There are so many places to see and so little time.
So, in honor of 2022, I have put together a list of 22 of my favorite travel destinations around the world that I hope you get to scratch off your bucket list this year.
And the best part is that all of the destinations in this video are very budget friendly.
And before we get into it, you might notice that I am in a completely new environment.
If you are subscribed to my newsletter, you know that I am currently building a new studio environment in my apartment and I'm really excited to decorate it.
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So without further ado, let's get into it.
Let's kick off this list with one of the best budget destinations in the world, especially if you are coming from North America and it is Mexico.
Mexico is a huge country with rich culture, incredibly friendly people and diverse landscapes and, even better, the most amazing food at shockingly low prices.
One of my favorite places in Mexico is Mexico City, and I was able to eat my body weight in street tacos that were, and I barely spent more than 2 per meal.
So it is a very budget-friendly place and there are a lot of concerns about traveling to Mexico as far as your safety, and I would say that, for the most part, there are a lot of safe places to travel to in Mexico, but it is important to do your research ahead of time.
Another very popular place to travel in Mexico is the Yucatan Peninsula.
There is incredible tropical beaches on the Mayan Riviera.
There's luxury resorts.
There's diving.
There's cenotes, which are amazing swimming holes.
And I highly recommend a visit to the Yucatan.
But I would say that I don't necessarily recommend traveling to Tulum if you are going to be on a budget.
I traveled there recently and I was absolutely shocked by the prices.
It's become more and more of a popular tourist destination in the past few years, and the prices are very different from other locations in Mexico, so I would recommend getting a little bit more out of your comfort zone and exploring some different areas of this vast country.
Keep in mind that because it is such a big country, the transportation on flights can get a bit relatively more expensive than other places, but it is still very much worth the trip.
Next up, we have Turkey.
If you remember not too long ago, I made a series here on YouTube about my travels through Turkey.
I saw so many incredible places and I was there for only two weeks and I barely scratched the surface.
Turkey is a great example of a country that can be very expensive or relatively inexpensive, depending on your style of travel.
If you want to take a hot air balloon ride in a place like Cappadocia, which I highly recommend, that is going to put you back around two to three hundred dollars.
But thankfully there are a lot of free experiences to be had in the country as well.
For example, you can visit the beautiful Blue Mosque in Istanbul, as well as the Grand Bazaar, which is an incredible ancient marketplace that is in Istanbul as well.
Those type of activities are completely free.
And it is also great because there is so much incredible food In Turkey that is also relatively inexpensive.
I believe that the average price I was paying for each of my meals was about five to ten dollars or so, if not less, depending on the cuisine.
Transportation within the country can get a bit more expensive, especially if you're going to be taking flights from Istanbul to places like Cappadocia and Antalya.
There is a lot of infrastructure for public transportation like buses, and there are many affordable options for overnight buses as well.
We rented a car for two weeks when traveling in Turkey and it was an incredible place to have a road trip.
It felt very safe and the roads in Turkey are incredibly high quality.
California has to step up their game in comparison to even remote areas of Turkey.
We were able to add so many different stops along the way that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to see if we were on a public bus or on a flight, and I also highly recommend going down to the southern parts of the country.
One of the most underrated places in the world has to be the Turkish Riviera.
The water is that incredible color of blue and it almost reminds me of traveling in Greece, but with much more affordable prices.
No matter where you end up traveling in Turkey, don't forget to try the Baklava.
Before we continue, I want to take a moment to thank the sponsor of this video, Google Arts & Culture.
Over the last few weeks, I have been working with Google Arts and Culture, which is a not-for-profit initiative within Google, whose mission for the past 10 years has been to support cultural institutions across the world.
They have an awesome app and website where you can not only take a selfie and find out what painting you look like, even compare your pet's photo to artworks, but you can also find inspiration, games and interesting information curated from 2000 cultural institutions around the globe, from places like NASA in the US to the National Gallery in the UK and the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Africa.
They have a YouTube channel where you can learn more in-depth about topics not only related to arts and culture, but also climate change travel, food and many others, and I was so lucky to be a part of their videos.
You can check them out in the link in my description, and don't forget to subscribe to their YouTube channel so you don't miss out on any of their amazing content.
Next up, we're gonna head on over to Southeast Asia to Vietnam.
