Is your adventure travel vacation in peril of being swamped by a lousy economy? We hope not. Everybody needs a vacation, preferably a whole bunch of them. Here are some ideas to save money before you throw in the towel on your vacation this year.

The first way to save money with adventure travel is do the research; exhaustive research if you have time. Don’t throw a dart at the globe and plan to head for where it sticks. Or if you do, at least figure out to enjoy locals prices once you get there. There’s no reason to pay the outrageous tourist mark up. With the internet, it’s relatively easy to contact local bloggers and expatriates for the scoop on where to stay and eat and what to do to avoid high prices.

This next idea applies to almost anything in life but especially for adventure travel: Overestimate the cost and reduce spending. There you go. The secret to success in this life. Here’s some good advice from Arnie Weissman, editor-in-chief of the publication Travel Weekly. Take half as many things as you packed and twice as much money. In addition to what you might carry as cash, have access to more via a credit or debit card.

While an exact prediction of when the plane ticket to your adventure destination will be at it’s absolute lowest is next to impossible, there is a method that should get you a good price. Begin checking prices about two months out. Repeat every few days to catch any downward fluctuations. When it hits a price you feel comfortable with, pull the trigger. And don’t make the mistake of waiting until the very last minute. Once in a blue moon might get you an incredible deal. Most of the time it gets you kicking yourself in the pants.

And remember not to be so cheap that you miss out on the experience of a lifetime over a few measly dollars.

If you’re in Egypt and it costs $20 to see the pyramids up close and personal, don’t fret that it’s your entire expense budget for the day – see the freaking pyramids!

The Jetsetter Team

Flickr / dungodung

Tags: adventure travel