Advertisement
Published: January 11th 2016
Machu Picchu, Peru
An experience worth being on a strict budget for. We'll cherish those memories forever and ever.We have traveled short term or "Part time" for the better part of 8 years, while also maintaining a home, a marriage, two wonderful careers, and coming May 2016 we'll have a new baby to add to that list too! Our love for travel has lead us to beautiful experiences all over the globe, in 22 countries (and counting!) We want to show that you can still have a life, and still be able to travel to places you've always dreamed of. All it takes is some simple planning.
I think that throughout the years, there has been a misconception in our community (by our family and friends) that perhaps we've been able to travel this way because we are "rich" or got into an immense amount of debt over it (but neither are true.) I'd often hear people say, "Oh, I wish I could go to Greece too, but I can't afford to travel like you guys do!" And my response was always, "
Oh Yes, you can!" The good thing is that recently we've seen more friends travelling, which means they've either been inspired by us to go for it, or they've found the solution to make
Amsterdam Canals
Amsterdam is one of our favorite cities in the world! it happen financially. More and more people are asking us how we do it. You don't need a lot of money or a high paying job. So I'm going to share some of the ways we've been able to plan it and afford it without going into debt. I'll give you a hint; it's something called budgeting!!
(1)
SAVING for your trip: It all starts with your finances at home.
"Be gazelle intense" with your earnings. Meaning: be a hard core saver. This is a term coined by financial guru Dave Ramsey. Within a few months of getting married, we got rid of all of our debt, which included car loans, school loans, and credit cards... all because of hard core gazelle intense budgeting habits. Everyone's financial life is different, and everyone chooses what to do with their money. Sadly some people think that they have to "keep up appearances" by purchasing lots of "fancy things" and showing off to society how well they are doing. Luckily, Victor and I decided early on that what was more important to us was not to be enslaved by material things and debt, and instead to live below
our means. We try to live a minimalist life and we always spend consciously. Instead of accumulating debt, we've managed to actually put most of our money into a savings account instead, and pay off all of our
travels as we go.
A few examples of how you can save money: 1) Instead of eating out everyday, cook 80% of your meals at home, and budget eating out at restaurants for just a couple of times on the weekend. 2) If you need a vehicle, save and pay for it cash and always buy it pre-used. 3) Instead of getting expensive salon treatments, do it yourself at home. 4) Make your own coffee at home (Starbucks is just a "convenience" item!) 5) Get rid of expensive TV channels, and opt for basic free cable provided by antennas, use Netflix or YouTube, and rent movies for free at the library. 6) Groom your own dog and wash your own car... there's so much you can do cheaper yourself at home. 7) Buy most of your stylish label clothes at recycled second hand/consignment stores... trust me, no one can tell the difference, and it's better for the planet too.
8) Choose free weekend entertainment: local festivals/concerts, reading, go on bike rides, go hiking, swim at the beach, visit friends at home, picnics. 9) Down size and clean out what you aren't using at home and sell it online or at yard sales to save extra money. Live as minimally as you feel comfortable. (10) Be realistic about what you are buying: do you really need a new iPhone every year or designer accessories? Never spend time walking around the mall making impulsive purchases. If there's something you need (shoes, furniture, supplies, gifts, home renovations) BUDGET and plan to buy it when it's on sale. We are decorating our baby's nursery on a budget as we speak, and are accepting as many "hand me downs" as is generously offered to us by friends. (11) If you feel like having a credit card is too tempting, because you have the false illusion that you have "funds" to buy whatever you want, then cut that little demon card into pieces. You don't need it, trust us, we don't have one and we've survived!
I think you get the point now. Being financially in control is all about living a
Roman Colosseum
We stayed in a budget hotel, not even a mile away from this gorgeous building. minimalist life and managing your spending habits. It's all about
HABITS! And it's the only way you can properly
save for your travels. If you can manage to live below your means, work hard, and budget correctly, that money you would have spent on a million different useless things is now money left over each month that will go into a savings account and will eventually fund your amazing
TRAVELS! 2)
Hotels/Accommodations: Now that you know what our general spending/budgeting habits are like at home, I will tell ya, it doesn't really change when we travel. We budget for everything when we travel: hotels, transportation, food, activities, even souvenirs... you name it, it all gets researched and budgeted for. I even go as far as making a power point checklist on my computer to make sure we aren't going over our travel budget. Having a print out of the whole travel-budget-plan has helped us so much every time we're abroad. It also ensures we're on track of our spending and that we're not being over-charged on our trips.
