"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
In Noms thread where she talks about cheap travel, it got me thinking
of the cheap travel I have done.
Hitchiking across the US and Canada back in the late 70s, fun then but
would not do it today
Hitchiking in Mexico in the mid-80s, fine then but not today.
Hitching around Venezuela in mid 90s. still probably feasible and
cheap.
Hitching around Belize and Guatemala in mid 90s, still OK.

Ya gotta camp to make it cheap and that means a tarp, hammock and
skeeter net. In the tropics, use the skeeter net or you'll regret it.
In the USA, National Forest Campgrounds are great and cheap or you can
just camp in the woods.
Travel in the USA, believe it or not, it is probably cheaper to rent a
car for a month to drive across the country than to use your own car.
My wife makes about a dozen calls to rent a van for a month and we
then put about 8000 miles on it, the rental places always think there
is a mistake in mileage when we return it.
In the USA, if you just do not feel like tenting it, KOA has "Kabins"
that work out well for kinda cheap. This works well for kids.
Do youth hostels still exist?

Yes hostels still exist. But KOA is some of the more expensive camping you
can do. I can rent a motel room a lot of places that is cheaper than
renting a spot for my camper truck at KOA.