travelling on a budget

I have been to quite a few places and I have to say I really enjoy travelling on a budget. Trips vary from a short weekend break to a two-week diving and sightseeing vacation. But on all these trips, I have always limited myself to a £800 budget. I don't know why that number but it seems to work well. I get to buy my fridge magnet, and have an excuse for not buying anything else. I guess I get a kick out of travelling of a budget because it feels like I got a really good deal. Like the Columbia walking shoes I got for $5, you know.

I won't forget the trip to Cuba where we really had to stretch the budget. We covered half of Cuba and wanted to do all this fantastic scuba-diving. Pete wasn't happy that he couldn't have that ice-cold beer after being under the hot sun all afternoon. He got his way occasionally, of course (love is all about compromise), and all was well when we met a British trio who stayed in this empty resort which had free-flow booze. And, also because we wanted to rough it out, we took the local bus to travel between towns which meant we had to get up at 4am, try to find out which was the correct bus to take using our half-formed Spanish, and hope that no one would mug us. (Cuba was surprisingly safe actually). I look upon those incidents fondly; after all, one does remember the hard times.