Lodging

Everyone needs to sleep sometime, and if you don’t have a couch to crash on or a vehicle to nestle in, you’ll probably need to pull out your wallet for the privilege. The best way to find an accommodation that is at the very least clean and safe is to cross-reference several sources, including friends, travel guides, and online communities such as Tripadvisor.com; if you’re lucky, the place will be cheap, too, but don’t count on it if you’re traveling to a major tourist destination.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

Travel guides are infrequently updated, and chances are that no one from the guidebook has ever set foot in a listed establishment (at least not to determine firsthand whether or not bedbugs run rampant or whether the shared bathroom walls have disturbing smears).

Websites can easily transform a crack den into the Ritz-Carlton.

Although sites like Hotels.com promise the lowest prices, you can sometimes get a better deal by reserving the room with the hotel directly.

Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Travelocity.com, and similar consolidators only suggest hotels that have paid a fee to be included, which means your choices, especially in the budget range, are limited.

Hostels are often the cheapest options, but if you’re traveling with someone, sometimes it’s not much more expensive to stay at a guesthouse with shared bathrooms or a budget hotel than getting a private room in a hostel.

If you really want to trek the globe on a dime, consider these communities: Couchsurfing.com, Joomla.servas.org, and Globalfreeloaders.com.