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鈥淭ravel Stars鈥� is an interview series created to get to know people in the travel industry who are making a difference; writers/influencers, producers, and travel executives.

In this article we had the joy of interviewing Tim Leffel.

Tim Leffel is an American Award-winning travel writer, author of The World鈥檚 Cheapest Destinations, Travel Writing 2.0, and the living abroad book A Better Life for Half the Price. He is also the editor of the narrative web publication Perceptive Travel, named 鈥渂est online travel magazine鈥� by the North American Travel Journalists Association and 鈥渂est travel blog鈥� by SATW.

He has contributed to more than 50 publications as a freelancer and runs 5 online travel magazines and blogs as an editor/publisher. He鈥檚 on the advisory board of NATJA, is the North American Conference Director for TBEX, and is a media member of SATW and the Adventure Travel Trade Association.

Check out this amazing interview with Tim.

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Tell us a little bit about yourself 鈥� Where are you from? Where did you grow up? Etc.
I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, in a rather rural area, then studied music and business at James Madison University in that state. After that, I worked for RCA Records in marketing in Nashville and then in New York City.

Can you remember what first got you interested in the world of travel? and why?
I had only been to Canada and Jamaica before my now-wife talked me into going backpacking around the world. I had bought into that American script that travel is something you do once or twice a year for a week until you retire. She convinced me otherwise and that first trip around the world turned into three of them, including some stints teaching English abroad. My parents were school teachers, though and had summers off (except for moonlighting here and there), so we did do a good bit of domestic travel when I was young. A lot of road trips hauling a pop-out camper. I just hadn鈥檛 been abroad much until I went all in.

In the next year, If you could only visit one place for one week, where would it be?
This year I will be spending weeks in a variety of places, renting an apartment and sticking around a while. I can鈥檛 really imagine only having a week to be somewhere new鈥搃t has been decades since I was forced to do that when having a corporate job. But if that鈥檚 the case I鈥檇 probably go somewhere I haven鈥檛 been before but one that鈥檚 really memorable. I鈥檇 probably pick a place in the mountains of a country I haven鈥檛 spent time in. Like hiking the Dolomites in Italy or the Alps of Switzerland, staying at a place with a killer view.

What are some of the top places you enjoyed visiting the most? Why?
Different places have a different appeal and there are only a few that I don鈥檛 have any desire to return to. I live in Mexico, so I obviously like it there a lot, but I do tend to gravitate to places with some geographic variety more than ones that are just flat with beaches. Some countries I鈥檝e returned to multiple times that fit the bill for that include Peru, Argentina, Guatemala, Bulgaria, and Nepal. I鈥檝e also been to Thailand more times than I can count though and always enjoyed it. I was just there again at the end of last year, almost 30 years after I first set foot there as a young backpacker.

Your blog is called 鈥淐heapest Destinations鈥�. How did you come up with this idea? And why?
First was the book, then the blog. Way back in 2002 I published the first edition of The World鈥檚 Cheapest Destinations and the print-on-demand publisher I was using suggested I put up a blog to promote it. So I did (with a terrible URL through them that I had to change later). The blog went live in 2003 as The Cheapest Destinations Blog, then after a while a few monetization options came about, like Adsense, Amazon Associates, and others, and I started making a trickle of money from it. Many years later, that trickle is a respectable income and the book is now in its fifth edition. It鈥檚 a good subject since there are always new people taking off on long-term trips around the world, plus I鈥檝e expanded the angle to cover topics for expats and digital nomads who are deciding where to stick around for a while.

What was one of your more popular posts in the last year? And why do you think it caught on?
Every time a blogger writes something unique that gets a lot of traffic, the copycat sites that are content mills basically scrape and re-write the piece just enough to avoid outright plagiarism and then outrank the original creator because of their domain authority. So I鈥檝e found that the only way to stay ahead of that is to write something offbeat but useful on a regular basis instead of just letting keyword tools determine what to publish based on what is already out there. I try to keep looking forward instead of backward.

So some of my most popular posts last year were kind of odd in one way or another. What you can get for a buck or less in Mexico, one on why you should bring lots of cash to Argentina, and which cities have double hotel rooms listed for $15 or less double. (Now that I鈥檝e put them here, if you see the same articles show up elsewhere, you know you鈥檙e on a copycat site instead of one that is a real authority.) I get a lot of good original article ideas from reader comments and questions, so it baffles me that many bloggers turn off comments and just rely on social media chatter for feedback. Readers can be good volunteer fact-checkers too.

What are the most influential factors when choosing a cheap destination for you?
Prices overall have to be half or less what you would spend in the USA, Canada, or the UK, plus the place has to have enough infrastructure and appeal that it鈥檚 not a step down to visit it. Many of the cheapest destinations are super-popular with people who can afford to go anywhere they want, so that鈥檚 always a good sign. There are others with cheap prices, however, where there鈥檚 not much to do or see and there aren鈥檛 many good choices for comfortable places to stay for a good price.
If you could give only three tips on traveling cheap. What would they be?

1) Be flexible. You鈥檒l almost never find a good flight deal if you say, 鈥淚 want to go to Florence for one week starting July 16, flying on United.鈥� The more variables you can leave open鈥揹ate, time, place, airline, where to stay, etc.鈥搘ill help reduce the travel costs.

2) Go slow. If you鈥檙e in a different place every day, checking things off your bucket list, you鈥檙e going to spend twice as much money as the person taking it slow. You鈥檒l be handing a lot of money to transportation companies and you鈥檒l be clueless every day about where the good values are locally. Slow travel is much cheaper travel. You鈥檒l end up with more authentic experiences and better memories too if you take your time and give serendipity space to find you.

3) Visit places where your money goes a long way. The longer you stay, the more your destination becomes the biggest budget factor of all. While airfare might matter the most if you鈥檙e flying across the Pacific Ocean for one week only, in most cases, the destination trumps all because local prices impact lodging, meals, transportation, tours, admissions, and more. A week in London is going to cost you more than a month in the European countries I鈥檝e featured in The World鈥檚 Cheapest Destinations. And you鈥檒l be able to afford a much higher standard of lodging and meals in the latter.

Where are you planning to travel next? and why?
I鈥檓 heading to Europe for close to five months this year. After two weeks at a co-living facility in Switzerland, I鈥檓 leading a ski trip to Bulgaria, then meeting my wife in Greece. We鈥檙e going to spend two and a half months in Greece and the Balkans and then finish up in Germany for a bit. I鈥檝e never been there and it鈥檚 where my ancestors are from. That鈥檚 the first half of the year. Who knows what comes after, but there will be some USA and Mexico travel in the mix at least.

What are you doing now (or about to do) that you are excited about? Do you have any new projects?
I just completed a bunch of freelance assignments on Mexico for CNN, which was new for me, and I鈥檝e got some others coming up for another large outlet. Last year I launched the Nomadico Newsletter with the team behind the Recommendo one. It鈥檚 four quick bites each week for those who are working travelers: nomads, remote workers, and others who are location-independent.

The big project I need to finish soon is the third edition of my book Travel Writing 2.0. It鈥檚 a daunting job to write a book, but it鈥檚 quite satisfying to hold it in your hand the first time and say, 鈥淚 did this.鈥� That never gets old for me and it鈥檚 a nice income source as well since I have self-published all the ones that sell well. (The ones put out through traditional publishers were a bust financially.)
Otherwise, I鈥檓 running five websites and have several books out, so I鈥檓 never short of tasks on the to-do list.

Thank you for telling us about your travel experiences and your great advice on cheap travel.

If you want to know more about Tim, here is where you can find him: