CHEAP LODGINGS

I prefer Bed & Breakfasts to conventional hotels.  They’re a lot cheaper, a lot cozier, and you make a lot more contact with the natives – which is one of the great pleasures of traveling.  (When you stay at a Four Seasons, there’s not much chance of hanging out with the owners.)

At a B & B in Auckland, our hosts invited us to join them and their friends at the local pub.  We had a little trouble with the New Zealand slang, which all sounds like baby-talk: “brolly” for umbrella, “Chrissy” for Christmas, etc.  But we still had a fun, authentic experience that could never have happened at a Hilton– or a “Hilly” as I guess the Kiwis would say.

In Japan, we stayed at a traditional country inn, where we survived a monsoon in a building with paper walls.  I won’t say it was enjoyable, but it sure as hell was authentic.

We are about to visit Oslo, where hotel rooms are between two and four hundred dollars.  Instead, we found a charming private residence in a desirable location where we are getting a room with a separate entrance, bath, kitchenette and terrace for a hundred bucks.  Plus, the owners run an art gallery, so it sounds like they might be pleasant company.

• www.COUCHSURFING.com links travelers to private homes all over the world. You might get a bedroom, a sofa, or just a patch of floor, but your host will give you genuine insights into local culture – and the price is incredibly FREE. One American student got along with her Lisbon host so well that she stayed for three months!

• Our friends George and Alice go hiking in New Zealand every year. They are out in the wilderness all day, and then just take a brief shower before going out to dinner, so they have no need for all the bells and whistles of a fancy hotel.  Instead, they stay at a hostel, and pay extra for a private room with bath.  This costs a whopping forty-five dollars a night!  It sounds like a fabulous vacation – except for the hiking part.  I think I’d prefer the hostel in Barcelona, which has an indoor swimming pool.