Welcome to
The Poor Traveler's
Guide to the World!
You see, when we started traveling in 2009, we made a lot of poor choices. We made a lot of mistakes. We had absolutely no clue how to plan a trip. We got lost all the time, got scammed all the time, and ended up spending way more than we should.
We created this blog to accomplish two things:
- document our misadventures, and
- provide FREE travel tips so others can avoid wasting hard-earned money when they travel
Our goal is to build FREE travel guides, where we can share our experiences and whatever lessons we pick up along the way. This blog is for the poor travelers out there — the newbies, the first-timers, the lost and confused, the shy and socially awkward, the navigationally-challenged, and those who can’t afford to make costly mistakes.
poor
/poอor,pรดr/
adjective
- having little or insufficient money or other means of support;
- unlucky, unfortunate;
- lacking in skill or ability;
What makes our blog click
is that we are
relatable.
Like most people, we’re casual travelers, not hardcore backpackers. We’re vacation-goers, not long-term nomads. We enjoy solo adventures, but we also love sightseeing with friends and family.
Our primary audience is composed mainly of 21-45 yo. full-time employees who wish to take a break from work. They are budget-conscious, yes, but they are willing to spend hard-earned money on experiences that are worth it.
Weโre not in the business of promoting the cheapest ways to travel. But we are on a journey to find the many ways to travel smart.
Success
in numbers
Our 1-MILLION-strong base is one of the largest travel blog communities on Facebook, and itโs still growing fast. Our consistent search- and social-driven traffic has put us among the top travel blogs.
awards
#1 Budget Travel Blog
USA TODAY: 10 BEST
#1 Best Travel Blog in Asia
GO DESTI
#2 Top Travel Blog (Global)
THE EXPEDITIONER (peak position)
No. 1 in USA Todayโs list of 10 Best Budget Travel Blogs in the World.
No. 1 in GoDestiโs list of Best Travel Blogs in Asia.
No. 2 in Bob Around the Worldโs list of Top Budget Travel Blogs in the World based on content, social media, etc.
No. 4 in The Expeditionerโs list of Top Travel Blogs in the World according to unique visits.
No. 4 and No. 5 in Man On the Lamโs list of Top 100 Travel Blog Posts based on social media shares.
No. 6 in ASEAN Upโs list of Top 50 Blogs from the Philippines.
No. 10 in Saga Holidaysโ list of Top 10 Travel Blogs for Senior Travelers.
One of TripAdvisorโs Top 20 Budget Travel Bloggers.
In addition, we have been cited by the following organizations and publications:
- Top 10 Filipino Bloggers to Follow on Snapchat, The Huffington Post.
- Top 5 Budget Travel Blogs to Look Out For, Tripoto
- Top 7 Filipino Blogs to Follow, Freedom Wall
- Top 7 Thrifty Travel Bloggers, Low Cost Holidays
- Top 10 Backpacking Sites and Budget Travel Blogs, OOAWorld.
- Top 10 Interesting Travel Blogs, LifeHack.org
- Top 10 Accounts to Follow Online, Leisure + Adventure Magazine
- Top 10 Worldโs Best Travel Blogs of 2014, Lists For All
- Top 10 Travel Blogs to Feed Your Wanderlust, The Fitrepreneur
- 15 Pro Bloggers Who Are Rocking Their Niche, AdPushUp.
- Top 20 Budget Travel Bloggers of 2015, HolidayLettings.co.uk.
- Top 25 Travel Bloggers To Follow, Two Monkeys Travel Group
- Top 25 Travel Blogs, Listly
- 25 Travel Bloggers You Need to Watch Today, Adventuring Out
- Top 25 Budget Travel Bloggers to Follow, FlipKey by TripAdvisor
- 25 Filipino Travel Bloggers Who Will Inspire Your Inner Wanderlust, BuzzFeed
- 30 Amazing Filipino Instagrammers You Need To Follow Right Now, BuzzFeed
- Top 40 Filipino Travel Blogs You Should Follow, Two Monkeys Travel
- 56 Filipino Travel Instagrammers, Destination Cebu
- Top 50 Travel Blogs based on site traffic and social media presence, TraveloCafe.
- Top 100 Travel Blogs 2017, The Smart Lad
- Top 150 Travel Blogs in the World, The Start of Happiness
- Top 10 Japan Travel Blogs, Take Lessons
- Top Filipino Travel Bloggers, HomeAway
Our partner website PhilippineBeaches.org,
with 1.4 million likes on Facebook,
was Asiaโs biggest travel/leisure page based on 2012 SocialBakers data.
