Money Saving Travel Tips with Tara Zimmerman

Professor Pig has teamed up with travel and lifestyle expert Tara Zimmerman from FabulouslyAdrift to bring you insights into saving for travel and having a fabulous trip without breaking the bank. Read on to learn more. You can find more of Tara at https://fabulouslyadrift.com/.

Professor Pig (PP): Where did you find your passion for travel?

Tara Zimmerman (TZ): It has always been there, but I would say that the first travel experience I honestly recall igniting my interest in discovering what was out there was a high school trip to New Orleans. I was born and raised in South Florida, where everything looks the same, and the architecture lacks any real cultural identity. So, going to New Orleans, with its French influence and beautiful buildings, was something I had never experienced. I knew that I wanted to see more of the world. I didn’t travel much growing up until I was in my 30s. That was when I began to experience traveling on a larger scale and internationally. I started planning extensive group trips for our family and friends, and people began to call me “Julie McCoy” or “The Cruise Director” because I was always making all the plans and running the show.

People would say, “Wow, I wish I could plan a trip like that!” Or talk about how I am good at planning trips. My husband joked with people that I would treat planning trips like a full-time job, so when things changed, and after the pandemic, the company that I had started was not doing as well, I decided that I wanted to transition to doing something that I was more passionate about. That is when I looked to do something travel-related, and you could say that I decided to turn traveling and travel planning into my full-time job. However, my ultimate goal was to share the planning tools, knowledge, and resources I had with others who found traveling challenging to help them travel more. Whether their issue was that it was too overwhelming to plan, too expensive, or if they were fearful of some aspects of travel, I wanted to create something where I could help give them tools, tips, inspiration, and resources to enable more travel.

PP: What are the best habits and hacks you use to save for travel?

TZ: There are many different "hacks" to find a great deal on flights. My first go-to tool is always Google Flights if I have a date range and place in mind because this site allows you to see the cheapest days to fly within a specific range of days. Another great feature of Google Flights is that if you are flexible on your travel dates and location and it can recommend the cheapest flights available from your local airport.

You can also use apps like Skyscanner and Hopper to find and track flights. Additionally, there are subscription sites like Going.com where you can have a free or paid subscription to discover discounted flight deals from your local airport.

I use TripAdvisor and Booking.com to check reviews for smaller boutique hotels. I often find great rates for beautiful places to stay, but I carefully check the reviews and look at more than one site before booking. This is how I stretch my budget in a place like Positano, where the rooms can be costly, but I am not willing to budge when it comes to a room with a view.

When I’m at my destination, I love traveling by train, metro, and local transportation whenever possible! It's eco-friendly and budget-friendly, and it's usually the best way to get around.

Airbnb Experiences now offers local activities in destinations, and there are often many things available that are quite different than the typical things you find on other travel activity websites.

Pinterest is a wonderful resource for general travel planning. Planning itineraries, finding places to go, tips, and things to do. It's a wealth of knowledge!

Last but not least, SmartyPig is the best way to save for travel! I have been using it for the past 10 years. We have saved up and paid to travel to Paris, Dubai, Ireland, Mexico, plus countless cruises, and spring break trips without kids!

PP: What is the best financial advice you received when you started travelling? What advice would you give to your younger self now?

TZ: The best financial advice I’ve gotten was from my husband; he’s the practical one in our relationship. He insisted that we save the money for a trip before going on the trip. He was wondering how to make sure that we could pay for the trips that we planned, and his sister told us about SmartyPig. He was big on not putting things on our credit cards and not going into debt to do things that were a luxury. By saving upfront we could ensure that when we planned a significantly larger and more expensive trip, we could pay for it by the time we traveled rather than putting it on credit cards.

If I could advise my younger self, it would be to start traveling sooner! Take more opportunities to travel. I could have had opportunity to do a semester abroad or travel after college, but I did not. I could have traveled more, making large or small trips, even backpacking to do it more economically. I encourage my girls to travel every chance they get; we travel with them a lot, too.

Another fantastic thing is there are great programs for young adults where they can travel for very inexpensive to free, in exchange for volunteering or other creative opportunities. If I were a young person today, I would take advantage of this plus the “digital nomad” opportunity to work from anywhere and travel.

PP: As a mom, do you have any tips for saving to travel with a family?

TZ: It’s more expensive to travel with 4 people than to travel with 2. So, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• A flight will always increase the cost of any trip, so keeping your destination with the kids within driving distance or a cheaper domestic flight will help keep the cost down.
• If there are specific destinations you want to travel to as a family, try to travel in the off-season, when the cost of flights, accommodations, activities, and dining will be discounted.
• Staying in a vacation rental that includes a kitchen where you can cook most of your meals will also offer a considerable cost savings when traveling with a family.
• If you want to travel abroad as a family, choose locations with excellent public transportation so you can avoid renting a car and any parking fees. Most European cities have excellent local transportation systems! 


Please note that Tara Zimmerman was compensated by Sallie Mae for providing this content. All opinions expressed herein are her own.