Save money by ALWAYS bringing food and drink!!
Some of these money tips I am giving are so obvious and basic, but I cannot believe time after time the amount of travellers that ignore them! Why get on a long bus journey without bringing your own food or drink?! Why travel the world complaining about the price of food and drink in restaurants when you failed to buy some snacks and bottled drinks in a local shop??!! Also a bit of a rant this, but honestly you should always carry food and drink. Here are some stone wall reasons:
1. Your bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere. You need at least water and a snack.
2. Food and drink in airports is almost always more expensive. Avoid buying it by bringing your own with you. Or at least if you do buy food or drink in the airport (I often buy a beer), don’t complain about the price!!
3. When on long bus journeys, no matter where they are, the places the driver stops will not be normally in town centres, therefore not the cheapest places to buy food and drink. That won’t affect you though as you will already have your lunch packed with you.
4. More choice. If you’re bringing food with you, you can choose what you want!!! Simply browse the cheap local shops in the town you’re staying in, buy the food you want for your journey and off you go.
5. Sharing food. Although we live in a selfish world sometimes, you can meet new people and help others by sharing your food. I had packed a lunch including a packet of biscuits on a bus that broke down SIX TIMES in Peru, so I was able to offer the guy sitting beside me some biscuits, he later helped me organise my way to the hostel on arrival in Cusco.
What are the best types of food and drink to carry with you?
(basically things with distant sell by dates, ready to eat, drinks in bottles, food that doesnt require cutlery etc.). Here’s a few things I regularly take with me:
Tayto Crisps are the perfect snack to bring along – ready to eat, tasty and cheap
– biscuits
– crisps (particularly Tayto – my favourite crisp in the world)
– chocolate bars
– packets of sweets
– cereal bars
– water
– bottles of Coca Cola
– cans of Guinness (my luxury – though I don’t normally recommend cans as once you open them you gotta drink them quick)