Vietnam is by far one of the most scenic and cheapest countries in Asia.
I highly recommend visiting, although it is a very touristy destination.
It's touristy for some very good reasons.
For example, Heilong Bay was a great place to take an overnight cruise.
You can spend a night or two on a ship floating through the islands of Heilong Bay, which reminded me of the floating mountains of Pandora from the movie Avatar.
There are a lot of different underrated, authentic places to travel in Vietnam as well.
For example, I took a day trip out from Hanoi by bus to an area called Tam Coc, which has these incredible limestone landscapes, and I was able to just rent a little mountain bike for the day and took a bicycle ride through these incredible rice fields and mountains.
It was a beautiful way to spend the day with absolutely no one else around.
Another benefit to Vietnam is that they actually have some of the cheapest real hotel rooms that I've come across.
For 10 you get a very clean private room.
That is also very safe and the food there is also extremely affordable.
You can get a meal for only a few dollars and you can get a glass of beer for less than a dollar.
You can definitely stretch your budget out very far in vietnam, and the same goes for its neighboring country, laos.
I always feel bad pronouncing laos because i never know whether it's pronounced lao or laos, so let me know in the comments if you know the answer.
Laos reminds me of what it would be like to travel in Thailand without any of the tourists.
Laos might be my favorite country in Southeast Asia because of just how underrated it was.
I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I traveled there.
I went to Luang Prabang solo for nearly a week and I was able to actually take so many tours a lot more tours than I usually do throughout the city and surrounding areas, because it was so affordable.
I took a mountain bike ride to lush hidden waterfalls.
I went kayaking on the Mekong River and I also took a lot of tours of the different temples that are incredible architectural feats within Luang Prabang.
If you do go to this area of Laos, I highly recommend waking up before sunrise and witnessing the march of the monks who travel to and from the temples every morning before sunrise, and you'll be able to see the long lines of these monks on their way to prayer and there are devotees passing them alms as they walk by, and it was one of the most peaceful, sacred interactions that I've been able to witness while traveling and I highly recommend having the opportunity to experience such a special moment.
While Laos is an amazing destination, especially if you were looking to get off of the beaten path, there truly is no place like Thailand.
Thailand is a rite of passage for basically every travel enthusiast.
It is a backpacker's paradise, and I know quite a few people who traveled to Thailand and ended up spending months there because they fell in love with the culture, the landscapes and the prices.
Thailand is an infamously affordable place to travel especially in the north of Thailand.
I highly recommend visiting Chiang Mai for some different cultural experiences, as well as Bangkok, which is one of the craziest cities in the world, but it is definitely worth a visit if you have a very low budget, the north of thailand is definitely going to be the region for you because as you move south, things get incrementally more expensive because there is so much of a higher tourist demand to visit the Islands off of the coast and places like Phuket.
Anyone traveling to Thailand, especially young or first-time travelers.
I do recommend to exercise caution and remember to use your common sense, especially if you are traveling alone.
I have heard a lot of terrible stories of people getting taken advantage of in Thailand because they were out alone at night or they were drinking and lost control of themselves or their surroundings.
So keep this in mind, that Thailand is notorious for being a party destination.
But if you want to make sure that everything in your trip goes smoothly, nothing is stolen or nothing bad happens to you, just remember to utilize as much common sense as possible.
That's the most important thing to never leave home without.
If you have an adventurous spirit, look no further than Nepal.
Nepal is a cultural gold mine located in the Himalayan mountains.
Some of the tallest mountains in the world.
Many of them actually are located in Nepal, which makes it the mecca for climbing hiking, mountaineering and even whitewater rafting.
Nepal is filled with this spectacular contrast of not only adventure and rugged outdoor experiences, but also a beautiful cultural element as well, with very sacred practices, especially surrounding some of the gorgeous temples located throughout the country.
Nepal is a country that I do recommend having a plan before you travel there, because it can get a bit pricey if you do everything on the whim.
I recommend booking local guest houses and different hotels online so you can have an idea of what their price points are going to be like before you arrive.
And if you are going to be doing an outdoor adventure that would require camping gear or hiking gear, you might want to look into purchasing all of this type of equipment beforehand, or travel there with all of your equipment, because it did seem like a lot of the different shops were upselling a lot of potentially not high quality gear for a lot of the tourists who travel there.
