About Me – Budget Travel Expert

Like many people, when I finished school, I went straight to university. After 6 months, I knew it wasn’t for me. So I dropped out and began to travel.

But being young, I didn’t have a life’s worth of savings to rely on while travelling, so I turned to backpacking and began to travel the world on a budget.

I’ve managed to master the craft, and I’ve visited 28 countries on a budget so far! From budget-friendly countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos to “expensive” countries like Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland, I’ve never spent more than $50 in one day, usually around $10-20. Well, except one time. I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.

I’m also on a mission to visit every country in the world, slowly but surely. If you check my blog in a couple of years, I hope I will be able to brand myself as a boy from a small country, who left his country to visit the other 195.

But of course, I want to do it without bankrupting myself!

If you too want to travel the world without breaking the bank, I’m the right guy for you.

My Expert Backpacking Tips

From my experience travelling on a budget in so many different countries, I’ve learnt what works and what doesn’t.

There’s a sense of community amongst backpackers. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did, and likewise, if you make a mistake, I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to make it either.

But that’s one of the reasons I made this blog, to fulfil my end of the bargain and help you not make the mistakes I did. In fact, I’ll go one step further and teach you some of my best tricks.

You know that myth about booking flights on certain days is cheaper? That’s all it is, a myth.

But do you know what isn’t a myth? Using a Revolut card to avoid currency exchange fees, booking hostels directly rather than through booking websites, eating street food, and having a microfiber towel to avoid paying to rent one from a hostel.

These are just some of my favourite backpacking hacks, and all throughout my website, you’ll be able to find even more.

I’d recommend you start with the Banana Pancake Trail, it’s the best backpacking route to take for first-timers. It’s so easy to visit this part of the world on a shoestring budget.

The Gringo Trail is another good option if you are looking to explore Latin America without breaking the bank.

Why You Should Listen To Me

Well, you might be wondering “Why this guy? Why should I listen to him?”.

Firstly, I’m not trying to be an influencer or a model, or anything like that. I just care about visiting new places, seeing new things, doing new things, eating new foods, meeting new people and how I can do all of that cheaply. I’ll not get into my whole life story here, but I have written a more detailed story about myself if you would like to learn more.

As I said, I’ve visited 28 countries on a budget across 3 different continents. Every country is different.

Some places are easy to visit on a budget like Thailand, whereas some are hard like Norway.

No matter where I’ve been, I’ve always found ways to survive on a budget. I recently took a trip to Washington DC from Dublin and it cost me less than $300 including return flights, 5 nights accommodation and 5 days worth of food and activities. Pretty good deal if you ask me considering it’s the capital city of the United States!

But the truth is, I’m not perfect. I’ve made a lot of financial mistakes while travelling. For example, in Stockholm, I wanted to get an Uber somewhere but no one would accept my ride.

On Uber, the ride was going to cost me around $10. It was a 20-minute drive or so, so I didn’t mind.

I got in a taxi since no one accepted on Uber. Do you want to know how much it cost me? $80. Yeah, that was a bad one.

In my opinion, though, mistakes don’t define you, it’s how you come back that defines you. And I like to think I come back pretty well.

Just that same day I managed to get dinner for less than $10, which is pretty insane considering how expensive Stockholm is.

So to answer the question of “why me?”, because I’ve made mistakes travelling on a budget, but I’ve learnt from them. I want to stop you from making the same mistakes as me and give you more tips to help you have an even better experience than me.

Where I’ve Visited

📍Austria — Vienna

📍Belgium — Brussels

📍Croatia — Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik, Plitvice Lakes, Krka National Park

📍Denmark — Copenhagen

📍France — Paris, Marseille, Nice, Cannes, Toulon, Antibes, Aix-En-Provence, Menton

📍Greece — Athens, Rhodes

📍Germany — Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Hameln, Paderborn, Memmingen

📍Hungary — Budapest

📍Iceland — Reykjavík, Keflavík, Blue Lagoon, Northern Lights, Þingvellir National Park, Geysir Geothermal Area, Gullfoss, Vík, Skógafoss, Eyjafjallajökull, Sólheimajökull, Black Sand Beach Reynisfjara, Seljalandsfoss, Reykjanes Geopark, Fagradalsfjall, Grindavik, Bridge between two continents, Gunnuhver Geothermal Area, Brimketill Lava Pools

📍Ireland — Dublin

📍Italy — Rome, Pompeii

📍Luxembourg — Luxembourg City, Vianden Castle, Bourscheid Castle

📍Monaco — Monaco

📍Netherlands — Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans

📍Norway — Oslo

📍Poland — Gdańsk, Warsaw

📍Portugal — Lisbon, Sintra, Porto

📍Slovakia — Bratislava

📍South Africa — Cape Town, Fish Hoek, Hoedspruit, Kruger National Park, Langa

📍Spain — Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Ibiza, Fuerteventura

