Many a traveller has boasted about budget trips where they had to sleep outside or on a dirty floor in a hut while staying with an indigenous tribe or the like. The thriftier among those might’ve even cracked a way for a bit more luxurious living. Most have one objective; to see as much as they can for as cheap as possible. Chelsea Dickenson, however, set even harder goals for her intermittent trips abroad. Travelling almost every single month of the year, bar three, she set a target of going to ten different places, over at least three different continents, snagging at least one business class flight. And just to add a new level to the challenge, each trip had to be two nights or more and at least two trips had to be five nights long. The overall cost of her trips? Only £1,709 – a bargain compared to the £3,418 an average Brit spends on their holiday for the year. She’s now planning to do the North Coast 500, a 500-mile epic road trip around Scotland’s hidden landscapes.
Chelsea, 28, tells Metro.co.uk about the trip which promises tumbling rivers, remote glens, dark lochs, and snowy sugarloaf mountains, and gives us a few tips on how to be more travel-savvy. ‘I saw a video about the North Coast 500 from Rough Guides last year and became hooked on the idea,’ Chelsea tells us. ‘It looks so amazing. ‘If you’re not too sure where to go, Skyscanner and Kayak also allow you to see what locations are the cheapest for your timeframe. You can do this by typing in “everywhere” for the destination on Skyscanner, or by clicking the ‘explore’ function on Kayak.’ She reckons it’s best to opt for an Airbnb instead of a hotel but if you do fancy a hotel, always check comparison websites. ‘Trviago is a great option for checking you’ve got the best price for your hotel,’ Chelsea advises. ‘My extra tip here is to always click on “more deals” and don’t just settle for the collection of prices they offer you.
‘My favourites for staying in someone’s home are Windmu, Ownersdirect, Holidaylettings, and Hometogo.’ You might even be able to get yourself a free upgrade at a hotel, she says, if you’re really keen and nice to the staff.