If you are totally daunted by the task of finding a good hotel, then you can
Shared Accommodation in Agra, India
Shared this room with friends in India, not too shabby, right? always grab a Lonely Planet travel guide (at a bookstore or your local library) and usually they will have some great recommendations on accommodations in every price range. This helped me find the most perfect, budget hotel in
Rome, right down the street from the
Roman Colosseum. Good websites to try are Agoda.com, Tripadvisor.com, and Hotels.com. You can also try
Airbnb. We shop around, and recheck everything, including reviews. One of the biggest selling points for us is location: if its close to local transportation or sightseeing (like our guest house was in Beijing) then this is what will give you more bang for your buck, as you will cut your expenses there too. Also a huge transportation money saver: walking!!
It's free and good for you! 😊
Your other more frugal choices are staying at hostels or sharing the cost of an apartment/hotel with friends. This option gives you less privacy, but when it takes you to amazing adventures and experiences that you would otherwise not be able to afford on your own, it becomes well worth it. Places we've shared accommodation with friends are:
Arizona, Cabo San Lucas, Switzerland, London, Dubai, and India. I've also shared a
Take Public transportation
It was super easy and super cheap to take the local transportation around the city of Beijing. Our guest house was close to the metro station, so we used this option everyday. hostel room with strangers my first time in
Paris, and snagged a private hostel room as a last minute resort in
Beijing, China.
Now, if you want to take it a step further, you can always stay in a country for
free. You can chose to couch surf, which is not for everyone. You can also visit and stay with friends or relatives for free. I did this in
Spain and in
Colombia. If you are lucky enough to have a job that sends you over seas to work, Victor and I once lived in
Amsterdam for a month for free, all expenses paid by Victor's company while he worked there.
3)
Flights: This will probably be your most expensive purchase. Everyone has their own tactics for when and how to purchase flights. From my own experience, I can suggest to try to book week day flights (Like Wednesday or Thursday) as those tickets are usually cheaper than weekend flights. Try to travel on the
"off season" or "shoulder season." "Off season" is usually considered the months of winter, but this depends on what region of the world you are going to. Our favorite
Biggest travel dream to come true for me!
Although Cairo was way different than I had imagined (in sort of a bad way), it was still one of the greatest days of my life to have come here! So glad I got to see the Pyramids with my own eyes! "budget time" to travel is the
"shoulder season", which is normally considered
Fall or Spring. I almost never travel in the Summer time, as this is usually considered the
"high season" when the kids are out of school and more people are inclined to travel, so prices are higher on everything (and places are quite crowded). Travel during the holidays is usually very expensive, unless you actually find a good deal. Also, buying your flights as far in advance as possible usually helps (about 6 months in advance.) I would check prices on flights everyday, a few times a day, clear my browser of any search activity (so the website doesn't remember me and try to jack up the prices) and compare the pricing again between flights on different websites. You can try Cheaptickets.com, Kayak.com, and sometimes even Tripadvisor or Kayak sends me an email notifying me when flights have gotten cheaper. Domestic flights have even better pricing on their own websites.
4)
Travel wisely and frugally: Packing: Victor and I are very frugal travelers, we don't spend a crazy amount of money abroad. Instead of checking in luggage and paying a fee, we tightly roll
All I need is in this Backpack!
Saving Tip: Skip the expensive luggage fee and pack everything into a backpack. all the clothes we need for several weeks and secure it with a rubber band, then squeeze it all into backpacks that we carry from place to place. You'd be surprised how much clothes fits in a backpack when you pack this way, and it saves you from packing unnecessary things (no you don't need 6 pairs of shoes in Europe). If we need to wash our clothes, we usually do it ourselves at the hotel for free or for a few coins at the nearby laundry mat. After losing our luggage once on a flight to
Colombia, we've always traveled with our backpacks on us!
