No, we’re not rich and our family aren’t wealthy. No, our parents don’t pay for everything and our trips aren’t paid. We didn’t rob a bank or win the lottery. And unfortunately, money doesn’t grow on trees. When it comes to the topic on how we afford to travel that much, so many questions are asked and we are here to answer them. How to afford a life of travel?
We left the 9 to 5 life, and have been traveling since 2016 with our savings only. Starting this lifestyle is all about compromises, sacrifices and courage. The secret on how to afford a life of travel, is simply deciding to do it.
SAVE MONEY
FIND A JOB : First step in growing your savings, is to find a job. Work hard for few months, or few years, depending on your plans for the future.
BE A MINIMALIST : We live in a world where getting the last iPhone and a brand new car is more important than actually enjoying life itself. If traveling the world would be easy, everyone would do it. It takes sacrifices and choices. You’ll have to give up things, and it’s actually when you give things up that you realize you don’t need them.
Our first travel was backpacking is South-East Asia and we left our home with one 45L backpack each, for 6 months. You can read more about our story on the About Us page. Doing so, you will quickly notice what is really important and what you really need. Traveling itself is a lesson of minimalism.
“IT’S ALL ABOUT SACRIFICES“
COMPROMISES AND CHOICES : A nice restaurant with sunset view might better than a home cooked meal? A movie night at the cinema with friends might be more fun than a Netflix night at home? A new pair of shoes might be better than the one you have since 3 years.
There are tons of enjoyable things to do that doesn’t cost money! We learnt to appreciate more a simple sunset, a simple dinner at home, and walks at the park.
FIND AN EXTRA INCOME (ONLINE OR NOT) : If your main job gives you lot of spare time, use it to find a second job and save extra money! You can teach a language online or sell your services. You can also try babysitting, animal sitting, or pet walking. Find enjoyable things to do that can potentially bring you money.
GIVE YOUR WALLET A BREAK : Give your wallet a break, and eliminate everything you can live without. Cut your Netflix subscription, stop your gym membership, stop you TV cable, move out and pay a cheaper rent. In so many ways you can save money.
A life of travel can quickly get cheaper than an everyday life : rent, bills, phone bill, car registration, Netflix subscription, petrol, fines etc… If you get rid of all this, your wallet will thank you. Actually, if it wasn’t for flights ticket, we would say that traveling is cheaper than the 9 to 5 life.
SELL STUFF YOU DON’T USE ANYMORE : Get rid of things that you don’t use and get back some money from it. If you’re seriously thinking about changing your lifestyle and wanna make travel the number one priority in your life, you can even sell your house / apartment if you own one.
TRAVEL CHEAPLY
“The secret to afford a life of travel, is to travel cheaply.”
Transportation : With all honesty, flights are the most expensive expense while traveling. In order to find the cheapest flight, we spend hours on Skyscanner trying to find the best deal, and we book our flights in advance. Buying round-trip flights are also a great way to save some dollars!
On the other side, moving around inside one country can also be done is affordable ways. A journey by bus will take longer than a journey by train, but considering that the price can be 50% it’s generally worth the time. When visiting a city, you can walk and bike instead of using public transports.
In addition, if you are thinking in moving with a taxi, keep in mind that it exist services like Uber, Grab, Gojek, Lyft, Easy Taxi…that will always be cheaper than a taxi. The price is set when you order you car, the risk of scam is minim.
“Travel doesn’t have to be expensive.”
Accommodation : The accommodation can quickly get the biggest expense after the flight ticket, and this is why we always try to stay low cost. Booking, Agoda, Hostel World, and AirBnb are the apps we use to book our accommodation from time to time.
Couchsurfing is also a great platform. The hosts are not allowed to charge for lodging. It is based on the idea that people are kind, and offering a room and dinner, in exchange for company and good time.
We feel super blessed and lucky to be able to visit and stay in some of the most beautiful and luxury hotels & resorts in the world free of charge, thanks to instagram.
Food : Whenever we can, we cook our own food. Stay away from the junk and street food, and fill your basket with fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only your wallet will thank you for this, but also your body. Otherwise, we love to try local restaurant that are usually cheaper and tastier than the ‘tourist trap’ places.
Activities : Spend time doing enjoyable things that don’t cost money. Seeking out for free local events, free walking tours and hiking are the best free activities we love to do.
Keep track of every expenses : Last but not least : write down every expenses. It will help you know your daily budget, and see if you are in the budget you initially planned. Planning a budget is easy, but sticking to it can get trickier. To do so, you can use application such as Trail Wallet on the app store, and Wallet on the Play Store. They are travel expense tracker, bill reminder and budgeting apps, so you can be in total control of your spending and savings.
WORK WHILE TRAVELING
“To afford a life of travel, you need to work hard for it.”
- Teach English online (any language you speak) : These days, you just need is a decent internet connection and a webcam in order to get a job teaching English. All you need, is a bachelor’s degree as well as a year’s worth of teaching experience to qualify.
- Our Instagram is bringing a little income : This is not a secret anymore – social media pay. Whether you’re doing Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube or Pinterest seriously, you can make an extra income, or even a full income via social media. Via collaboration and content creation, our Instagram is giving us a little extra.
- Find temporary work at your destination : This can be paid or unpaid job. I’m not gonna write much about the ‘paid’ part, as you can find job as receptionist, waiter, or chef. However, talking about ‘unpaid job’, I’m referencing to WWOOFing. It’s a way to give a service to someone in exchange for free accommodation. Usually, you can find volunteer jobs in farm or hostels.
- Freelances job : A freelance job is one when a person works for themselves, rather than for a company. There are jobs for all type of kind, and depending on your skills you can find something that suits you. Here are some examples : web development, teaching, tutoring, blogging, graphic designing, translation, photography, social media management, logo design, illustration.
SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY
Leap into the breach, bite the bullet, and seize the opportunity! It’s one thing to reflect it, but it’s another to do it. You will have doubts and questions, you will feel stressed and insecure, and this is totally normal! If you worry to much and overthink, it will be harder to make the first step. The fear and hesitation you will get is a natural response from your body. We passed this, and if we did, you can too!
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Lots of love,
Valerie & Alex
xxx
Such a useful article guys ! In this life, it’s all about patience, perseverance and inspiration (off course). Have a nice day 😊
Author
Thank you, really happy to hear you liked it. And true words, perseverance is a must! 🙂
Hi, this is a great blog and i always look forward to the information you post here. Thanks again