it's 20 22 and every morning i wake up and i look at the travel scratch map above my bed
and i see the golden spaces not diminishing and i find it frustrating but i have decided
that i'm gonna assume that travel is gonna resume because it rhymes and also because i want it to
be true and if you are feeling optimistic this year as well this is the video for you
before i introduce you to those 25 countries i want to thank the sponsor of today's video
our sponsor is wise formerly known as transferwise and i do actually know it by its former name
because i have been using this service for a long time wise is an international account that allows
you to send money to more than 80 countries with no hidden fees and the real exchange
rate according to their research wise is on average seven times cheaper than old school
banks when you withdraw spend or send money abroad which results in some pretty incredible savings
not only can you send money abroad you can also hold more than 50 currencies in your account
and convert between them instantly what i really love about wise is that all the costs are shown to
you up front there's a calculator on the homepage where you can see exactly how much it's going to
cost you to make each transaction the wise international account also gives you access
to a debit card which you can use when you travel to make different transactions or withdraw money
again with no additional fees and just generally i really like wise because i feel like they're so
transparent and you know exactly where you stand at all times and finally they allow you to save
more money while you travel which is the exact topic of this video our first continent is asia
and our first budget destination is vietnam vietnam is a really beautiful super diverse
country it's true that vietnam and other countries in southeast asia are getting progressively more
and more expensive but they are still very affordable especially by western standards
and one way that you can make them affordable and this is true of every single destination
i'm gonna mention today is eating local so not going to western-style restaurants but eating how
the locals eat and living how the locals live really the more you emulate the local population
the cheaper your prices are going to be and personally for me as well that is a more fun
way to travel it's not always as luxurious or as comfortable but it's much more insightful next up
we've got cambodia the country is known for its impressive temples like angkor wat where lara
croft tomb raider was filmed back in 2000 cambodia also has gorgeous white sand beaches jungles
and delicious food to learn about a horrifying chapter from cambodia's recent history visit the
killing fields let's lighten the mood now another southeast asian favorite is the philippines
if you love hanging out at the beach you'll be pleased to know that the country comprises
7 640 islands about 2 000 of which are inhabited you can swim with whale sharks scuba dive surf
and if that's not your thing you can visit manila and enjoy the big city life before we move on
to our next region of asia i want to mention lao thailand myanmar all these countries in southeast
asia are also super affordable thailand personally i absolutely love traveling around because not
only does it have really interesting culture i love the food but also it's really easy to go
there as a solo backpacker now we're gonna move on to our next one which is nepal you can learn about
nepalese culture and buddhism in kathmandu test your fitness levels with an everest base camp hike
or perhaps do some volunteering nepal suffered a devastating earthquake in 2015 and there are many
rebuilding projects in need of help i have a few videos on volunteering responsibly if you'd like
to have a look another great budget destination is sri lanka i haven't actually been myself but
i know a lot about the country partly from doing research and partly because one of my housemates
actually used to live and work there so um i have heard a lot of anecdotes i know how incredible the
food is i have tried it many times here in london so good our next destination is a big one it's
india and i feel like you could spend two years traveling around this country and feel like you've
barely scratched the surface it's so incredibly diverse in the south you've got kerala which is
really luscious and green then you've got goa if you're really into nightlife and maybe doing
yoga or something a bit more spiritual then in the north you've got rajasthan with the desert and the
various like colorful cities absolutely incredible country and um incredibly incredibly affordable to
travel around next up we've got georgia now i feel like over the past maybe five years
it has suddenly become a lot more popular mainly i think because the flights have become cheaper from
europe and for a good reason their hospitality is a seriously impressive and you'll experience
it the second you go through passport control where visitors receive a bottle of local red wine
definitely a tradition i can get behind the caucasus mountains are perfect for hikers for
a lazier holiday there's the sandy black sea coastline and for a more urban trip there's
felici or kitaisi our next addition to the list again absolutely huge country indonesia i know
it doesn't get talked about that much in travel circles outside of bali but it should because it
has such a fascinating culture it's the biggest muslim majority country in the entire world
while you're there visit the island of komodo home of the so-called komodo dragon
as well as the picture-perfect pink beach or head to borobudur where you'll find the largest
