Welcome Home, Fellow Traveler!

An image of Nomadic Matt

Hi, I’m Nomadic Matt, the New York Times best-selling author of How to Travel the World on $50 a Day and Ten Years a Nomad, and the founder of this website! And I’m here to help you save money on your next trip.

Have you ever said one of the following:

“How do I find the money to travel? It seems too expensive for me.”
“Where do I find the best travel deals?”
“How do I save money on flights, accommodation, and other big expenses?”
“How do I plan my trip?”
“How do I stay safe and healthy?”
“How do I maximize my time?”
“I want to travel more, but I don’t know the first step.”

You are not alone. Since I started this blog in 2008, I’ve helped tens of millions of people answer those questions and travel more for less with time-tested and proven tips and advice. By using this website, you can spend less time searching the Internet and being overwhelmed with information and more time doing the one thing you want to do: travel.

HEY! Want my best tips in one easy place? Enter your email and get these free planning guides and start planning your next trip like a pro!

  • 17-Step Planning Checklist
  • 61 Travel Tips for Mastering Travel
  • My Suggested Packing List
  • A Guide to Getting Free Flights
  • The Best Travel Companies for Finding Deals

FROM CUBICLE WORKER TO TRAVEL WRITER

About Nomadic Matt

Growing up in Boston, I was never a big traveler. I didn’t take my first trip overseas until I was 23. After college, I got a job and the standard American two-weeks-a-year vacation. For that first trip in 2004, I went to Costa Rica. The experience changed my life. It opened me up to all the possibilities the world had to offer. There, I experienced another culture, wildlife I had only read about in books, and new foods; got lost in a jungle; saw conservation projects in action; and met people from around the world.

I was the captain of my own ship. Every day was new and different.

From that moment on, I was hooked on travel.

The following year, a trip to Thailand opened my eyes even more.

There, in the wonderful city of Chiang Mai, I met five backpackers who showed me that I didn’t have to be tied down to my job or be rich to travel. That you could travel long-term and on a budget. And that millions of people did it each year. I wanted in. I wanted to do what they were doing.

After that trip, I flew home, finished my graduate program, quit my cubicle job, and, in July 2006, set out on an adventure around the world that was supposed only to last a year but continues to this day.

I’ve been to over 100 countries and territories, traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe, slept in over a thousand hostels, tried some unique food (including fried maggots), made lifelong friends, learned multiple languages, and, most importantly, made it my mission now to help travelers like YOURSELF to realize YOUR travel dreams the same way those five backpackers helped me realize mine.

This website has been featured on major media sites time and time again because it’s the best budget advice out there. My tips work. They are going to make you a smarter traveler.

logo of media outlets that Nomadic Matt has been featured in over the years

Don't miss out on my best tips! Get these free planning guides and my best travel tips sent to your inbox and never overpay for travel again!!

  • 17-Step Planning Checklist
  • 61 Travel Tips for Mastering Travel
  • My Suggested Packing List
  • A Guide to Getting Free Flights
  • The Best Travel Companies for Finding Deals

What You’ll Learn Here

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to travel cheaper, experience a destination’s authentic side, and turn your dream trip into a reality, you are in the right place. This website will give you road-tested tips, advice, and suggestions so you can see and do more for less.

On this website, you will find:

  • Tested travel tips from years of experience
  • Interviews with other travel experts
  • Case studies and profiles of other travelers from various backgrounds, genders, colors, and nationalities
  • A community of supportive travelers to help encourage you to keep going
  • Detailed cost breakdowns to help you better budget for your trip
  • Travel tips that can be applied to any destination in the world
  • In-depth reporting that lets you know which sites really do help you save money!

Every day I wake up with one goal in mind: “How can I help other people travel better for less?” The mission here is to be more comprehensive than any other website out there.

Unlike many other travel websites, you won’t find sponsored content or paid trips here. We pay our own way.

We sleep in dorms and budget hotels, wait hours for buses, try those roadside street stalls, test travel passes to see if they really do save you money, get lost in cities, and try to find all the off-beat attractions and cool deals we can. We travel just like you would — because, like you, we’re real travelers who just want to explore the world more!

All our recommendations are here because they are useful and used in our day-to-day travels. We recommend what we use.

This website is about showing you what it’s really like on the road — not some glossy ad for a travel brand.

So come, read, learn, go sooner, and send a postcard from the road!

Click an image below to start planning your next excellent adventure: