Traveling is one of the best ways to gain new and exciting experiences. It allows you to get outside of your comfort zone, learn new things, and meet interesting people. However, one of the biggest downfalls of traveling is that is can be very expensive. Luckily, there are some things you can do to drastically reduce the costs of traveling and still have a great time. Rather than having to take out a loan to fund your travels, simply find ways to subsidize your costs. To show you how, here are three tips for traveling on the cheap.

Take Advantage of the Off Season

While you may have dreams of visiting your ideal location at the most perfect time of year, you’ll also find yourself having to pay a premium price for this scenario. But if you merely open yourself up to traveling during the off season, which varies depending on where you’re planning to travel, you could save yourself a lot of money. Caroline Costello, a contributor to IndependentTraveler.com, advises making sure you do some extra planning if you’re looking to travel during the off season so you can ensure the places you’re wanting to visit will still be open and you will be prepared for any inclement weather. If you need some help with travel information, there are articles from blogs such as http://www.1stchoiceaccommodations.com/ that can inform you of what to do when traveling, how to prepare, etc. so you don’t feel in the dark before you go.

Know How To Save On Accommodations

Although a lot of the tricks to traveling for cheaper have to do with getting the right accommodations at the right time, there are some things you can do to tilt the odds more in your favor. Stephanie Oswald, a contributor to Next Avenue and Forbes, shares that one of the best ways to get a bargain on anything while you travel is to make sure you’ve signed up for every mailing list, printable coupon, and discount code available with airlines, hotels, restaurants, rental agencies and more. There are so much savings to be had if you only allow yourself to be made aware of it.

Rack Up Your Points

If you love to travel but haven’t found a way to earn travel points, you’re missing out on so many travel opportunities simply by doing your normal routines. Matt Kepnes, a contributor to Time.com, writes that many loyalty programs now offer even more points than ever before, making it even easier to rack up a plethora of travel points. Spend your travel points to travel, build up more points while doing your traveling, and allow the cycle to repeat itself to your traveling heart’s content.

Traveling doesn’t have to be astronomically expensive. All you need is to know how to research and make a few small sacrifices to ensure you’re able to travel wherever you want without having to max out your credit cards. Use the tips mentioned above to help you do it.