A cheaper mousetrap
© Diane Goldberg under the original topic name
If the mythical hitchhiker fires your imagination check next door in Suite 101 's guide to hitchhiking ---- you'll be surprised to find that money is not the sole motivation for thumbing it.
The rest of us can rely on a few guidelines I've found that always manage to help me save a bit whether I've venturing across an ocean or off to a neighboring town.
The almost always true cost saving rules that usually work
1. If you can't live without it --- pack it. If morning coffee, multiple cigarettes, contact lens cleanser, tampons, ink pens, antacid, or comic books make life worthwhile, carry them with you. Even the most committed cost cutter will succumb to the lure of over-priced caffeine when her body craves its fix. Take what you need to survive lest you fall prey to Rotten Retail Rule # 1: The price of a given object rises in direct proportion to the need of the desperate shopper. Increases are more pronounced late at night and in areas where you do not speak the language.
2. If you can live without it - leave it. The lighter you travel the cheaper you travel. If you are unencumbered you can seek out inexpensive lodgings, walk when others taxi, and avoid left luggage lockers. I take this to the extreme and bring clothes that are happily washed in a sink and drip dry swiftly. A great resource for sinkable travel gear in a wide range of sizes is http://www.travelsmith.com. Http://www.magellans.com also offers excellent travel gear and a discount to AOL users. However, if you are a small sized female you'll get a better fit with the Travel Smith choices.
3. Be able to cut the mustard --- or the cheese. Take a knife or some tool that can cut things for an impromptu picnic. In a moment of crisis I discovered that unwaxed dental floss held taut can cut cheese. Ignore this rule and you'll run into Rotten Restaurant Rule # 2: When you are completely unprepared to buy bread, fruit, and cheese, you'll only find expensive restaurants. It doesn't matter whether your lack of preparation is due to absence of a knife or failure to obtain local currency.
