Cheap Travel Tips: Summer Studying Abroad

Traveling abroad is a fun and very exciting way of seeing a foreign country through local eyes, especially if you're planning on staying for an extended period of time. However, the longer you spend abroad, the less cheap it gets. For those looking to study abroad for more than a few months, you'll need to cut down on your expenses in a variety of different ways. Consider several of these tips for cheap study abroad trips.

1. Familiarize yourself with local transit
Most large cities around the world have intricate public transportation systems-whether you're studying abroad in Delhi, India, or Madrid, Spain, you'll need to learn the local transportation system. Taking the bus or train is usually much cheaper than traveling by taxi (or even rickshaw).

2. Consider tutoring your peers
When studying abroad during the summer, you may find that you have certain skills that your peers would like. For example, in non-English speaking countries, many local students would love you to help them practice their English. Take them up on this offer! If you feel bad taking money in exchange for this, you can always barter and ask for one meal after each lesson.

3. Make friends with locals
Locals know all the cheap restaurants and bargain shopping spots, so make friends with them during your summer study abroad experience to get an inside view of their city/country.

4. Don't drink bottled water
Not countries where you'll study abroad have unsafe drinking water-it's more likely that you'll need to drink filtered water than bottled water. Filtered water is often served at restaurants and is much cheaper than purchasing bottled water every time you get thirsty.

5. Eat on campus
Many campuses where you'll study abroad will offer subsidized food, so take advantage of this. Campus food is usually much cheaper than off-campus food, plus you'll be able to meet up with local classmates much easier.

6. Stay in youth hostels
While you study abroad, even while on a budget, you'll want to take vacations to visit the country at large, or even neighboring countries. Vacations can be made cheap by staying in youth hostels. Youth hostels are very cheap (but often dingy, so watch out) so utilize them on your trip.

7. Learn to Drive a Hard Bargain
Many shopkeepers in other countries expect locals to bargain down their prices-so you should too. Don't ever pay what the markets ask, but use your bargaining skills to shop for much cheaper.

8. Keep Away from Tourist Traps
Tourist traps around the world are expensive and often not worth the money. Don't get tricked into spending your money at tourist traps, but shop at local markets and eat at local restaurants.

9. Know your Bank
Many banks will charge surcharges in foreign countries, so before you study abroad, ask your bank what the policy is. You can save a lot of money by knowing ahead of time.

10. Use Skype
International calling can be very expensive, but Skype is very cheap! If you can, download Skype and use it to call your friends and family back at home while you study abroad.