New Delhi, June 20 -- I have always wondered if it is possible to experience global bucket-list destinations without draining a multi-year mutual fund portfolio. The answer is almost always yes, but it requires throwing out the default travel playbook.

I wanted to understand what a low-budget hyper-budget6-night itinerary for two adults in the Maldives, a destination notorious for requiring large financial surpluses, would look like. So I asked ChatGPT, expecting a ballpark of over Rs.1 lakh per head.

However, the Rs.1.4 lakh Maldives trip for two on a bare-minimum budget really caught me by surprise.

I am planning a budget-conscious holiday for two adults and want to reverse-engineer the absolute lowest baseline cost for a trip to the...