So just keep in mind what type of adventure you want to go to before you head to Nepal.
From Nepal we are now going to head over to the intersection of Europe and Asia, to a little known country named Georgia.
Everyone that I know that has been to Georgia has fallen in love with its mountainous landscapes and remote churches to the Black Sea coast, as well as the cobblestone streets of its capital, Tbilisi.
This area of the world is by far one of the most underrated, especially due to the extremely low cost of food and the wide variety of accommodation.
And it also has a fairly accessible public transportation system which can cut travel costs as well.
Georgia is also very accessible, as it doesn't require visas for a very wide range of nationalities and there are very little limits to how long you can stay in the country.
I have heard a lot of amazing stories from backpackers who traveled to Georgia and were able to hitchhike long distances across the country and have been able to find hostels for only a few dollars.
And that is also not to mention the beautiful scenic views that you can have throughout the area.
If you are looking for a destination that is even a bit farther off the beaten path than Georgia, which has been gaining a bit more popularity in recent years, look no further than its neighbor Armenia.
I traveled to Armenia as a solo female traveler and I can attest to the very friendly and welcoming atmosphere that I experienced there.
Similar to Georgia, Armenia is known for its gorgeous natural landscapes and mountains, which can also lead to a lot of different popular extreme sports locations within the country, as well as incredible cultural landscapes and a very rich history that has a lot of remnants of the past, where you can take tours through different museums and ruins and be able to study Armenian history from that perspective as well.
After visiting every country in Europe, I would have to say that Bosnia and Herzegovina was by far one of the best hidden gems on the continent.
From quaint mountain villages to an actually quite unique nightlife.
There is a lot of things to do in Bosnia and Herzegovina that are often overlooked, especially with its neighbor Croatia, located so close by.
I spent the majority of my time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, exploring a city called Mostar, which is most famous for this beautiful stone arch bridge that is also home to some of the most epic cliff diving in Europe.
There's even a Red Bull cliff diving competition there every few years.
One of the aspects of this very small country that I found to be the most interesting was the mixture of both influences, from Christianity and Islam, and how that is reflected in the architecture, the people's way of life, as well as their cuisine.
From Bosnia and Herzegovina, I recommend traveling overland to its neighboring country of Croatia, and you have to stop at all of the incredible national parks to see some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.
While I was in Croatia, visiting Krka National Park as well as Plitvice National Park was a highlight of my experience.
I ended up making my home base the city of Split, which is very centrally located for exploring the Dalmatian coast, as well as the Croatian Riviera.
There is a buzzing, hostile atmosphere in the city of Split, and I've also heard amazing things about Dubrovnik, and it all comes at a relatively reasonable price point.
I was able to take a few day trips by boat out to some of the surrounding islands that are near to split, islands like Hvar and Vis, which are also very popular destinations for yacht trips.
There's actually a lot of different yacht-oriented festivals where you're able to buy a ticket that includes a spot on a boat where you're able to sail from island to island during the day and then get off and go to some of these amazing party islands at night, which has always been on my bucket list.
While we are on the theme of island hopping, let's hop on over to Greece.
Greece is by far one of the most touristy countries in the world.
But again, it is touristy for very good reasons.
And if you are strategic about the places that you stay and eat, as well as the time of year that you travel, you can definitely see Greece on a budget.
If you are traveling on a budget, I highly recommend doing some research on all of the different islands in Greece to see which ones feel like they would potentially be in your price range, because an island like Mykonos is going to be significantly more expensive than visiting another island like Milos.
Also keep in mind that, as most people travel to Greece to visit the islands, there are some amazing activities that you can find on mainland Greece as well.
Speaking of traveling in mainland Europe, I highly recommend visiting Poland.
Although most travelers overlook Poland completely or they only spend a day or two in Krakow or Warsaw, there is so much more that this country has to offer.
Everything you are looking to find in more touristy Western European countries, like world-class museums, fun nightlife or beautiful landscapes, you can also find in Poland, but for a fraction of the price.
There is also some amazing infrastructure for travel within the country, which makes it very accessible for backpackers.
I almost traveled back to Poland on my most recent trip to Europe, but I ended up traveling to a small landlocked country named Kosovo instead.
