News on Youtube Dec 23 2017

Hey guys! Tessa here with another budget travel video. If you follow me on

Instagram, you probably saw that I recently went to South Africa with my

husband for a luxury vacation. Matt and I stayed in a literal mansion in Cape Town

and two extravagant lodges in Kruger. While I admit that budgeting while

staying in these luxury hotels sounds counterintuitive, I want to pass on these

tips that will help you save money while also living in absolute luxury. First,

don't let the luxury setting sway your mindset.

I admit that when we first touched down in South Africa and arrived at

21 Nettleton in Cape Town, I got completely swept away. It's hard not to when you're

staying in such a gorgeous setting and waking up to this view. Immediately, the

hotel staff started recommending all these amazing places we could try for

dinner and that they could make reservations for us. I got to swept away

and even started planning outfits in my head. I pulled up their websites and

started looking at menus and the prices, thankfully, brought me back down to earth.

The best way to combat this mindset is to acknowledge that it's probably going

to happen once you get there. You're gonna walk into these hotels and be

swept up in the beauty and start thinking about all these fancy places

you can go. This brings me to point number two: budget the rest of the trip

before you go. Just because you're staying in pure luxury, doesn't mean that

every other aspect of your trip has to be luxury as well. Decide how much you

want to spend on food and tours, excursions, whatever, before you go and

then stick to that budget. Our first night, we said no to the fancy dinners

and instead we went to Nando's - yes, seriously Nando's and we got takeout

brought it back to the hotel and sat in front of our fireplace in our fancy room

and ain't Nando's out of the bag on the floor. Honestly, it's probably one of my

favorite travel memories. We also rented a car and explored at our own leisure

instead of booking pricey tours. Three: realize there's probably tons of

experiences you won't have if you don't stay at these fancy hotels. So when you're in those

experiences, really savor them and of course don't skip out on them. Breakfast

will probably be included and it'll probably be luxurious so make sure you

don't book an activity or tour so you miss out on it. And realize that while

you're spending a lot of money on the hotel, it will also save you money on the

road. South Africa was great because after lodges most meals and game drives

were included as well. And then there's also the little things that I never

could have dreamed of like walking to my room and seeing an

animal along the way or sitting eating lunch while a herd of elephant

drink from the river. These experiences you can try to replicate if you're

traveling to budget hotels, but sometimes it's near impossible to do so

really really soak them all up. And my last piece of advice when you're

traveling on a budget to these luxurious hotels is push out of your mind a

thought it's definitely gonna creep in of is this place worth this amount of

money. You're gonna start thinking it it's only human nature. But this is an

experience you should enjoy. Really soak it all in. Take a mental image and take a

couple pictures as well. You're gonna want to remember this. Make sure you

check out the article below for even more tips on how to save money while

you're traveling on your destination. I'll see you guys next time bye