buddhist temple in the world or how about climbing indonesia's second tallest peak mount rinjani an
active volcano on lombok which is bali's sister island now this next country came as a bit of
a surprise to me when i was doing my research which by the way i did using this website which
lists the average travel cost for each country based on data collected from different travelers
so very very handy resource if you're doing that kind of research and the country is iran i don't
know why but in my head i had it saved as a place that was a little bit inaccessible to travelers
now that is true to an extent american british and canadian passports all need a visa and in order
to get one you will need to book your trip with a certified local travel agency in iran it's not the
easiest process but it will allow you to visit amazing places like the pink mosque in shiraz
the bustling capital of tehran and its iconic azadi tower zoroastrian temples in yaz and the
desert of verzana our next country is a bit of a personal favorite and that is turkey it is again
a very large country and has so much diversity starting from istanbul this incredibly historic
architecturally interesting capital which lies across two continents but it doesn't stop there
you've got pamukala you've got cappadocia with those hot air balloons really popular now you can
also go ride horses there and you've got akara the capital gaziantep ah just what a country
highly highly recommend visiting our next country i also recommend visiting and i'm mainly
making that recommendation to myself because i still haven't been i meant to visit last year
but it just didn't work out and that country is kazakhstan now i hope your only association isn't
to the film borat but if it is that's okay let's learn a bit more about it now nurseltan and almate
are both modern cities with lots to do some more offbeat destinations to visit include candy lake
which is full of submerged trees or the baikonur cosmodrome the world's oldest and largest space
launch facility and then there's all the impressive nature the large rock boulders in
manchester burbai national park and cheren canyon reminiscent of the grand canyon in the us our last
asian entry is mongolia the realm of genghis khan this country of lush stuffies and horses and yurts
because tourism is still in its nascent stages exploring mongolia can be challenging many travel
companies for example aren't listed online so it's best to start in ulaanbaatar the capital where
it's easy to contact tour providers who can take you to see the rest of the country including the
gobi desert altai mountains buddhist monasteries and perhaps arrange a horse trek although this
will require a little more budget our next continent is latin america and that's going to
encompass south america central america and the caribbean in this case we're going to start off
with south america and ecuador begin with quito because of its well-preserved 16th century center
other fun spots to visit include banjos great for adventure travel ancient ruins in inikaperco
and lodges along the amazon the galapagos islands are also technically part of ecuador but they're
less of a budget destination next up we've got peru which is primarily known as the home of machu
picchu but there's a lot more to that country because when you see its shape on a map you see
it's very long and that results in really varied landscapes for a bit more adventure head to manu
national park with its abundant wildlife the lost city of choke iraq or the desert next up we've got
neighboring bolivia this country again has really interesting diverse natural landscapes you've got
lake titicaca worth a visit just to chuckle at the name then you've got laguna colorado this huge
sprawling pink lake full of flamingos what a place our final south american entry is colombia the
land of shakira and many many more things colombia is the world's third largest producer of coffee
right behind brazil and vietnam and a visit to one of the local farms is a great low-cost
activity then there's tyrone national park full of wild monkeys urban medellin and its impressive
cable cars and the busy capital of bogota with its political street art now let's move on to
central america starting with guatemala this is a country that i have always wanted to visit i
haven't got around to it yet but the reason why i feel so drawn to it is all that volcanic activity
i like to live five on the edge guatemala is not the easiest country to travel around
you need to be prepared for things going wrong transport lanes like local chicken buses being
crowded and not arriving on time being cautious in certain areas but this is true whenever wherever
and in guatemala you'll be rewarded with lively markets a fascinating indigenous culture mayan
ruins at tikal and all those active volcanoes i mentioned earlier next i want to mention
honduras which is home to the incredible kopan ruins the remnants of the mayan civilization
absolutely fascinating unesco world heritage site honduras is one of the lesser visited countries
in central america because of a slightly negative reputation safety wise and look before you travel
anywhere you should check your government's travel advice to avoid potential threats but
generally speaking honduras is well worth a visit our final spot in central america may not be what
you're expecting i could mention nicaragua and i'm glad i just have because it's a great place to
visit and also a great budget destination but the one i want to talk about is el salvador volcanoes
waterfalls mine ruins coffee plantations it's not a large country but it packs a lot in and all on
