Don’t settle on the first travel itinerary you find. “I was playing with Delta miles recently, and found I could get a roundtrip ticket to Tanzania for fewer miles than Lisbon!” says Reid. “That means African beaches, and setting up safaris, or going to Freddie Mercury's birthplace at Zanzibar. Suddenly something more exotic felt a lot more attainable.”

One great way to take a trip for less is to study a foreign language in a low-cost country. “One of the best value trips I've taken is studying Spanish in Guatemala. For about $150 a week, you can get a family home stay, meals and 20 hours of private instruction with good tutors,” says Reid. This is also a great way to immerse yourself in the culture and connect with locals.

Pack light and only take essentials. Be sure to leave room in your luggage for souvenirs and other goodies so you don’t come back overstuffed.  The checked bag fees for airlines continue to go up. An additional tip: travel with inflatable or small, collectible toys if you are bringing gifts so they don’t weigh you down, says Riberiero.

Take advantage of the lower cost spa services abroad. “Treatments that cost a bomb back home are often far cheaper overseas. That may include beach pedicures in Bali, leg-hair threading in Vietnam, or having your dead skin nibbled off by doctor fish in Hong Kong,” says Lonely Planet author Sarah Baxter.

Eating at upscale restaurants for lunch and cutting back at dinner can keep you from overspending. “Lunch menus are almost always less expensive than dinner menus so you can try the region's best food without destroying your budget,” suggests Brash.

College and university accommodations are great options if you’re going super low budget on lodging. “Schools often have housing for conferences or visitors for much less money than a hotel room of similar standard, and in the summer many schools rent out empty dorm rooms and apartments,” Brash says. “In Canada these can start at 30 U.S. dollars per night.”

It’s easy to underestimate travel expenses. “Remember to factor in hidden costs such as tipping, airport taxes, port charges, airport parking, shore excursions, and entrance fees,” says Terrence Zepke, author of The Encyclopedia of Cheap Travel: Save Up to 90% on Lodging, Flights, Tours, Cruises, and More!

“Find destination inspiration and information in local specialty publications,” says Nesterov. Some of her favorites: in-flight magazines on small airlines or local English-language newspapers.

In France, a budgeting tip is to stay in gîtes or holiday homes. A gîte might be a free-standing rental house or a room in an owner-occupied bed-and-breakfast. “Gîtes offer fabulous value, allowing visitors to spend a fraction of what they'd need to cough up for a hotel,” says Alex Robertson Textor, contributor to Gadling.com. “Play around with the Gîtes de France website and you'll find that €150 can get you and your honey a beautiful converted farmhouse for a week in Normandy during high season.”

The Caribbean is an expensive region with pricey accommodations, but there are plenty of opportunities to cut costs by camping. “There are several campgrounds in the U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago's Department of Agriculture operates a number of campsites as well,” Textor says.

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