jeff yeager sleeps on a pillow made from the bladder of box wine

I’m often accused of being a cheap-fake — instead of a cheapskate — when people find out how much I’ve traveled the world. To quote my favorite Johnny Cash song, “I’ve been everywhere, man. I’ve been everywhere.”

Well, not really, but I have traveled in all 50 states and nearly 30 different countries — not bad for a spending-challenged guy like me. Of course, traveling-on-the-cheap is the only way to go, in my opinion, since it’s the best way to get a real sense of places and the people who live there. It’s all about thinking locally while you travel globally, as I like to say.

Get the 7 rules of budget travel.

A big part of successful cheapskate travel is deciding what to pack, and, even more importantly, what to leave behind. Traveling-on-the-cheap means packing as light and compact as possible, not only to avoid extra baggage costs, but to enjoy the trip more and maintain maximum flexibility, which can save you a lot of money when you’re traveling. Many of my travels have been under my own steam — bicycling or hiking, or, at the very least, traveling by public transportation. That’s usually the cheapest and greenest way to go, but it all depends on keeping your traveling kit to a minimum.

Here are some tried and true tips for cheapskate packing I’ve developed over the years:


* Worst Case Scenario: Before packing anything, ask yourself: What’s the worst thing that will happen if I don’t bring this with me? Unless the answer is you could die or suffer some immeasurable degree of pain or discomfort, think twice about packing it. Most often, the answer will be something like, “If I need it, I’ll just have to find one along the way,” in which case it’s usually best to skip it.

* Run a Shopping Mall Obstacle Course before You Travel: It’s easy to convince yourself that your backpack or suitcase isn’t soooo heavy before you leave home. Don’t be fooled. Once you have it packed, take an hour or two to tote your luggage around a local shopping mall — stairs, escalators, elevators, crowded aisles, etc. After that little exercise, I bet you’ll find a way to shed a few pounds off your Samsonite.

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