Monday’s Money Saving Tips: Staying With Friends

Staying with friends on your travels

Monday’s Money Saving Tips – staying with friends – the un-sung heroes of my travels – staying with Julio in Santa Ana Alta, Colombia

I write this post today with a huge THANK YOU to all those friends, family and acquaintances I have stayed with over the years. I have loved every moment of my nights and days staying with friends around the world and this is today’s Monday’s Money Saving Tips. It’s also a shout out to all those un-sung heroes of my travels – my friends and family. Without their intervention a lot of these experiences and stories would be a tad diluted…

Stay with friends on your travels to save money

Staying with (and partying with) friends – a night out in Recife, Brazil with Katia.

One thing to note is never burn your bridges with people. Just because you leave a job or a city, there is no need to break up ties. Keep your friends. Add them on twitter, add them on facebook and store their details. You never know when your buddy in Kuwait is visiting your country, or when you end up in Recife in Brazil without a bed. Keeping friends is a great tip for saving money, saving time, getting a real local experience and best of all having mates and friends all over the world. Believe me – a person you met 7 years ago can come back into your life tomorrow if you hit up their town for a few days. And I love reunions, and being nomadic, I have a lot of reunions rather than strong everyday friends.

Meeting Allan and keeping friends on your travels

Reunited in Gaborone, Botswana with my old university mate Allan.

If you’re heading to a place where you have friends (even friends from 10 years ago), just send them a message telling them you will be in town and even if you can’t stay with them, you can meet up and they can show you the sights and cheaper places to see in their city. I do it for friends, if I can’t host them, I take them round the city/town I’m in. I arrived in Colombia in 2010 only to be met at the airport and escorted to a house party by my Colombian mate Julio Felipe, (yes the Man who swapped his camera for a cow) I hadn’t seen him in over FIVE years!

Monday's Money Saving Tips staying with friends

Dodgy Facial Hair night in Brisbane! Re-united with my travel buddy Owen Millar, who I stayed with, and who has stayed at mine. That’s what mates are for.

Treat your friends like you would like them to treat you. Reply to their messages, help them see your town or city and keep touch – a useful but obvious tip for you today! I’d like to personally thank all those unsung heroes from my travels so far, those friends and family who I have stayed with over the years:

Rene, Osterweddingen and Hannover, Germany

Steve Jones, London, England and Papamoa, New Zealand

Owen Millar, Brisbane, Australia

Johnny McKee, North Lakes, Australia

Neil Macey, Dartford, Bournemouth and London, England; Shinying, Taiwan

Panny Yu and family, Hong Kong

Neil Armstrong, Hong Kong

Julio and family, Santa Ana Alta, Colombia

Katia and family, Recife, Brazil

Rodrigo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Dan Darch, Bournemouth, England

Jimmy and family, Winnipeg, Canada

The NL family, Debrecen, Hungary

George and Elise, Coolangatta, Australia

Andrew and Tanya, Hobart, Australia

Richard and Amy Ingram, Southampton, England

John Johnson, Dartford, England

Chris Ragg, Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Mum, Dad, brother Marko, sister Cathy, brother Danny, Bangor/Belfast, Northern Ireland

Cousin Gary, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Mike, Gav and Brendan, Belfast, Northern Ireland

…and those who have been kind enough to show me round their towns and cities…

Charlotte, Paris, France

Rafal, Piotr and Artur, Warsaw, Poland

Eva, Tainan, Taiwan

Angel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Zelinda, Potosi, Bolivia

Allan, Fingi and Louis, Gaborone, Botswana

Dudu, Soweto, South Africa

and apologies to those I’ve forgotten I’m eternally thankful and grateful – this edition of Monday’s Money Saving Tips isn’t really about a FREE bed at all! It’s about my friends and how keeping friends does actually save you money, though realistically that’s the last thing on your mind. Seeing the friends is ultimately what matters most.

This post is dedicated to the un-sung heroes of my travels. Love and peace out. Jonny

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