In one of my most recent videos, i traveled to pristina kosovo, to host the first ever limitless army meetup, and i was absolutely blown away by how welcoming the community was in kosovo.
And i was even more blown away by the prices, Especially coming from a city like Paris.
I had to double take when looking at the menu and realizing there were full meals for only two or three dollars.
Kosovo is also an ideal location for road trips, especially since there are some beautiful mountain villages that are definitely worth a visit.
We started our trip in Pristina and ended up traveling to the cultural capital called Prizren.
We explored the entire city, from the different museums and mosques all the way up to Prizren Fortress, which is this beautiful archaeological remnant of a fortress overlooking the entire city, and it was an incredible place for the sunset.
Now we're switching gears and we're going to head over to South America, because a country you definitely want to visit is Colombia.
Considering how much change has happened in Colombia over the past few decades, it is very impressive that they have become one of the most popular and trending travel destinations in the entire continent.
Not only has it become a very safe destination for tourists to visit, but it has also become very popular with the digital nomad lifestyle, and I've seen a lot of people who do remote work taking up shop in Colombia.
You could spend weeks traveling in Colombia and barely scratch the surface, because from the colorful cities like Cartagena, Bogota and Medellin, there are also beautiful natural landscapes, which also include the Amazon.
Colombia is one of the more biodiverse countries in the world, so there is plenty to explore while hiking, biking or even visiting a few of their beautiful islands on the Caribbean Sea.
Before traveling to Colombia, I highly recommend learning salsa dancing so that you are prepared for the amazing Colombian nightlife.
Just around the corner from Colombia is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, Peru.
And this is mostly thanks to it being home to the iconic wonder of the world that is Machu Picchu.
Many travelers flock to Peru to hike the Inca Trail on their way to Machu Picchu, but they stay once they realize how much Peru has to offer.
During my trip to Peru.
I was able to stay at a beautiful lodge located within the Amazon rainforest in Peru, and being able to go on hikes to see all of the natural wildlife, especially at night, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Another highlight of my trip was visiting Lake Titicaca, which straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia.
One of the most unique aspects of this area of Peru is that you can actually visit the floating villages, and I highly recommend giving this area a try as well.
The best part of all is that traveling through Peru is very inexpensive, even if you want to take trips like the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
Another must-visit travel destination in South America is also the world's fifth largest country, Brazil.
I have spent over a month traveling throughout the country of Brazil, and I have barely even begun to scratch the surface of how much there is to see.
I recommend traveling to the states of Bahia and Para in the north If you're interested in seeing some of the more authentic Afro-Brazilian culture.
I was also able to spend Carnaval there a few years ago and it was by far the wildest street party I have ever experienced in my life.
Another once-in-a-lifetime thing to experience in Brazil is by far Iguazu Falls.
Located on the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, Iguazu Falls is the largest system of waterfalls in the world and it is jaw-dropping.
Brazil has become more and more affordable, especially in recent years, and I cannot recommend enough visiting this beautiful, gigantic country, especially if you are on a backpackers budget.
Speaking of being on a backpackers budget, One of the most affordable countries in South America is Bolivia.
One of the most popular things to do in Bolivia is visiting the Iuni salt flats, and I recommend doing this during the rainy season, because these salt flats turn into a gigantic mirror when they're flooded with water, which reflects the sky, especially during sunset, and it makes for some of the most surreal landscapes in the world.
There are still so many other amazing places in Bolivia to see.
The highlight of my trip there was visiting Amboro National Park.
Mboro National Park is home to so much biodiversity, as well as gigantic, unique sandstone cliffs and waterfalls.
Next, we're gonna head north up to Central America to Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is one of the most idyllic, quintessential tropical travel destinations in the world.
It is home to everything you can imagine in a tropical landscape from the waterfalls to the volcanoes, hot springs, jungles and wildlife.
By far the best way to see a lot of Costa Rica is by renting a car and traveling all throughout the jungles and up into the coast.
I absolutely adored the Pacific Coast side of Costa Rica as there were so many things to do and a very vibrant backpacker yoga surfing culture, if that is something that you are interested in doing as well.
Another great perk to Costa Rica is that a lot of the attractions that are worth visiting are completely free, whether that be hiking to a waterfall or even just lounging on the beach.
