How I Afford to Travel
In the last four years, I’ve traveled to over 30 countries. A question I frequently get is, “How can you afford to travel?” I’ve tried my best to come up with a simple answer that I can give to everyone, but truthfully, my answer depends on who is asking. Not because I want to hide parts of my life, but because I know each person is asking for a different reason.
When my 85-year-old grandpa asks, “How are you managing your finances?” I know he is concerned about my future. He wants to make sure I am setting myself up for success in life and not maxing out my credit cards.
When an old work friend presumes, “Life changes when you marry rich, doesn’t it?” He has already gone through the work of figuring out how I travel and just wants me to confirm his brilliant conclusion.
When a friend from college asks for tips on traveling so he can surprise his wife with an anniversary trip, he simply wants to learn travel hacks.
I’ve learned a lot in trying to answer these questions for others and frankly, myself. While my answer isn’t a tidy one-size-fits-all, there are definitely general answers I can give. Some are unfair, some might seem obvious, and others have changed my life.
VACATION OR TRAVEL?
Defining travel is a good place to start. My favorite conversation to dream up is between Lewis and Clark and a colonial farmer. I can just imagine the farmer scrolling through Clark’s Instagram feed and approaching him on the dusty streets of the city hall to ask about his presets package. While the expedition was objectively resource-draining, it wasn’t in the name of a luxury getaway.
Travel and vacation aren't necessarily synonymous. Even if they were, a vacation can look very different depending on the traveler’s preferences. I've found that adventure is an overused word, devoid of story and usually defined as a foreign-looking photo.
But travel doesn't have to be that way. It wasn't always a sign of status or some luxurious event. It was discovery, hard work, and self-fulfilling. It wasn't a means to an end, but a career or a lifestyle in and of itself, finding new peoples or new resources. Today we have globes, encyclopedias, and Google Maps, but that doesn't mean you can't find your own frontiers. Travel can still be real adventure.
I don’t see travel the way so many others see it. Travel is possible for me because it’s not (always) a luxurious vacation. It goes beyond that for me, and that’s how I can afford to put it high on my to-do list.
DREAMS TURNED PRIORITIES
Travel is often viewed as the ultimate goal. Finish school, get a job, have a family, these all come first. Maybe you can take a few trips across the pond in your lifetime or get a fat RV when you retire. Otherwise, you need to get lucky.
However, when a dream becomes a priority, you’re able to sacrifice those things that aren’t. Sometimes travel is a simple budgeting exercise. I was able to afford to travel the same way anyone affords anything. During my 2 years of full-time travel, there were many things I sacrificed in order to get to the next destination.
Here’s a fun list of things we often went without:
Haircuts (Sorry, Mom)
New phones (Even after getting robbed on the metro)
New clothes
A good night’s sleep (Hostels, rest stops, and working odd jobs at 3 am)
3 meals a day (No free hotel breakfast)
Transportation (Often just our Shoe-barus and Lambor-feeties)
A place to call home (Trading rent for Airbnb stays)
A shower (When camping was our best option)
Dignity (See: no showers)
I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
GIVE IT A TRY
When my wife and I decided to travel full time, we didn’t know how we could afford to travel either. We had a few thousand dollars we were willing to spend on travel that could last us about three months. If we didn’t find a way to continue after that, we told ourselves we would call it quits and head home.
On day one, we found a place to set up our tent at the windy top of a massive crater, just a few miles off the highway. We were feeling optimistic. A night's rest for free could really extend our full-time travel.
On day two, we could not find a campsite near Yosemite due to crowds and forest fires. By midnight, we were exhausted and in tears as we reluctantly paid $78 to stay in a chain hotel. There was no way we could continue traveling at this rate.
But the morning brought on new hope. We worked to plan ahead and get scrappy on the internet, finding small freelance jobs that let us continue for one more month, and then another. Over time it became sustainable. We deferred my master's program for a year and Emma turned her odd writing jobs into a lucrative career as we continued to travel the world.
I've learned and experienced so many things from travel, from the chewiness of Japanese squid to the crunchiness of Mexican grasshoppers. But one of my favorite lessons I've learned is that there are many ways to go through life. When you step outside of the path that so many expect you to follow, you feel free. From then on, all of your decisions feel your own, and that's worth a lot.