a strict budget and finally on the latin american spanish-speaking front we have one destination in
the caribbean the reason the caribbean doesn't feature more heavily is that it does tend to
be a little pricier than other destinations in that region but this one place i think you could
make work on that budget and that is cuba i've never been to cuba so the way i picture it is
probably a little romanticized but have you seen what havana looks like then there's the vanillas
valley with coffee and tobacco plantations or how about ernest hemingway's former home where
he wrote the old man and the sea and for whom the bell tolls okay two continents down two left to go
and our next continent is africa again a reminder there are chapters at the bottom of this video and
you can skip from one continent to another as you please our first destination you can actually see
right there behind me and it's morocco i love this country morocco is absolutely beautiful
i visited back in 2014 with my friend becky and it was kind of my first like proper trip you know we
went and stayed in this small town of 20 000 um with a berber family who showed us um their way
of life and we stayed on a farm we walked donkeys we got water from the well and it just really left
a deep impression of me and really formed how i like to travel i really want to go back to see the
blue village of shashaon fez casablanca rabbit tangier and go surfing in tahasud so fingers
crossed i managed to visit again in 2022. our next african entry is egypt and if you feel like
my entries for africa skew north african there's a reason for that that region is far more affordable
than anything south of that um generally speaking when you travel africa like the full continent um
transport tends to be more expensive accommodation sadly also because there just aren't that many
hostels around and yeah there just tends to be a premium quite expensive visas for a lot of the
countries which is why a lot of them didn't make the list as much as i wanted them to like i really
wanted to mention malawi but i don't think it's feasible under 20 a day um however it is a good
african budget destination so i snuck it in there but let's talk egypt because i mean what a country
right historically speaking it's one of the best ones you've got the pyramids you've got alexandria
the the old library or how about a diving trip in dahab a former bedouin fishing village a hike to
the summit of mount sinai a popular pilgrimage side sacred to christians jews and muslims you
could also go on a nile river cruise although this would put you over a 20 per day budget
our next country is rwanda and i'm really happy to be mentioning this country because it's
a fascinating case study in african economic development by far the most popular activity
in rwanda is silverback gorilla trekking a once in a lifetime activity but a pricey one instead you
can go on an a free hike learn about local crafts explore the modern capital of kigali our final
african destination is listed as tanzania but i'm not actually talking about the country at large
tanzania in general is a fairly expensive place to travel around but there's one exception and
that is the island of zanzibar now if that evokes thoughts of luxury that's okay that is completely
fair it has a lot of these all-inclusive five-star resorts that are super super fancy
but zanzibar and in particular it's historic stone town which is a unesco world heritage site
has a lot of hostels where you can stay for very cheap and a lot of these small eateries that all
the locals go to where you can get some pretty incredible food our final continent europe now
europe might be a bit of an unexpected entry you might think is it really possible to travel
anywhere in europe for under 20 a day and now of course we need to currently caveat all of these
um with pcr tests lateral flows entry requirements that might cost a lot of money but generally
speaking i think we have three very strong contenders starting with poland i live in london
and you can get unbelievably cheap flights to warsaw krakow vrotzlov and the port city of dansk
if you're not a big city person you can go hiking in the tatra mountains or the baskets or you can
try bison spotting in bialoveza forest one of the last remaining stretches of primeval wood in
europe our second european entry is albania this country isn't on most tourist radars
even within europe but it is really interesting there's the albanian riviera with sandy shores
beach bars and international music festivals tirana has incredibly cheap food drink and tourist
attractions for european capital bherat known as the city of a thousand windows is one of albania's
oldest towns and has earned a spot on the unesco world heritage list and our final european entry
and also our final final entry is the ukraine ukraine i really like eastern europe partly
because i hail from the part of the world i am check czech republic couldn't get featured we're
not cheap enough we'd just miss it although it is an affordable country for sure um but the ukraine
is super affordable if you love the outdoors i recommend the carpathian mountains and also the
port city of odessa next to the black sea ukraine is home to many impressive cities actually from
kiev the capital to aviv and chennivse the birthplace of famous actress mila kunis if you've
been to any of the countries i mentioned i would love to hear your thoughts and impressions on them
and thank you to wise for sponsoring this video because it makes my work here on youtube possible
i really appreciate it and if you enjoyed this video and aren't subscribed yet then
please subscribe obviously and i will see you next friday when i put out new videos bye