Stretching the Budget Over the Miles

When you are trying to stretch your budget as far as possible, your first 24 hours in a foreign country can be the roughest and the most expensive. Here are some suggestions that should help smooth the landing.

* If you want to stay in budget-priced youth hostels, you don’t have to take your chances that a bed will be available. For a small fee, you can reserve a bed in one of more than 200 hostels linked through International Booking Network (IBN) operated by Hostelling International. For details contact Hostelling International-American Youth Hostels at (800) 444-6111.

* Many foreign governments have tourist information offices in North America that can supply free background information and maps to help you become familiar with the area before arrival. The Swiss, Austrian, German and British offices even produce or distribute special brochures or maps geared toward young visitors.

* Be careful when exchanging money for the first time. Not only do you want an attractive rate, you also need to watch the service charges. It’s quite possible to find that you’ve paid $5 to exchange a $20 travelers check. If you only need to exchange a small amount of money and you’re traveling with friends, consider taking turns by having one person make a transaction at a time so there’s a single fee rather than several. For small amounts of cash, it is often cheaper to pay the small fee to get money from an automatic teller machine rather than pay the high currency exchange service charges.

* Most airports are well serviced by public transportation or economical buses, so don’t decide, just because you’re feeling some jet lag, to hop into a taxi without checking the estimated fare. In London, for example, there is a train service from Gatwick Airport, and subway service from Heathrow. A taxi trip to town from Heathrow would cost $65. By Underground it’s $4.20.

At some destinations, such as Bangkok, Thailand, taxis are so cheap that the trip to town (average cost about $5.50-$6.50) is economical for several people traveling together. Be aware, though, that some taxi drivers try to make an extra commission by talking travelers into going to specific hotels that pay them kickbacks for bringing in customers. At one point the youth hostel in Bangkok had to print warnings on brochures and distribute them at the airport and other gateways, because some taxi drivers were telling passengers that the youth hostel had burned down.

* For free maps and information, stop at the local tourist information office. Ask about public bus routes that will take you past sites of interest, hours or days museums and galleries are open for free, meet-the-people programs and areas to avoid.

If the tourist board can recommend one, an economical city tour is a good idea for the first day. This is the day you don’t want to try too figure too much out for yourself, and a tour will help you get your bearings so you can go back another day and see the sights you’re most interested in, using public transportation.

Before you purchase single fares on public transportation, find out if there are economical day passes or if you can buy tickets in bulk. For example, in Paris it’s cheaper to buy 10 tickets at a time; in London, for $4.35 you can buy a Travel Card, which can be used on the Underground and buses in the center of the city after rush hour.

* When you are out sightseeing, keep a little spending money in your pocket and the bulk of your valuables in a pouch under your clothing. Don’t ever carry money or valuable documents in your day pack or fanny pack. It’s easy for an experienced thief to bump into you in a crowd and remove items (or slice your pack open with a razor) without you knowing anything has happened.