Content
comes first
We have been featured on BBC World‘s The Travel Show, CNN‘s list of Top Travel Bloggers, and TIME, among others.
On Plaques
and on Stage
Here are some of our awards and recognitions:
Winner – Best Travel Blog
E! BLOG AWARDS 2017
NUFFNANG AWARDS 2016
NUFFNANG AWARDS 2018
GODESTI 2015
Winner – Best Budget Travel Blog
USA TODAY
Winner
ON ASSIGNMENT: PARIS
Writing Category, Digital Photographer Magazine
Winner
INSPIRING TOURISM ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS 2023
Go Negosyo (Special Award for Content Creators)
Speaker
WORLD TOURISM FORUM ISTANBUL 2016
TBEX ASIA 2022 (Thailand)
TBEX EUROPE 2023 (Greece)
Co-founder Yosh Dimen has also won a Palanca Award, often regarded as the “Pulitzer Prize of the Philippines” and the most prestigious literary honor in the country, in the Screenplay category.
Dimen has also received 3 Philippine Blog Awards out of nine nominations (for this blog and his personal blog Yoshke.com) and won On Assignment – Paris, the travel writing project by Digital Photographer Magazine and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
We have been featured on many magazines including TIME, Travel Now, Navigator, and Mabuhay Magazine. See our print portfolio here.
Trivia: The name of this blog was inspired by Charles Dickensโs The Seven Poor Travelers, a short piece that narrates the events at a charity house that provides shelter to broke travelers for a night. On that night, the seventh poor traveler relates a story from his journeys. It is this spirit of storytelling that we wish to capture and share on this blog.
Also featured on:
- How to be a travel blogger: The pros share their tips, CNN
- Pinoys Rule Global Travelogue Arena, Inquirer
- ‘The Poor Traveler’ Blogger Wins First Palanca Award, Interaksyon
- The Poor Traveler: Locked Down but Not Knocked Out, NewsFeed360
- An Analysis on the Top 50 Travel Blogs, Mel365
- So Why Fi, A Talk on Internet Advocacy, UP Broadcast Association
- I Want to Travel Forever: 15 Travel Bloggers Tell You How to Do It, JustOneWayTicket
- How to succeed as a travel blogger: Interview with The Poor Traveler, Columbus Direct
- Top 37 Hidden Tourist Spots in the Philippines Travel Pros Rave About, Traveloka
Other Recognitions:
- Finalist, Best Travel Blog, Webtogs Blog Awards 2015
- Finalist, Best Photo Post, Philippine Blog Awards 2011
In good
company
Our content and reach are why we have worked with some of the biggest corporations and industry leaders in Asia:
AirAsia, Traveloka, and Expedia among others.
We’ve Worked With
Advertise with us!
We are open to ex-deals, social media promotions, and other forms of partnerships. For the rate card, please get in touch with
Yoshke Dimen
yoshke@thepoortraveler.net
Hi,
I am sorry if I bother you with this question. I am an italian student and at the moment I am studying english at the university. I was wondering if you could explain to me the sentence: “I finally cried โEnough!โ Good old cold turkey”. I really can not undestand the meaning, I have even searched on the net but I can not find “good old” before the idiom “cold turkey”. Could you please help me? I know it may sound as a stupid question, but I need it for my english exam of tomorrow. Hope you will answer.
Thank you a lot.
Hi
I don’t have any travel experience before. Is it necessary to upload the travel history documents?
Thanks,
James
“Cold Turkey” means to quit something immediately and not do it again.
“Good Old” is a phrase attached to cold turkey and it means “reliable,” and “been around for some time.”
Together they mean that quitting immediately is a reliable way and has been reliable for some time.
Hello Yoshke and Vins
I’m interested in advertising on your website and wanted to get in touch about your rates and if you do any other forms of advertisements?
Looking forward to your response
Hi, good day. May I please your email address? We would like to send an invitation for our hotel’s grand launching. Thanks
Hi there, it’s nice to talk to you.
This is Daniel Kim, chief operating officer at HaB Korea (www.habkorea.net)
I’m interested in working with your team.
Please let me know your terms and conditions via email.
Thank you.
Regards
Daniel Kim
Hello yoshke and vins
I’am shivani mahto from india, i’m student of tourism, intrested in work with you . Wanted to get in touch about your work and travelling experience, and learn with you .
And looking forward to your response.
With regards.
Hello! You Guys making me reach for more things in life so i can come and visit some of these Places. Thank you for helping us see how beautiful this world is. Just Keep Traveling!
Thank you! :)
Hi guys! my team and I were invited by our clients from Dubai for a 3-day conference.
