Unplugging: The best travel budget hack

Summer is for sunshine, warm weather, and getting the hell outta here. Temporarily, of course. The months of June-August represent peak travel season, with many families taking advantage of the school break, heading to more scenic pastures. Summer vacation sounds wonderful on paper, but it also comes with a not-so-wonderful price tag. With the demand for flights and accommodation increasing substantially starting in June, the supply diminishes, which if you’ve never taken an economics class in college (count yourself lucky in that case), means that those prices go up. Way up. For example, a flight that costs $400 in April might be $800 in July. Hotels in popular tourist destinations increase by 25%-75% during peak travel months. You’ll find “tourist prices” in other places too: Restaurants, souvenir shops, and other businesses in popular travel spots. The moral of the story? You need a budget.

The cost of a summer vacation

Determining the average cost of a summer vacation in all the places in the world would take more time and ChatGPT prompts than we currently have available. What we can tell you, though, is that domestically, the average cost of a one-week vacation in the U.S typically costs around $1,991 per person. That includes air travel, accommodation, food, entertainment, and more. Now, each additional person doesn’t necessarily mean an additional $1,991 (for example, hotel rooms can be shared, if your child is 2 or under, their flight ticket is free), but you can start imagining how expensive a family vacation can be.

If you’ve travelled before, or are currently in the planning stages, then we're likely just preaching to the choir: you’ve done the math, and you know the numbers. It also means that you’ve probably already looked up the best budget hacks for travelling, from grocery shopping for meals (eggs excluded) to rolling clothes to avoid large, checked luggage. But what about cutting costs with your phone service?  

How to save money on a mobile connection  

If you’re travelling domestically, this article isn’t for you. Make yourself another coffee, look up just one more YouTube video reviewing all the best food spots in your travel destination, and maybe find a new deal or discount to redeem to get the money saving rush you were hoping for.  

If you’re not travelling domestically and in fact have an international vacation planned this summer, then welcome! This article is for you.  

In your planning, you may have already started looking into international eSIMs, data pass packages from your carrier, or whether your plan already supports international data roaming. The thought of being technologically “stranded” in a new, unfamiliar city where you may not even speak or read the language is daunting, we recognize that. But the bill of a data pass ($12/day for AT&T and Verizon), or data roaming (sometimes a whopping $2.05 per MB charge) is – at least to us – even more terrifying. When you’re travelling, every dollar counts. A dollar spent on keeping your phone service alive could’ve been a dollar spent on a gelato, or a street stand taco that smells like a 5-star Michelin course.  

Now, don’t get us wrong: having a phone while travelling is absolutely essential. Just not in the way you think it is.  

Use your phone on vacation for free  

The most important part of any travel is the text back home that reads “landed.” Family and friends want to know you’re safe (heaven knows this year more than previous ones).

Now comes the matter of how that phone number even connects to send the message in the first place. While we do offer free roaming in Canada & Mexico, if your destination extends beyond those countries, the best way to stay connected without paying anything for it is through public Wi-Fi. Airports will have free guest Wi-Fis you can use to send a reassuring text, and hotels or airbnbs will offer the same. You’ll be surprised as to how many cities – especially if they’re popular tourist destinations – even have public Wi-Fi available in core/downtown areas.  

Of course, we wouldn’t just leave you with that. There are other hacks to ease your mind about travelling without a working data connection:  

• Download maps ahead of time. One of my colleagues taught me this: you can download an entire city (or larger area if needed) on Google Maps over Wi-Fi and access it in “offline” mode to navigate without a working internet connection.  

• Download entertainment ahead of time. Same goes for Spotify, YouTube, Netflix, any streaming app – download the songs and videos over Wi-Fi ahead of time to enjoy when you’re offline.  

• Download public transit maps/schedules ahead of time.  

• Write down/screenshot numbers of local taxi services.  

• Write down/screenshot common names and places (how do you say “bathroom” in another language may just come in handy).

Honestly, the “downloading ahead of time” list can go on. Because your phone isn’t just built for in-real-time information – it’s built to support you wherever you are, with endless options for accessing information where internet is sparse or non-existent so you can get by and still enjoy your vacation IRL.

Remember, travel should be for the IRL experience: the sights, the smells, the experiences, and the memories. You can still scroll through your IG feed – at the hotel, at the end of the day, using their guest Wi-Fi. The precious, limited time that you do have is better spent on building a sandcastle with your kids, climbing 300 steps for a breathtaking city view, or even just sitting in an outdoor cafe to have a conversation with your partner or family member.  

So, take a picture, record a video, look up directions, and then promptly put that phone away. Your vacation is waiting.