Costa Rica is definitely the most popular tourist attraction in all of Central America, which unfortunately does make it a bit more expensive than some of its neighboring countries, And if you are on a tight budget, I highly recommend visiting Guatemala.
Traveling in Guatemala can be a bit more rugged than some of the other countries in Central America, because it still is developing infrastructure for tourism.
However, there are still so many incredible places to see, from Guatemala City to Lake Atitlan, which is a very popular travel destination, to up north, towards the Mayan ruins of Tikal, which give you a glimpse into the beautiful history of this region in the world.
And my personal favorite experience from traveling in Guatemala was renting a car from Guatemala City, traveling through Coban on my way to Simak Champi, which is a natural reserve.
I was able to stay at a super cheap but very fun hostel right on a river, and I spent a few days visiting this place called Simak Champi, which has an underground river running through it, which formed these incredible limestone pools that were the most epic swimming holes you can possibly imagine, and I was also able to visit a lot of the different waterfalls in Guatemala as well.
And I have to say, I stayed at the cheapest hostel of my life in Guatemala it was only two dollars per night, but it was also not exactly the most comfortable accommodation, but for a backpacker like me, who just wanted to see the world, it was perfect.
Another country I was so interested in visiting especially as an American was Cuba.
Traveling here felt like stepping back in time or entering some kind of time capsule between the architecture and the vintage cars that you can find lining the streets of Havana.
It was a very unique travel destination.
Cuba is a very backpacker budget friendly destination, especially if you stay at the family run guest houses, which offer very affordable accommodation as well as very affordable food.
One of the main things on my bucket list in Cuba was renting one of the classic convertibles and being able to drive all around the different interesting spots in Havana, and I was able to rent one for about two, two and a half hours, for I think it was around 20-25 US dollars, and that was money well spent.
I felt like I was really able to get a unique perspective on the city.
Another country I had always wanted to visit was Morocco.
Morocco is conveniently located a short flight away from Europe, so it's very easily accessible.
I was able to travel there for about two and a half weeks and I felt like I was really able to see so many different parts of the country.
I started my trip in Marrakech and then drove through the Atlas Mountains.
I saw the blue city called Chefchaouen, which was unlike anywhere else I had ever seen before.
By far one of the most aesthetically pleasing places in the world.
And I was also able to go to Fez.
And these different places have so much rich historical value.
And one of my favorite parts was staying in the small boutique hotels called Moroccan Riads.
They're often located in walking-only areas of the city, so it really puts you in the middle of the nightlife.
They're very small, often open air in the middle, with some kind of fountain or pool centrally located, and it was just an amazing way to feel like you were getting in touch with a completely unique culture.
I was also able to take a trip to the Sahara.
I believe the place I went to was called Mendoza, and I was able to get some camels, with my friends hike out to the middle of the sand dunes and camp there overnight underneath the entire Milky Way galaxy, which was an incredible night to remember.
Traveling in Morocco can get a bit more expensive if you are on a tour.
I actually had a private car and tour guide that I was splitting their rate with three other people, so it became a somewhat more manageable price.
But if you do travel independently throughout Morocco, that can also save you some money as well.
Last but not least, we have South Africa.
South Africa is a bit of a wild card on this list, because it's not often thought of as a very budget-friendly destination.
South Africa has an incredibly wide range of activities and things to see and do, which many of them are free.
Visiting Cape Town is one of the most interesting and unique cities in the world.
It's a buzzing, up-and-coming city with also so many natural places to visit surrounding it, which makes it a great place to use as a home base.
I would say that a lot of the different safari lodges in the national parks, like kruger national park, are definitely going to be on the more expensive side of things, but there is also different areas where you can do self-guided safaris within your own vehicles, and renting cars in South Africa is relatively inexpensive, and I would highly recommend taking the garden route along the coast.
You can see Gans Bay, which has a lot of great white sharks, as well as the breathtaking rugged coast, which is also popular for surfing as well.
And that concludes this massive list of travel destinations.
You should definitely be adding these places to your bucket list, and I hope you get to see a few of them for yourself this year.
Let me know down in the comments which one you are most excited to travel to.
And don't forget to subscribe and smash the like button so we can share these recommendations with even more people.
And until next time, keep pushing your limits.