I read your blog about Dubai tourist visa.
It’s our first time travelling to Dubai and I just want to confirm if our immigration requires, that we present the pink tourist visa (original) or is it okay if we only bring the printed evisa?
thank you in advance!
Hi Alyssa, ung experience namin, printed e-visa lang, di naman kami nagkaproblem. Sabi ng iba, kelangan daw ung pink original. So di namin alam. Baka kasi nagbago na.
Hi! I am based here in the UAE with my family. To answer your question, yes kailangan ung pink copy ng visa if you are travelling from manila. But otherwise e-visa na lang ung required. I hope itโll help you!
Thank you sir for your response. Hopefully, makalusot kami..thanks po
Hi! I read you blogs and i’m so inspired to travel more. :) We already booked a ticket to Hongkong and planning to take the exit in Macau as I’ve read in one of your blogs. I just want to ask if this is still valid? Will it be okay with the immigration people in both Hongkong and Macau?
Thank you in advance!
Yes, that’s totally fine.
Thank you so much!
Hello .. May we ask as to where do we send your invite to the presscon of Jaime Dempsey – host of The History Channel Asia’s hit Series “Ride N’ Seek” this coming May 8. Venue and time to be confirmed. We hope to hear from you. Thank you.
Hi! I just wanted to ask you a question since you are a constant traveller. My boyfriend will be meeting me in Singapore and we will fly to Indonesia the next day. I am a Filipino who is working here in Singapore and will be sponsoring all the expenses as he is unemployed. We well be back in SG a day before his flight back to Phil. Will there be a chance that he will get offloaded to his flight?
If he’s unemployed, yes, there’s a chance he’ll be offloaded.
Hello! Weโre going to the US this coming December 2018. And our passport will expire June 2019, Do we have to renew it already? Do they have a 6 month validity rule? Thanks! :)
If you’re a Philippine passport holder, then yes, the 6 month validity rule applies regardless of your destination. Philippine Immigration will not allow you to exit the country if you don’t meet this requirement. :)
Hello Yoshke,
We are interested to work with you guys! We are a travel accessories e-shop for adventurous travel nomads (www.tripatricks.com). Please let us know your terms and conditions.
Keep up the good work :)
Hi Yoshke and Vins,
My sister and I plan to do a stopover for 3 days in Seoul before we fly to New York. Could you advise us where we could book ourselves (safe and clean) and what places to see. Also do people speak English there? Thanks
Hi! This post might help: https://www.thepoortraveler.net/2017/01/korea-travel-guide-seoul-itinerary/
Hi! Just want to ask if the trains in the 4-Day JR-West Kansai Rail Pass operate 24/7? Or do they close at a certain time? Thanks so much.
Different trains have different operating hours, but usually they close around midnight and open again at 4am. You can check specific timetables here: https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/timetable/#timetable
Hello i have been going through your profile and am interested to work with you.
We are a travel agency company based in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and is it possible to market our travel company on your blog ?
Hi Yoshke and Vins, I’m a marketing and promotions company in Miami. I would like to invite you to some of my events in South Beach. We host some of the most popular parties with big name djs and celebrity guests. You two being travel bloggers encouraged me to try a more broader way of attracting international clients. Many visitors are not aware of the great deals people in the nightlife are capable of receiving. Therefore, I would like to invite both of you so you can experience it in the hopes that you will write about it. Plus we do give commission to any guests you send us. We provide premium bottles at lounges such as HYDE BEACH IN THE SLS HOTEL, NIKKI BEACH and BASEMENT IN THE EDITION HOTEL then limo escort to the top nightclubs in Miami for prices as low as $40 to a max of $120 per person. If interested in working with me please reply back. Thank you for your time.
Hi! My name Is Kathy, this past spring I did a student exchange in Germany and I loved it so much. Unfornatuley I will be a college student, and I will be on a tight spending budget. I fell in love with Europe, and although it was very spent, what are some tips that could help me save in college so I can go to Germany soon? Thanks!
Thanks for visiting!
Hello, po my name is Teresita Overby, meron lang po akong tanong , last 12/2016 po nag balik bayan po kaming mag kakapatid for family reunion , meron kaming napuntahan na Cathedral na meron pong nag titinda ng mga medalyon sa tabi po ng Church ito po ba iyon ?maraming salamat po !!
Hi, Can I just ask how you manage to submit ITR for your VISA requirement ? or do you have other businesses that supports your documents?Please let me know your response :) thank you :)
I registered with BIR.
Millenial here, contemplating on leaving a corporate job for a contractual, better paying one. if i leave, i will be self-employed by PH law but will be under an SG contract, working remotely from Manila. any foreseeable hardships from applying visas anywhere? been to Schengen area 4 times and traveled around Asia for the past 8 years.
