Like many of my friends, I'm somehow addicted to “House Hunters International.” As a travel writer who has lived in many foreign countries myself and visited about 100, I find the show even more relatable than most people do. But in some weird ways the show seems to exist in its own universe where different rules apply.

As a HHI fan who also has access to the internet, of course I've researched and read that the whole premise is fake. I realize that House Hunters are only asked to apply AFTER they have signed a lease or contract for a new place abroad, and that the two fake-out options are sometimes not even on the market. Still, I love the show and I wonder how many other people find some of the things below to be as odd as I do? Click to read more

Spending the Christmas and New Year's holiday weeks with family and friends is the longstanding tradition in most of the Western world, but those based in the colder northern climates are looking for alternatives. After a couple decades of being bundled up, many start to wonder if there is another way to spend the holidays.

Those with the resources have been heading to Hawaii for Christmas for a long time, but there are actually dozens of countries and islands with similar tropical climates around the world, and most of them are far cheaper, at least once you get there. Below is a list of nearly every major tourist destination that combines warm weather and low prices during the weeks around Christmas and New Year's.

Updated for 2017: This year's list has been updated and expanded, with current price information for 2017 holidays as of August, 2017. Click to read more

Are you a budget traveler who has wondered where in the world you'd actually be able to afford a 5-star hotel room? You are not alone. Those of us who prefer to (or must) sleep cheap can easily get tired of tiny rooms with few frills, and we dream of what it would be like to be staying in that swanky 5-star with the perfect location.

Well, wonder no more, because we've checked prices in 104 of the most popular tourist cities and destinations around the world to find the cheapest 5-star hotel rates. There are some encouraging results, but of course it's a complicated situation. Click to read more

Here at Price of Travel we are now tracking travel prices in over 200 different cities around the world, hoping to help travelers make an accurate budget as well as pick places where their money goes furthest. Not surprisingly, transportation prices can vary dramatically, so we are tracking the cost of getting to and from the airport and getting around town, using taxis as well as public transportation.

In general, taxi prices can be very confusing in any given city, so trying to compare all the cities together was complicated. To do this we decided to track a typical price range of a 3-kilometer (about 2 mile) trip in each destination. We use price ranges instead of “average” prices because many cities have different prices with each company, or different price structures at night or on weekends. Click to read more

It's a common question. Someone is planning a trip for several months out and they are wondering if they should buy the cheapest ticket available now, or wait and hope the fare drops at least a bit. If the flight is around a holiday time (Christmas, Thanksgiving etc) then the answer is to buy it as early as possible, since fares around holidays generally just keep going higher and higher.

However, if the trip is planned for some random non-holiday time, research shows that there is a sweet spot usually between 3 and 15 weeks where fares are the lowest. If you buy too early you'll be paying too much, and if you wait too long the price will start to go up even more quickly. Click to read more

Any good budget traveler can tell you that one of the best and easiest ways to save money in almost any city is to use the public transportation system, especially on longer journeys. As we recently displayed in our world taxi prices comparison, even a short trip can be incredibly expensive in some cities.

So below we've compiled public transportation prices in 80 of the most popular tourist cities all over the world. Since nearly every one of these systems is subsidized by the city, some of the prices are shockingly low, even on quite a few new-and-clean metro systems. Click to read more

If you have your summer vacation in June then you are in pretty good shape. Since most of Europe's wealthier office workers have their holidays confined to July and August, those who are able to travel in June will find smaller crowds and better deals in most place.

Planning in advance is still key, as demand from Americans and Canadians will book the best hotels at the best rates, but you do have more flexibility in June. We have listed 27 places around the world that all have fantastic June weather as well as reasonably priced accommodations once you arrive. Click to read more

Anyone looking for an affordable destination with very good weather during the month of May will be happy to know that the list of possibilities is long. There are fascinating cities in most regions of the world that are worth a look, as well as many affordable beach areas for those looking to relax in the sun. Many people are just interested in where is it hot in May, and the list below will answer that question as well.

The list below is broken down by region to help you narrow the choices of holiday destinations in May more efficiently, and there are also links to pages with information about the cheapest beach destinations in the Caribbean and in Europe, which both are loaded with bargains this time of year. Of course for each city mentioned there are plenty of smaller cities nearby that are usually even cheaper, so hopefully this gives you some ideas. Click to read more

As summer is upon us, many of the world's great cities are clogged with tourists racing from one famous attraction to the next. Especially on our first-ever visit to any famous city there's a tendency to try to jam in as many of the ‘checklist' attractions as possible, and buying a City Pass might seem like a very good option.

At this point pretty much every large city on the planet has at least one ‘City Pass' available, which allows visitors to pay a flat fee upfront for a given number of days worth of free admission to various museums and other attractions. For each city they are obviously different, but oftentimes the math does make it look like they can offer great value. However, in many cases these cards might feel more like a ball and chain, so we'll discuss who should consider them and who shouldn't below. Click to read more

While this site mostly deals with the economics of world travel, we've also included typical weather and climate information for each destination for each month of the year. Hopefully this is useful to those who are planning a trip so they can compare what to expect weather-wise between each destination with just one click.

So building on the weather part, I always thought it would be interesting to see exactly where all the major tourist destinations of the world line up with regard to latitude (distance from the equator). The data below might contain some surprising facts, as it seems like most of us picture the globe in ways that may not match reality. Click to read more