These days, much more than ever, people want to save money wherever possible. travel can be an expensive hobby, but luckily, there are numerous pieces of gear that you can purchase which will not only save your budget, but can actually improve your travel experience.
There are all sorts of packing lists out there, we have 9 on our site alone! But, this is a list of our favourite, must-have pieces of kit for travellers on a shoestring.
1. Handpresso Machine
This is by far our preferred piece of gear in our backpacks! For those of you who stay in hostels, you can relate to the fact that the totally free “coffee” on offer in the morning is pretty dismal, and if you want to purchase an espresso, cappuccino or an americano coffee at a cafe, it’ll cost you around $3-$5 depending on where you go.
For those of you who are coffee lovers and are sick of instant coffee, or overpriced cups of joe, let me introduce you to the Handpresso machine. We just got this fantastic piece of equipment 3 months ago, and it has saved us a lot of money, plus, it has allowed us to delight in proper coffee each morning!
Basically, you purchase a bag of espresso coffee from the supermarket, you “pump” the Handpresso to create pressure, you put the little pod of coffee into the machine, flip it over, press the valve to release the pressure, and presto! A ideal shot of espresso is poured into your cup.
Each bag of espresso coffee will cost you around $5 depending on where you are in the world (for us in the Balkans, it was around $3)
In Italy, a single shot of espresso costs around $1.70, while a 250g bag of Lavazza coffee is only $2.30 and makes 30 shots of espresso. That implies that each shot is just $0.07!
The Handpresso pays itself off after finishing just a couple of bags of coffee. Not only is it a money-saver, but it’s convenient. You can bring it boating, camping, trekking or on trains, and enjoy good coffee anywhere!
Highly recommended. check it out here.
Nick making us our morning cups of coffee with the Handpresso here in Malta
2. The electric Coil
This is a piece of gear that not numerous people have heard about, let alone have in their bags. Basically, this electric coil plugs into the wall and within just 1 minute, you have boiling water. Now, of course, you can’t just plug it in, you’ll have to fill up a cup with water, or a pot or something that is metal, and place the coil inside to boil the water.
We have the heating coil coupled with a metal cup
This hot water can then be used to make oatmeal, tea, instant noodles and / or potatoes. You can actually boil eggs as well, plus, you’ll need hot water to make coffee with the Handpresso. This is an outstanding way to save money on breakfast, and makes it so you can delight in coffee, tea or a snack in your hotel room whenever you want.
Click here to check it out.
3. Luggage weigh Scale
These days, airlines will do whatever they can to make a buck off of travellers. Back in the day, you used to be able to have two pieces of checked luggage for free, plus a carry-on bag. Today, practically all airlines charge for baggage, which typically cannot exceed 20kgs.
If you should check your bags (and for that reason pay the baggage fee), you’ll at least want to make sure that you aren’t having to pay extra costs for having overweight bags.
With the portable luggage weigh scale, you can weigh your luggage at home before getting to the airport and make any required adjustments. avoid as numerous fees as you can! check out this short article to see a list of airline baggage fees, and have a look at this short article which compares the best digital luggage scales on the market. Don’t travel without this useful gadget.
4. Luggage GPS
There are a few brands out there that offer some sort of tracking device for luggage. This is an apparent money saver! If you’ve lost your luggage, you’ll have to replace everything in there (unless you have some solid travel insurance), not to mention, it’s just a huge hassle.
The Luggage GPS device is placed inside of your bag. You download an app to your smart phone, and when you arrive at your destination, you’ll receive a message telling you where your luggage is!
Hopefully it will say your bags are waiting for you in the airport you’ve just arrived at…
Click here to check it out.
5. laundry Clothesline
In many places in the world, handing in your laundry to be washed at your hotel will end up costing you a lot of money. numerous hotels that you stay at will charge around $5 or much more per piece of clothing.
You could take your clothes to a laundromat, and spend time sitting there viewing the clothes being washed, and then transferring them over to the dryer, or, you could hand wash your items in the sink / bathtub and hang them to dry on your travel laundry line!
Simple and easy.
Click here to check it out.
6. Diva Cup
Ladies, this one is for you. Every month you spend money on tampons or pads, and when you’re travelling, these can be hard to come by (depending on where in the world you are going). rather than spending money each month, searching for tampons, and having them take up room in your bag, do yourself a favour and purchase the Diva Cup.
This silicone cup can be worn for 8 hours, and can be reused for a year. Plus, it’s affordable, and (most importantly) comfortable!
Click here to check it out.
7. red wine Glasses
For those of you who love to have wine, you’ll want these in your bag. made from silicone instead of plastic or glass, these red wine “glasses” won’t break! They’re completely bendable, easy to wash, and according to reviews, the red wine doesn’t taste like silicone.
Cheers! delight in sundowners anywhere with “to-go” cups
In numerous countries in the world, you can drink alcohol in public places, so you can delight in your red wine while people watching, having a picnic, camping, or on the beach. just pick up a bottle of red wine (or your preferred spirit) from the local supermarket, dig out these cups and enjoy.
Having these cups in your bag will make it easy for you to delight in red wine or cocktails wherever you want, at a fraction of the cost of purchasing drinks in a restaurant.
Click here to check them out.
There you have it! There are numerous gadgets and items out there that will save you money when travelling, but these are our favourites at the moment. Which items do you carry that help your budget? share with us in the comments below!
Read more:
13 essential items That everyone ought to travel With
7 suggestions to save $15,000 to travel in just One Year
How To travel The world When You have absolutely No Money
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