Like many American students in Istanbul spending a finite time in Turkey, I am on a somewhat restricted budget. Nevertheless, going beyond the base city and exploring many cities, towns, shores and coasts in Turkey is a traveler's duty.The solution to the limited funds and unlimited goals of wanderlust is to get more money. But since that is most likely not possible, the next best thing is to explore bargain traveling options.This weekend, I went to Cappadocia with a few friends. There are multiple ways to get to Göreme, the town where all the famous tourist attractions are located, including hot-air balloon rides, hiking trails, open-air museums and the like, but after much research, buses, and overnight buses in particular, seemed to be the cheapest mode of transportation, averaging between TL 50 and TL 75 TL ($19 to $28). The 15-hour eye-opening adventure to reach Kayseri - one of the two towns that domestic and international travelers will stop at and proceed to take shuttles, taxis or private cars to Göreme, the other being Nevşehir - revealed much about traveling within Turkey, especially for a foreigner.Before venturing onto the first of many buses we took to get there, the first step of the journey was to book the tickets. There are many websites instructing expats and foreigners how to book tickets, most of which suggest finding travel agencies and/or relying on hotels to assume responsibility for all reservations. However, seen as unnecessary costs, my friends and I steered away from any third party help beyond the Internet. Instead, also under the guidance of travel advice websites, we tried booking bus tickets on our own.There are over 150 companies to take travelers to various parts of Turkey and abroad to Greece, Bulgaria and other Balkan countries at the Istanbul International Bus Station (Büyük Otogar) alone.So how did we pick?The truth is, many websites are limited in English and foreign language services, limiting our booking options to those we could understand. In addition to the language limits, many services - Süha and Kamil Koç, for example - require a Turkish Identity Card number to purchase tickets online, which expats obviously do not have. Though we had not come across this, many travel advice columns warn expats and travelers of websites that also require a Turkish credit card to complete a purchase.We eventually settled on Metro Turizm, whose website allowed American passport numbers to suffice and where one of three tried credit cards was accepted. Warning to Americans, though, your debit card might not work.On all of these services, it is imperative that travelers indicate what gender they are for independent purchases. Married and unmarried couples are allowed to sit next to each other on the bus, granted both passengers approve and/or have the same surname. Many travel discussion forums say the goal of gender notification is to prevent lone female passengers from being harassed by male passengers.Most, if not all, domestic travel buses going far distances, like Istanbul to Kayseri, will provide shuttle services from main squares, streets and landmarks throughout Istanbul to reach the often far and not easily accessible bus stations in Alibeyköy, Esenler, among others. Options that shuttle bookers prefer will be available on the website, but specific addresses of where they are located are often not given. Always be sure to call in advance to know where to find shuttles and, if for any reason this is not possible, search on the web where an agency branch is located as this is where the shuttle will usually pass.So, after taking the shuttle to the bus, spending however long the bus ride is to the chosen location - in our case, Istanbul to Kayseri was scheduled at 11 hours but in reality took 13 - we arrived in Kayseri from where we had to take yet another shuttle to get to the main town.Once we arrived at the bus station, taxi drivers and shuttle representatives eagerly approached bus riders with offers, most of the time in broken English. Avoiding committing to another company we had not been able to research beforehand, though resources to do this are available, we proceeded to the main terminal where over 10 different shuttle services had representatives at desks, ready and willing to provide transport to Göreme.We went to the official information desk in search of the safest advice and came across a man who vigorously discussed the matter with a shuttle representative who we may or may not have turned down after getting off the bus.We were not given much information about the shuttle services, but we were directed to one that offered hourly trips to Göreme. This can be avoided by going from desk to desk, asking about the services, schedules and prices, but this requires gambling with representatives who may or may not speak English or other languages. Given the approval of the official information desk, we bought our TL 15 tickets to Göreme.But the bus did not go all the way to Goreme. Until today, and probably for the rest of the summer, my friends and I will not know where the bus dropped us off. After we got off, we had to take a taxi to the center where our booked hostel was located. The taxi driver, with the help of the shuttle's attendant, accepted a fixed rate of TL 25. Later on, we discovered from the hostel staff that this was a heavy price to pay to come into the center city and that there are, in fact, shuttles from Kayseri and Nevşehir that bring travelers to the center of Göreme.Discovering the clustered offices of bus companies in Göreme, booking a ticket back to Istanbul from Cappadocia was straightforward. Travelers can pay in person without any sort of national identification necessary, so we booked with Süha, whose website we could not purchase from without a Turkish ID. Travelers can also indicate which shuttle service station to be taken to when arriving to Istanbul upon boarding. Gender notification is still required, but again, can be overlooked as long as all parties approve.On both buses traveling out of and back to Istanbul, Wi-Fi was offered - though it was not working on the first bus, so it may be a fluctuating perk - as well as television channels (all Turkish or Turkish-dubbed) and snacks including coffee or tea and cookies or ice cream at no charge.So for all foreign, non-Turkish travelers on a budget, the voyage on an overnight bus to and from Istanbul is doable without travel agencies and hotels. And if you are lucky, you might just get an extra packet of ice cream like my friends and I.