About Us
Hi, I’m Awamar Chheena — and honestly, I built this blog out of frustration.
I was 18, trying to figure out how students actually travel on a real budget. Every blog I found was written by someone who’d already been to 40 countries, had a camera setup worth more than my laptop, and somehow made “budget travel” sound like it still required $3,000. None of it was written for someone like me — a student with limited money, zero travel experience, and a hundred basic questions that nobody seemed to want to answer directly.
So I stopped looking for that blog and started building it.
What I Actually Do Here
I’m not a travel influencer. I don’t have years of stamps in my passport or sponsored trips to write about. What I do have is a genuine obsession with research — and a very specific skill for finding the information students actually need before they book anything.
Before I publish a single guide, I cross-reference official airline websites, verified student discount platforms, real hostel booking data, and student travel forums. When I wrote the Frontier Airlines guide and found out there’s no student discount, I didn’t invent one — I said it straight and explained what actually works instead. That’s the standard every guide on this site is held to.
My expertise isn’t built on travel experience. It’s built on doing the research properly so you don’t have to.
What This Blog Covers
Every guide here is built around one question: what does a student on a real budget actually need to know before they go?
That means I cover:
- Student discounts that are actually verified and real — not just rumored
- Destinations that are genuinely affordable on a student income, with real numbers
- Safety guides written for first-time solo travelers, not experienced backpackers
- Honest airline and hostel breakdowns that include fees, not just base prices
- The free Student Travel Budget Calculator I built specifically for this site — because knowing your total trip cost before you book changes everything
I don’t pad articles with generic advice to hit a word count. If something isn’t useful to a student planning a real trip, it doesn’t go in.
Why Trust This Blog?
Fair question — and I’d rather answer it honestly than just tell you to trust me.
I’m 18 and I’m a student. I haven’t personally visited every destination I write about, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. What I can tell you is that every piece of information on this site comes from real sources — official websites, verified platforms, and firsthand accounts from students who have made these trips.
I understand what it’s like to plan a trip when money is tight, when your parents are nervous, and when you don’t know where to start. That perspective isn’t a weakness — it’s exactly why this blog exists.
This blog is fully independent. I don’t take money to recommend things. Some posts contain affiliate links or will eventually carry ads, and I’ll always be transparent about that. But no brand pays me to say something works when it doesn’t.
Get in Touch
If you have a question, found something outdated, or want me to cover a topic I haven’t yet — I actually read every message.
Or use the Contact Us page directly.
Thanks for being here. Now go find a trip worth taking.
— Awamar Chheena Founder, Travel Tips for Students