Activities: We research what activities we want to do overseas, and splurge on the things that really matter:
museum entrances, paragliding in the Swiss Alps, snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, and a nice romantic dinner or two, but we budget all this in as our "activity expenses" so that we know how much money we'll likely spend, and we try our best to stick to this budget. Banks usually have the best rates for
money exchange. Keep your ATM usage to a minimum when you're abroad, and withdraw big amounts instead of
Snorkeling at The Great Barrier Reef, Austrailia
One of the most surreal and amazing experiences of our life! Another priceless moment worth saving for! small amounts, this saves you money on withdrawal fees.
Emergencies: We plan and budget for emergency situations as well, like when you have to take an extra cab somewhere, or you got sick and you need medicine at the local pharmacy, which happened to me in
Colombia and
Cambodia. I lost my camera and clothes in
Paris once, and ended up buying it back with a little saved cash that I had for emergencies. In order to be a successful traveler, you have to learn to go with the flow, especially when it comes to inconvenient circumstances that may arise while you are abroad. So, if you didn't want it to rain on your second day in
Italy (which happened to us), get an umbrella and suck it up! The last thing you need is to ruin an entire year of saving and planning, with a grumpy attitude. Don't worry, be happy 😊
Food: Sometimes we cook our own food overseas, or purchase our lunch at the grocery store versus eating out at every meal. This also depends on what region of the world we are visiting and the available resources.
South East Asia for example, has some
The Royal Palace in Thailand
Thailand we love you...especially how budget friendly you are! :) of the most affordable places to eat in the world, like delicious street
pad Thai for $1! This doesn't mean we don't enjoy a nice
gelato or a glass of
wine every now and then when we travel, it just means we choose when it's wise to make those purchases so we don't go over board!
Souvenirs: Our souvenirs are usually little trinkets (a Spanish hand fan, a Middle eastern necklace, a T-shirt, a tiny Eiffel Tower) that all fits easily in our backpacks, rolled up in a clean sock or shirt so it doesn't get damaged. Once in a while, I like to purchase an inexpensive art piece that a local painted for a few dollars, and they'll roll it up in a newspaper and it'll be safely handled by me until we get back home. If you don't care much for souvenirs, then it's even better for you budget-wise, because
it's the photos, the passport stamps, and the priceless memories that are actually important.
Here's the bottom line. If you are as passionate about travel as we are, then make it a priority to save for it. Even if you only put $170 a month into
a travel fund, that's $2,000 you would have saved in 1 year to travel. Once you do it once, I promise you'll be hooked. For me, giving up expensive cable television was worth it, especially when that money actually went towards making my dream a reality. Life is made up of all the memories and experiences we share with our loved ones, and unnecessary material purchases will always come last in importance.
Travel has strengthened our marriage. I can't tell you how happy it makes us every time we reflect on our experiences abroad, and how it has enriched our lives and broadened our minds. It has helped us learn to work together as a team, and I think every travel couple can attest to this. And if you are a solo traveler, you'll meet amazing new people along the way. It will take you out of your routine and out of your comfort zone, which we all need from time to time! It's safe to say, travel will forever be a part of our lives, no matter how old we get.
We know what shades of orange the sunsets are in the
Greek Isles. We know how darn good
mango sticky rice tastes in
Thailand. We know what the
Muslim call to prayer sounds like in
Egypt.
We know how kind everyone is all around the world, which has crushed all prejudices or misconceptions we ever had about other cultures. We've discovered that although we may all be from different religions, or different backgrounds, that we are basically all the same and connected by our primal desire to be happy and safe. I am hoping we'll have life-long opportunities to travel together as a family as much as possible and that they may benefit from all the things Victor and I have learned on our travels. More importantly,
I hope my children will learn to accept and to respect everyone no matter what race or religion they are, and to not be afraid to experience new things when they are abroad. Maybe they'll even catch their own "travel bug" someday! 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.814s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 37; qc: 133; dbt: 0.2981s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.7mb
Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Congratulations on being pregnant with your first child...
Having children doesn't have to curtail your travels...yu just do it differently! I also try to follow Dave Ramsey's financial advice. You've given very good advice for saving money on trips.