Hi Pete. Just register with DTI and BIR and pay taxes so you’ll get an ITR and business registration docs, which you will need to apply for visas.
Oh wow, this site is good. Congratulations on your achievements. I’m sure it’s not easy but you became successful in the travel field. :) Got here because of the Star Cruises blog and video. Been on my first cruise before I saw your blog though but it’s still good to read and watch it.
How I wish I can go on a cruise every week. Ah I would be living the dream when it happens. :)
Thanks, Lucy! :)
Hi ;
I am opening a hostel in Siquijor Island and im considering to advertise would you let me know
how does it work.
im looking forward to your quick respond.
you can get in touch with me
Thank you so much.
Good day,
I am Abraham Arayata owner of Bambรบ Cafe Bar and Events located in Tanauan, Batangas and we are currently seeking for influencers that could help us spread our brand. Please let us know how can we collaborate with you.
I’m looking forward to your quick response.
Thank you so much.
Hello,
I was going through your site, and I have to say this is amazing work. I was thinking if we can advertise on your site about our brand. Please let me know how we can collaborate.
Thank you.
Very Informative, learnt lot of new information from the post. Great analysis. Tons of thanks for coming up with such awesome article.
Have a great day!
I recently moved from Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia and needed to change my visa involving a border run. I was recommended to go to Osmach. Very quiet, unlike Poipet. Officials on both borders very polite and helpful. Try to use Osmach instead of Poipet. I don’t know about a bus that would use this crossing, however
Thanks for sharing!
Good day! Thank you for your blog dahil dito madami ako natutunan. I applied Trv for canada last 2 weeks lahat ng details at procedure ang blog nyo po sinusundn ko but unfortunately I was refused today June 15 for 3 reasons. I eagerly want to attend for my niece wedding this coming August 10, 2019 in Alberta Canada. I took care of her during the time na Nandito sila sa Philippines ako naging guardian Nila ng youngest sister nya while their parents working abroad. That’s why I eagerly want to attend her wedding. Pede po b ako gumawa ng appeal to change their decision or you can help what will i do am can you help me po or any advise? Pls help Im very desperate right now. Thank you so much for giving my message a time to read.
Hi Edith!
Thanks for your message.
Di ko po alam if possible ang appeal and kung ano po yung process. :(
I saw your blog about “Corregidor Night Tours”. I am interested in going on this tour when I’ll visit the Philippines sometime in January or February next year (2020). Do you have the contact info for this tour package? Thank you very much !
We have a small hostel kn greenhills nad a hotel in quezon that needs to be advertise. We were wondering if you could help us. Name of the hotel is GREENHILLS GUEST HOUSE. Just in fromt of Greenhills shopping mall.
FACEBOOK:
facebook.com/107458794067433/posts/121649389315040/
You can visit corregidorphilippines.com for the tour packages and their contact info. It’s the official site.
hi i am thinking of applying for a tourist visa to canada. but i dont have any travel history except for a hongkong trip way back dec2008. plus i work at my dads hardware store since 2002 but he gave me a cert of employment that iv been working since 2008. i dont have any properties (house or car) under my name. so the question is IS IT ALRIGHT TO PUT IN THE APPLICATION THAT I WORK AT MY DADS STORE? bec it might come out as i can say anything bec its a family business. this was what i put in my US tourist visa application and was denied. hope u can get back to me regarding this. some advice or tips. thanks in advance
You can if your dad also gives you an ITR. Otherwise, medyo mahirap paniwalaan ng agency yan talaga.
i will wait for your reply. i spelled my email address wrong on my first message here.
Please sir, how do i apply for invitations letter to japan.
Hi. We just launched our villa on FB- Facebook: Villa Escarceo -Haven On A Cliff @VillaEscarceo. I read your blog about ‘how to get to Puerto Galera and found it very helpful to PG travelers. May I post this site on our FB page? It would surely be a big help to our clients. Thank you and have a blessed New Year!
All the information is very well described and user friendly. Thanks a lot.
very informative thread.
Thank you, your website and economical travel trip is helping us to travel more often and farther from home then we ever imagined.
[…] over ten years ago, The Poor Traveler earned a reputation for being one of the sought-after blogs for budget travelers in the Philippines and […]
I didn’t see any webform to contact you on for advertising. Please feel free to contact me. We are a rental car company in Davao City and would be interested in talking to you about advertising or even our affiliate program. Thanks
Nicely Explained!
I love your way of explanation. Interestingly waiting for your new post.