but
that's usually I think they do it three
times a year but I for some reason I
don't seem to fly easyJet very much. For
example for the kids this year as a
Christmas gift I bought a trip to
Stockholm to go to the ABA Museum and
stay in Jumbo Stay. So glad we did. It
doesn't exist anymore. It went bust a
couple of weeks ago. They can tell the
mates they have stayed in a converted
747. It's quirky. It's different and
they've done it. They've been to the ABA
Museum. They've danced in the subways
under the amazing subway art. They've
also had meatballs made from bears.
Where else can you do that? Books
managed to go within 3 months of passing
their driving test. They had an
international driving license and they
were racing a Mario Kart through the
streets of Tokyo. Once in a lifetime
experience before they're even 21. For
mom, for Christmas, I bought her a trip
to Athens. We hadn't been on holiday
with for ages. It didn't cost me a
fortune. I think it was £96 each and I
took my mom to another country when it
was warm in March. Not only that, I got
to spend three quality days with my
mother. Don't forget I live away from
home during the week. Don't see her as
much as I should and I should invest in
putting time in. She's going to cherish
that. She told everyone where we when we
were there. This is my Christmas present
for Miss Hunt and she loved it. It's all
about memories and investment in
spending quality time with the people
you care about. This isn't about being
rich. It's about dragging the most out
of life as you can. And it doesn't have
to cost a fortune. Don't forget, I've
just said Stockholm was £70 each. I've
just been for dinner with bulk. We spent
nearly £40. Don't get me wrong, it was
worth it. Two dinners with your child is
the same as taking them away. What gives
you more value? I spent 2 hours with it
wasn't even 2 hours. It's was probably
an hour and a half, including the time
walking from book's place to the
restaurant and back. Now, isn't 72 hours
of quality time more valuable? You don't
need to wait for the perfect moment or
go big budget. You just need a plan and
a bit of nerve. And don't discount
holidays in the UK. Xede is an amazing
tool. You can find a hotel in instead of
staying in central London, stay in Shaw
Ditch. You can still get to central
London very quickly. I've seen hotels
there more a cross between a part hotel
and Airbnb for a family for about £60 a
night. Book went down there for a comic
con mediocre and I mean mediocre hotel
still had their own room. Still had a
private bathroom £26 a night and that
was in the
summer. Now surely the experiences I've
talked about are better than putting
£200 a month away to go to Spain for a
Fortnite all inclusive. Don't get me
wrong, if you enjoy a week in a Fortnite
in Spain, all inclusive, do it. But I
think getting as many places in as you
can across the year is much better. You
know, let's just take a look at the last
12 months for me. Athens twice, Kov, Bil
Bao, Paris, Sophia, Tokyo, New York. You
add all that up together, I have spent
less than £2,000 ahead. And look at the
holidays I've had.
So, to recap, no, I'm not rich, but I
travel more than most because I make it
a priority, or as I said earlier, a
habit. I go when flights are cheap. I
travel light. I pick smart hotels. I
don't waste money on fluff. I grab the
little savings that save up and stack up
into something amazing. And that's the
real key for me is if you can save, for
example, instead of having a soft drink
with every meal, ask for a glass of
water. You're saving £3 per person per
meal across two meals a day. That is
three six 912 a day. I know it's minor,
but that's an extra12. That would cover
your travel pass. That might cover lunch
the next day. It might cover entry into
an attraction. But you adapt that
attitude to everything without coming
across as tight. The kids want an ice
cream, buy them a bloody ice cream with
the 12 quid you save by drinking water
instead of Coke. Simples. And I'm not
doing anything that any one of you can't
do. I've just figured out how to make it
work. And if you stuck around, I said
I'd show you an amazing deal I found
this morning. I was sitting in the
coffee place. I was only drinking normal
coffee. They were drinking cappuccino.
I'm still saving a quid for my next
holiday. I found five nights in
Marrakesh in June. Flights and hotel for
round about 120 a person. That's in
June. Just so happens that Sen finishes
college, 20th of June. Weather's
amazing. Then there's a bit of a sweet
spot before the prices go up, before the
kids break up for the summer. Bingo.
You're going in the summer, but you're
paying winter in Blackpool prices. And
this is what budget travel really looks
like. And it's better than you think.
Don't get me wrong, there are going to
be things if you want to do a safari in
Kenya, that's going to cost. Do a safari
in Kenya if that's important to you.
We'll see you soon. And there'll be
another video very soon. Thanks for
watching.
[Music]