Great to stumble across a post like this. I've been living out of backpack for over 10 years and I know exactly what you;re talking about and agree with all your advice given here. Especially in certain countries when it comes to cuisine, paying extra for quality. Flying hub air port to hub airport will save people big too.
I like how you talk about travel as a learning experience....for me 10 years later all I know is travel. I consider myself and expert in budget travel and really like how your post is about cutting unnecessary expense and learning from experience.
I'm new on here compared to you. 3 month's and I'm still technically pond scum not even a minnow compared to some statistics I've read. That's fine, cause I have a growing following and people that really value my travel advice and posts.
Recently I've had some whales take notice of my excellent quality work and it's really made a big difference for me here. I think you'd like what I do on here. I certainly like what you just posted. Right up my alley.
From Koh Pha Ngan Thailand -Dan "World Travel Pro!"