Kevin and I love to travel to other countries.  We have an 'anythng goes' attitude and that helps to make all travels an adventure.

We went to Costa Rica one year with our backpacks instead of luggage (a first, but not a last) and with a reservation for a place to stay for only our first night.

We used public transportation to travel around and stayed in hostels.  The experience was amazing.  We will never go back to 'traditional' vacations again.

We always had the option to have a private bedroom which we decided to splurge for (sometimes for as much as $6.00 per person per night)  Or we could have stayed in a dorm like setting with only a locker for storage for as little as $3.00 per person per night.  We also always had the option of having a private bathroom (we opted out of that) or a shared bathroom. 

Instead of staying in a hotel room and watching TV, everyone gathered in community rooms and kitchens.  We met people from Ireland, England, Panama, Costa Rica, Austrailia, Canada and others from the USA... all in the same room.  We played cards, shared stories, made cookies in a microwave, and made friends that we've kept in touch with for years. 

We spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica and traveled from San Juan to the Monteverde in the Cloud Forest to La Fortuna to the West coast beaches.  We spent very little money while there.

Granted this is not the vacation for everyone, but it is the way of vacations for us.  We had the time of our lives.