By Gabrielle Gillow
Presumably, if you’re like me; an average student lacking adventure – someone who finds themselves scrolling socials disheartened at the look of eager travellers sharing their trips – you are in need of an opportunity to grasp travel and adventure. Travelling cheap does not have to be a distant dream.
Essentially, we are broke students. Our loan is spent on rent and actually being able to keep ourselves alive. However, save a few pennies each week- maybe don’t buy that extra pint- and you could find yourself on a spontaneous expedition for the same price as a Pryzm night on a Saturday.
Why? Travel is incredibly important for us, Experiences and trips provide an opportunity to discover independence and create the best memories. Opening paths cultural diversity and appreciation of our world. It is what I and eight of my block mates decided to do, the best way to bond with new friends at uni? Hop on a plane to Barcelona and spend two nights, three days in a party hostel. Definitely one of the best spontaneous ideas I have agreed to.
Travelling on a budget (particularly a student budget) you have to take full advantage of effective websites which will save you money. There are many ways to go about it, but essentially you want to locate flights using Skyscanner; a site which accesses and compares the cheapest flights offered by all airlines is predominantly the best starting point to find cheap flights.
For us at Sussex, or even within the Brighton area, our close proximity to Gatwick is ideal. The Gatwick express can take you to the airport in about 30 minutes, for as low as £10. Similarly, if you are travelling with a group, a good idea is to get a minibus which you can hire; from personal experience, it set us back about £8 each.
Accommodation wise, hostelworld is the way to go. It is reliable, affordable and will provide a range of hostel accommodation, for Europe you are generally looking at about £9-£13 per night. You can download an app, and save accommodations which you are interested in. Hostel accommodation is particularly good for students, as they predominately specialise in catering for youths, facilitating local tours, bar crawls and overall enable you to grasp every gem of a new city. Travelling with a group means you can book dorm rooms to accommodate you all, room size can range from between 4-12 people. Plus, hostels will usually offer free meals, almost always a free breakfast, some will even give a free dinner. By sacrificing a few luxuries travelling on a low budget is greatly possible.
Reduce your costs to zero by thinking wisely about activities and transportation, most cities have a multitude of sights which can be accessed on foot, explore the simple way-roam about and I assure you, you will discover more than you would expect.
Barcelona was worth every penny, every penny being about £70. When putting that into perspective, what is the price of a weekly shop and a few heavy nights out? Most likely the same, give or take a few pounds.
