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Forty-seven and a half hours before a flight, Luke admits he has not packed, has no local currency, and only has a rough budget for a four to six month backpacking trip across Central and South America. So we do what we do best: drag travel planning into the world of procurement and see if cost control can survive contact with real life. If you care about smart spending, practical budgeting, and making better choices under pressure, this one hits close to home.

We translate procurement techniques into travel decisions you can actually use. We talk about standardising what you buy so you avoid gold plating, challenging demand so “just one more” does not wreck your travel budget, and using simple spend rules for the categories that quietly drain cash. We also get into benchmarking the cost of living across countries, including a brilliant backpacker shortcut using the price of beer and accommodation, then we take a detour into the Big Mac Index as a surprisingly useful reference point.

From there we explore the “supplier” side of travel: when consolidating through a tour company might save effort, when it might cost more, and how to think about payments like a procurement pro. We cover international bank cards, prepaid travel cards, currency conversion, and the small value-adds that stack up over months, like points and cashback. We finish with the realities of solo travel, including how sharing taxis and splitting accommodation can reduce unit costs without cutting the fun.

If you enjoy procurement, personal finance, or travel hacks with a bit of semi-funny banter, subscribe, share the episode with a mate who needs to budget better, and leave us a review. What’s your no-nonsense rule for keeping spending under control while travelling?

Grab yourself a copy of the incredible debut novel from C Toms-Arbel here: https://amzn.to/3Q5IcWU 

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Cya Later