The well known Kite Gypsy & Kristiin Oja’s faithful traveling companion, Annelous Lammerta is more than an expert when comes to traveling on a budget.
You will see her hitchhiking, camping on a wild beaches or trekking with a giant backpack on her shoulders,… but most of all you will always see her with a giant smile on her face.
So if you want to get away for your next kite trip and you don’t want to spend all of your hard earned money, follow the advice of the smiliest girl on the world tour.
1. Pack smart
Do you really need a pair of heels when you go to Brazil? Make sure you don’t take stuff that you will not need on your trip.
2. Use alternative ways to travel
Sometimes travelling by train, bus or car can be cheaper so do the research. You (usually) don’t have to pay for your bags and it can be pretty comfortable as well. There are some new ways to find people that offer a ride in their car, one of them is called blabla car. Also, some places are really easy for hitchhiking and it’s the perfect way to meet cool people. It’s more difficult with all your gear, but when Malin, Kristinn and me had our gear on the competition side in Leucate we were hitchhiking every day and we always got a ride within 5 minutes.
3. Some days you are a golfer
A very well known tip is that sometimes you will have to travel as a golfer. Unfortunately also a lot of airplane companies know this one so you have to be careful with what you say. I still use this with Air France and KLM but make sure you print the golfbag voucher and it works better when your boardbag says “golfbag”. When you are saying it’s a golfbag you are not lying, you are just transporting kitegear in your golfbag.
4. Some days you are going camping
This is exactly the same as the previous tip, so make sure you do your research. Some companies it’s cheaper to fly with camping gear and of course a kite looks very much like a tent!
5. Always be friendly
Always be friendly to the people that are checking you in. Make sure to choose the one that looks the nicest and try to get a conversation going. When you connect a bit with the people they will always be that little bit more forgiving of your luggage allowance.
6. Take hand luggage, a lot of hand luggage
When you know the airplane company is very strict on the kilos of your check-in luggage, make sure they are as few as possible.
Put as much stuff in your carry on trolly and backpack and hide it when checking in. Then try to put on your casual face when you put the 20 kilo bag in the overhead storage
7. Don’t always choose the cheapest airline
The cheaper airlines can be really expensive when you book all the extra kilos. Usually you are only allowed hand luggage and you always end up paying a lot extra. Sometimes it’s a better deal to pay a bit more for the flight that allows you more luggage.
8. Meet new people, make new friends
This one is definitely one of the most important ones. A great advantage of travelling is meeting so many new people. In kiting you already have one thing in common which makes it very easy to connect.
Every trip you will meet new people and often they will offer you a place to stay when you visit them or when you have just a one night layover in an airport. This is a great way to catch up and go somewhere new.
When you meet people while travelling it’s also way more fun as well as cheaper to share a ride to your next destination.
9. Work for a better deal
When you have some nice kite skills or you are a qualified kite instructor you can manage to get a good deal at many places. Make a nice video, place daily pictures and promote the place so they can give you a good deal for the accommodation.
10. Make your own food
Take your own food while travelling. It’s usually so much better, healthier and cheaper. Also, try to rent a place with a kitchen so that you can choose whether you go out for dinner or make your own food to save some money.
Written by Annelous Lammerts
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