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Cheap Ways to Travel: In Flight or On Foot?

There are plenty of cheap ways to travel and cheap flights - and not so cheap ones so these days we are spoilt for choice.

For most of us, cheap travel starts with a cheap airfare. We search for very cheap international flights to get to our destination. Once there, we may use low-cost regional airlines to travel within the country or region.

Companies like EasyJet or RyanAir have revolutionized cheap European air travel, while no-frills long haul carriers like Air Asia or Virgin make even distant travel incredibly affordable. Heading off on a long journey and want a bit of structure on your trip? Round the world tickets may be the answer.

There's much more to low-cost travel than flights, though.

My favorite is train travel, watching the countryside roll by like moving snapshots of scenery, slices of life in motion. While single train journeys tend to be expensive, train passes, especially in Europe, are making cheap train travel a reality.

Not all countries have trains, and travel to faraway towns and villages often involves travel by bus or mini-bus. In some countries, like Kenya or Tanzania, riding local buses means taking your life in your hands. In others, like Panama and Thailand, buses are a perfectly good alternative to other forms of public transport.

Some of you may want to drive abroad, either by taking your own vehicle or renting one. In that case, you'll probably need an international drivers licence.

With rising crime rates, female hitchhikers are a disappearing breed - or are they? For many women, hitchhiking is still a viable method of transport. Another great way of coming in close contact with people is to travel on foot, at least part of the way. And there are plenty of unusual transportation methods you may not even have thought of.

If you're a little more flush, there are not-so-cheap ways to travel: they include driving a car, riding a motorcycle, or even a recreational vehicle, which allows you to take your house with you.

The number of women sailing around the world is increasing - why not join them or sail your own boat? If you love the sea you could take one of many yacht jobs to get from one island to the next, not only for free but including food and lodging. Most marinas have bulletin boards peppered with notes from would-be crew members or captains in need.

Sometimes cheap world travel starts one way and ends another. I've flown to a country, ridden trains and buses, and hitched when money ran low (only in desperation though).

Perhaps you're into the more unusual transportation methods. After all, if Irish author Dervla Murphy could ride a bycicle from her home all the way to India (not to mention a donkey across Ethiopia), then we too can be creative about how we get somewhere.