📍Sweden — Stockholm, Malmö

📍Switzerland — Basel, Zürich

📍Thailand — Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Phuket, Phi Phi Islands, Koh Tao, Koh Samui, Chiang Rai, Doi Inthanon, Koh Lanta, Koh Pha Ngan, Phang Nga Bay

📍Türkiye (Turkey) — Antalya, Side, Cappadocia

📍United Kingdom — England (London, Manchester, Dorset [Weymouth], Windsor), Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Fife), Wales (Snowdonia) and everywhere in Northern Ireland (my home country)

📍Vatican City — Vatican City

📍Vietnam — Ha Long Bay, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hanoi, Hoi An, Ha Giang Loop, Ninh Binh, Hue, Mui Ne, Dalat, Nha Trang, Cat Ba, Dalat, Da Nang, Mui Ne, Nha Trang, Phong Nha.

📍USA — Florida (Orlando, Tampa, Clearwater), Maryland (Baltimore), Nevada (Las Vegas, Hoover Dam & Grand Canyon), Virginia (Arlington), DC (Washington D.C.)

My Favourite Travel Destinations (Asia)

Asia is somewhere that was on my bucket list for many years, especially visiting Thailand and Vietnam. Thanks to this blog, I have been lucky enough to spend lots of time in both countries, and they have asserted themselves as my two favourites in the continent.

Thailand is much more popular and while the tourists did annoy me at sometimes, it made it much easier to travel and things were so convenient. Especially the 7Elevens which were so cheap! To be honest, I didn’t love Bangkok, but I LOVED Chiang Mai. There are so many reasons to visit and I would encourage anyone to add it to your itinerary, even if you weren’t already planning to go to the north.

Vietnam still has an authentic feel to it. Don’t get me wrong, there are tourists, but it’s nowhere near as Westernised. There aren’t convenience stores everywhere like in Thailand, you instead just go to local sellers to buy your food and drink. But with the lower levels of tourism comes even cheaper prices which was a nice bonus. My two favourite places were probably Mui Ne and Phong Nha. But I of course loved the touristy places like Ha Long Bay too. Oh and in terms of cities, I preferred Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh personally.

My Favourite Travel Destinations (Europe)

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit so many countries so far and I can’t wait to visit even more. I’ve already got so many plans for the next year.

But out of everywhere I’ve visited, my two favourite places have been Rome and Copenhagen.

Visiting Rome was surreal. Taking a tour of the Colosseum, exploring the Vatican, seeing the Trevi Fountain and so many other iconic sights in real life was unbelievable. It was also my first solo trip so it holds a special place in my heart. It was my first time staying in a hostel, and it was the beginning of my backpacking journey. But the city itself was also unreal. I can’t find the words to describe Rome, especially because I visited Rome in December and everything was decorated for Christmas.

Copenhagen is another of my favourite places. The atmosphere in the city is indescribable, you need to experience it for yourself to understand. It’s such a safe city, and I really loved my time there. Everyone is so friendly and laid back. Visiting Copenhagen showed me why it’s ranked one of the happiest places in the world. Again, you won’t understand it until you go for yourself, it’s a city that even though it’s expensive, a trip to Copenhagen so worth it.

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A Bit About My Personal Life

I’m from Northern Ireland, which without getting into politics, is a small country on the island of Ireland but is a part of the United Kingdom.

However, within these countries, I have travelled to a lot more places than is implied.

For example, Spain, I have been to Lanzarote, Tenerife, Ibiza and most recently, Fuerteventura.

I’ve also been to 5 of the 50 States in the US. It’s also on my list to visit all 50. I’m looking forward to Alaska the most!

And for the UK, I have been to all 4 countries – England, Scotland, Wales and of course, Northern Ireland.

There is a page on my site where you can find exactly all the places I have visited.

I hope to visit every country in the world while travelling full time making memories to last a lifetime. Along the way writing guides and posts to help you travel the world on a budget, of course.

A bit about myself, I started to save up money from when I was about 14. I was doing freelance graphic design work. 5 years later, I am still doing this work and generating a good income. Whilst I was at school, I was nearly earning a full-time wage. I was working about 100 hours a week (school+work) but these long hours were worth it. It has allowed me to save up a good amount of money, and take the leap into full-time travel.

All in all, I hope that this blog, along with other side hustles, can earn me enough money to see the world and travel full-time. I believe it can, and I WILL make it happen.

And of course, help thousands of people around the world by providing advice and tips to navigating the world as a backpacker

As I said earlier, if you check my blog in a couple of years, I hope I will be able to brand myself as a boy from a small country, who left his country to visit the other 195. I will visit every country in the world.