How to plan an amazing last minute trip on a budget!

A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I decided to go on a road trip to George to visit a favourite cousin of mine. Because we are both doing internships at the moment and really do not have much money for a BIG budget it was crucial for us to plan accordingly and to make the most out of what we can afford. The following is the steps we followed in order to have the most amazing time and BOY did we!

First step: SET A DATE TO A TIME YOU KNOW YOU'LL HAVE SUFFICIENT MONEY

This first step is very important because we didn't really have time to save up as the idea was kind of last minute. By last minute I mean a few weeks so we made sure to make the trip round about the time of payday. Makes sense right? We didn't plan on spending all of our salary on the trip but we needed to make sure we'd have money in case of an emergency.

Second step: FIND AFFORDABLE ACCOMMODATION

After a long time of searching the web and comparing prices I found that the Lekkeslaap.co.za offered the most affordable accommodation at prices as low as R250 per night for two people in absolutely beautiful places! I also found that self catering had better prices compared to booking into a hotel or guest house, along with the perks of not bumping into random people in the hallways. Lekkeslaap.co.za also has a really low admin fee compared to other booking sites which can charge up to R500 just for admin fees! You are obviously welcome to try something other than a booking agency, but be warned of fraudulent activities. It happens more often than you think. The accommodation that we found was amazing! Set in a beautiful neighborhood with trees everywhere, not far from the main town where all the shopping centers were and only R400 per night. This lead us to a total of R1320 for the whole weekend including admin fee! What a bargain!

Third step: CALCULATE HOW MUCH PETROL YOU WILL NEED

It was important for us to know exactly how much petrol we would need for the trip up and back home. We calculated that it would take us at most two full tanks for the entire trip. Luckily we have a fuel efficient car, also we drove slower to save as much petrol as we could! LOL! A full tank lasted us the whole weekend which included driving to and from our various adventures we took part in. Cost of the two full tanks came to R1200. I found this to be a good amount because I compared it to an individual bus ticket to and from George which would've costed me R1000 just to get to George and back to Cape Town alone!

Fourth step: PLAN TRIPS AND ADVENTURES CLOSE TO YOUR ACCOMODATION

This was the most exciting part of our planning. Because we only had three days, we wanted to make the most out of our weekend but also do it with reasonable costs in mind. We decided on doing 2 paid activities which we both enjoy and would either love to try for the first time or love to do again. The rest of the activities would have to be for free. Luckily with Western Capes beautiful surroundings finding something free to do was relatively easy! Our free activities consisted of visiting a forest very close to the neighborhood we were in, going on a local hike where we would end up on a beach and spend the rest of the day there and visiting a local free museum. All of our free activities was between 5-10 minutes away from our accommodation. Our paid activities consisted of canoeing for half a day with eden adventures (www.eden.co.za) which was absolutely magical and only costed us R175 per person for a three seated canoe which included a scenic hike to a waterfall and conservation fees. Our second activity was an indigenous forest horse ride with blackhorsetrails.co.za which was absolutely beautiful and only costed us R400 per person for 1 hour and a half. Both of these activities were about 20-30 minutes drive from our accommodation. Total cost for activities per person: R575

Final step: PLAN OUT A SIMPLE FOOD MENU

When we first arrived in George we made sure to stop at a grocery store to get easy to cook meals that won't break the bank. This included sausage, chicken braai packs, Chicken schnitzels, cereal, eggs, bread, bananas, cheese, wood and charcoal for braai and snacks for our activities. Our total in groceries came to R500. We also ate out twice which costed about R500 in total, which could've been avoided but we spoilt ourselves anyway. Cost for food for the entire weekend R1000

Time to add up the total amount of money spent on the weekend per 2 persons sharing:

1320+1200+575(2)+1000= R4670

R4670/2= R2335

The weekend was absolutely unforgettable. George has such a relaxed environment to it and surrounded by so much natural beauty,it just took my breath away to know that I really do not have to travel over seas just to experience such beauty.

If you are in Cape Town and you are reading this, I hope this gives you some peace of mind and determination to start exploring our beautiful Western Cape. You will not regret it.