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societyJun 6, 202512:00pending
How Nomadic Matt Travels on $75 a Day!
About this episode
Nomadic Matt is a pioneering travel blogger. One day, we'll call him the grandfather of travel blogging during the Golden Era of travel blogs.
He's not known for his travel feats but rather for the extensive tips he's provided on his popular website, which focuses on budget travel.
The book's budget used to be $50/day, but inflation and a post-COVID world forced Matt to update his book.
In 2025, he refreshed his bestselling book, which is now called How to Travel the World on $75 a Day.
As part of his book tour, he's appearing on the WanderLearn Show twice!
#1 How Nomadic Matt Travels on $75 a Day!
Nomadic Matt discusses:
00:00 Splitting between Austin and NYC
02:40 Couchsurfing
05:15 Stupidly cheap
07:00 EatWith and Traveling Spoon
Questions
- What's the most embarrassing or ridiculous thing you've done to save money while traveling?
- What's the difference between EatWith, WithLocals, and Traveling Spoon?
- When do you usually book your hotels?
- Why is Africa left out?
- Are tourism cards still worth it?
- When do you use travel insurance?
- Why not use Kiwi?
- What are Bilt Rewards?
His book is packed with tips. Here are my favorite ones.
The best websites to keep track of the latest credit card deals
Pay your rent and get frequent flyer points with Bilt Rewards
Matt's top three airline booking sites
My favorite airline website is Kiwi, and use this link to get $10 off. He doesn't mention Kiwi in his book.
Instead, his favorite flight booking sites are:
For insurance
- Safety Wing
- World Nomads
- MedjetAssist
- IMG
- InsureMyTrip for comparison shopping
Sell your old clothes to raise money for your trip
Online Garage sale to raise funds and downsize
- VarageSale
- OfferUp
- Swappa for electronics
- Gazelle
- Decluttr
Anytime Mailbox starts at $6 and has several locations.
Lodging Sites
- LateRooms
- Last Minute
- Hotel Tonight
- Priceline
- Hotwire
- Roomer allows you to buy someone else's hotel reservation at a steep discount
- Agoda excels in East Asia
Food
Matt is a foodie. I am not. Here are some of his favorite sites:
- EatWith has 5000+ hosts in over 130 countries
- WithLocals
- Traveling Spoon
Ride-sharing or hitchhiking for the 21st century
Search for "ride-sharing" and the name of the region/country where you are traveling. You'll usually find options. I've used BlaBlaCar in Europe, for example.
Tourism Cards
Nomadic Matt sold me on the tourism cards that give you access to popular sites and public transportation. Although that can save you nearly half the price, it's only suitable for those doing a whirlwind, fast, and comprehensive tour. If you want to see the British Museum, don't get the London Pass. But it makes sense if you're going to see most of the significant sites.
Why is Africa left out?
The first half of the book offers general, practical advice. The second provides specific guidance to various regions. For example, he has a section about Australia.
You'd think a book that helps travelers live on $75 a day would encourage tourists to visit Africa. Like Southeast Asia, parts of Africa have a low cost of living.
For example, in 2013, in Benin, I rented a two-room place with a shower (but a shared outhouse for a toilet) for $10 per month! Ten years later, maybe the price has doubled to $20 a month!
Still, Nomadic Matt confesses, "I had to make trade-offs and omit the lesser-visited countries and regions..." (Kindle Location 1434).
I won't quibble with his decision or logic.
Conclusion
When I got an advanced copy of Nomadic Matt's book, I expected to be bored out of my mind. I figured it was a book for beginners or intermediate travelers, not hyper-experienced travel studs like me.
As usual, I was wrong.
Nomadic Matt pumped me with many ideas I was oblivious to. Although I shared my favorite ones on this page, buy How to Travel the World on $75 a Day to get all his excellent advice.
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