The day I stopped buying bottled water on vacation saved me $200

I was on a two week trip to Thailand last year and spent $7 a day on plastic water bottles until a local hostel owner pointed out that most guesthouses have free filtered water stations. He showed me his reusable bottle and I felt like an idiot for never asking if places offered free refills. How do you all find the free water spots when you're traveling somewhere new?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor821mo agoMost Upvoted

Flip it around and think about the weight savings instead of just the money. I lugged around a 24-pack of water bottles on a hiking trip once because I was scared of not finding clean water, and my backpack weighed a ton. Dropping that habit freed up space in my bag for actual useful stuff like snacks and a small first aid kit. Plus, you cut down on all that plastic waste piling up in your hotel room trash bin. Have you ever measured how much lighter your luggage feels without a case of water bottles in it?

william_taylor1mo ago

A friend of mine in Barcelona showed me a similar trick - he said always look for the water cooler in train stations or museums because they're usually free, and now I spend half my trip just following signs for drinking fountains. It's wild how much money you can burn on something that's basically tap water with a fancy label.