Photo of 2 travel guides on a tabletop: one for Spain, one for Ireland. At top of photo is a wooden dish with limes.

Frugal Travel Planning

A Money Saving Hack: Thrifted Travel Guides

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Before we dive in, a little about my background: I’m an artist, traveler, mom, and work-from-home entrepreneur.  I love to create artwork from salvaged vintage items, so I’m often at thrift stores on the hunt for the next piece of inspiration.  

I love to work with paper items, upcycling old children’s books, so I usually take a few minutes to cruise the book section and see what stands out.  As I was looking through the stacks (this is not the library, people – there is no rhyme or reason to how the books are arranged!), a travel guide caught my eye.  My family is planning a big vacation to Ireland and lo and behold, I found a thick Lonely Planet guide that I immediately plucked!

Photograph of a children's book, The Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas" and a necklace made with a cutout from the book.  Text box says, "Upcycling Old Children's Books" and in the upper right-hand corner is the logo Beezie Bjorn.
Upcycling is my jam.
Photo of 2 travel guides on a tabletop: one for Spain, one for Ireland.  At top of photo is a wooden dish with limes.

That got me thinking… my husband and I are always looking for the next getaway and planning future trips.  We even started learning Spanish on Duolingo just in case we could squeeze in a trip to Spain sometime soon.  So I kept my eyes peeled for a Spain guide.  After I found a guide for the Loire Valley, Iceland and Phoenix, I found 2 different Rick Steves Guides for Spain!  One was from 2015 and one was from 2019, so I snagged the more current version, of course.

The grand total for my books: $3!!! 

  • Stay tuned for more posts on budget-friendly travel hacks!  

What’s your favorite way to cut costs when planning for a trip?  Share your thoughts below.

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