Eat on the cheap

Food usually rounds out the top three expenses of vacation, but it doesn't need to be that way:

• get accommodations that include breakfast or have access to kitchen facilities, either in your own space or through a communal kitchen

• if breakfast is included with your accommodations, eat a lot of it

• after breakfast, make your next meal a late-afternoon meal, when many restaurants still have lunch specials

• don't overlook street food and food trucks - often tasty and affordable

• if you're traveling with other people, share meals. Even with my husband being an avid carnivore and me being a near-vegetarian, if we splurge on a big meal, we split it

• if you're really hungry, get a late-night snack, but try to stick to two meals a day

• if you have access to kitchen facilities, do some of your own cooking; visiting a local grocery store or farmers' market is part of the fun

• avoid eating too many "empty calories" that cost money but don't fill you up, like potato chips (crisps), alcohol and anything processed, sugary or salty

• opt instead for high-protein, high-fiber foods like eggs, oatmeal (porridge), vegetables, legumes, nuts, and fish or meat

After this sensible advice, I offer one tip that you probably won't find on other travel blogs.

Eat local bread.

This is even truer if you're in Europe. Maybe it's the use of fewer additives and preservatives; maybe it's a different strain of wheat. But in my opinion (and many others'), European bread is so much richer, so much better, than U.S. bread that it's unthinkable to deprive yourself of it.

Although restaurants often charge you for the bread you consume, bread at a farmers' market, street vendor or community grocery store is affordable, and it has other advantages, too. It travels well and has adjustable portion sizes - just rip off a hunk and gnaw on it through the day.