Travelling on a budget makes a lot of sense. Back when I had just turned 18 and was going out on a holiday without my parents I managed to spend around 5,300 USD on a 2 week vacation in France (and that doesn’t include flight and hotel). I had a great time during the vacation and a slightly less great time when I got back home.

So why did this happen? Well, first of all I had been given just about any kind of plastic card imaginable by my bank, plus a stack of EuroCheques. And what was even worse, I had made absolutely no attempt at making a budget for the trip even though I had been to France before and thus had a pretty good idea what expenses I should expect.