Travel isn’t a right, and if you’re broke, most of the world is going to treat you like a nuisance. It’s true. Deal with it.
I’m so tired of seeing these ‘travel destinations cheap’ lists written by people who clearly haven’t paid for their own flights in five years. They tell you that Paris is doable on fifty bucks a day if you just eat grocery store ham and sleep on a park bench. That isn’t a vacation; that’s homelessness with a better view. If you actually want to enjoy your life without checking your banking app every time you order a coffee, you have to stop trying to make expensive places cheap and start going to places that actually are cheap.
The part where I tell you I was an idiot
In February 2017, I thought I was a genius because I booked a hostel in Hanoi for about $4 a night. I think it was called ‘Happy Feet’ or something equally patronizing. I arrived at 2 AM, exhausted, only to realize the ‘room’ was a mattress on a floor in a building that was actively under construction. There was a literal jackhammer going off at 6 AM on the other side of a plywood sheet. I spent three days breathing in drywall dust because I was too proud to admit that $4 is a suspicious price for a bed. I felt like a failure, sitting there in my dusty t-shirt, realizing I’d traded my health for the price of a Starbucks latte. Total lie. I wasn’t being thrifty; I was being a masochist.
What I mean is—actually, let me put it differently: cheap travel is often just a trade-off for dignity. But it doesn’t have to be if you pick the right spot.
Albania is the only place left that feels real
I know everyone is talking about Albania on TikTok now, and it’s probably going to be ruined in three years, but right now? It’s the best deal on the planet. I spent twelve days in Tirana and Sarandë last summer. I tracked every single cent because I’m neurotic like that. My average daily spend, including a very nice private Airbnb and at least two sit-down meals with wine, was exactly $28.40.
- Tirana: It’s messy, colorful, and the coffee culture is insane. You can get an espresso for about 80 cents that tastes better than anything in Seattle.
- The South: The beaches in Ksamil look like the Maldives but cost like a suburban strip mall.
- The Food: Just eat the byrek. It’s a buck. It’s filling. Don’t overthink it.
I might be wrong about this, but I think the people who complain about Albania being ‘gritty’ are just boring. Yes, there are half-finished concrete buildings everywhere. Yes, the buses don’t have a schedule and you just have to stand on a corner and hope for the best. That’s the price of admission for a beer that costs less than a pack of gum. Worth every penny.
The ‘Beer Index’ and why I hate Bali
I’m going to say something that will probably get me blocked by every digital nomad in existence: I hate Bali. I refuse to recommend it to anyone anymore. I don’t care if the villas are cheap. The whole island has turned into a giant photoshoot for people trying to sell you a life coaching course. It’s performative and exhausting. Also, the traffic is a nightmare. I once spent two hours on the back of a motorbike just to go three miles in Canggu. Never again.
If you want the ‘Bali vibe’ without the soul-crushing pretension, just go to the northern coast of Vietnam or certain parts of the Philippines. But honestly, if we’re talking purely about travel destinations cheap, we need to talk about Georgia. Not the state. The country.
The best way to judge a country’s actual cost is the ‘Beer Index.’ In Tbilisi, I bought a liter of decent local draught for about $1.80. That is the gold standard of economic viability.
I stayed in Tbilisi for a month. I tested four different neighborhoods and tracked my grocery costs versus eating out. Even in the ‘expensive’ parts of Vake, a massive dinner with khinkali (dumplings) and wine rarely topped $12. The infrastructure is actually decent, the mountains are terrifyingly beautiful, and nobody is trying to sell you a ‘manifestation retreat’ every five minutes.
A brief tangent about yogurt
I have this weird obsession with grocery store yogurt in Eastern Europe. It’s always thicker and sourer than the sugary garbage we get in the States. I spent about four days in Sofia, Bulgaria, just trying every brand I could find in the Billa supermarket. It’s a weird hobby, I know. But that’s the beauty of traveling somewhere cheap—you can afford to have stupid hobbies because you aren’t stressed about the rent. Anyway, back to the point.
The math of being uncomfortable
Here is a fake-but-plausible data point for you: I’ve found that for every 10% you decrease your budget, your chance of seeing a cockroach increases by 25%. It’s a sliding scale. You have to decide where you sit on that graph. For me, the sweet spot for travel destinations cheap is usually Central Asia or the Balkans. You get 80% of the European experience for 20% of the price.
I used to think that the cheaper the trip, the better the story. I was completely wrong. The best stories come from having enough money to not be stressed, but not so much money that you’re insulated from the local culture. If you’re staying at a Four Seasons, you aren’t in Thailand; you’re in a Four Seasons that happens to be in Thailand.
I don’t know if this is helpful or if I’m just shouting into the void about my hatred for Canggu. Maybe the real trick isn’t finding a cheap destination, but just learning to be okay with a little bit of chaos. I still think about that dusty hostel in Hanoi sometimes. I hated it then, but I guess it taught me that I value a solid wall more than I value four dollars.
Go to Albania. Eat the byrek. Avoid the life coaches.
