So, How Do You Afford This?
Most people think a year of full-time travel is simply not possible without winning the lottery or inheriting a fortune. Outside of one guy I met in Vietnam who really was traveling off the windfall from a long-lost uncle, this is simply not the case of the hundreds of people I have met on my extensive travels. Through trial and error, lots of luck and even more hard work, I’ve found a way to build a life of travel and adventure. This is not a how-to post or a complete guide or any sort of groundbreaking information, it’s just one girl’s story of making it work.
So… how do I afford it?
This is the number one question I get about my travels, in both reader emails and in real life from friends and curious acquaintances.
I ended my first year of full-time travel with about $8,000 dollars less than when I began. I estimate all in I probably earned less than $8,000 this year. So all told, I spent about $16,000 for all of this (minus the cruise, which was generously sponsored by my mother). I could have spent a lot less and I could have spent a lot more, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat! And now that I’ve found my footing a bit in the digital work world, I hope that this year my net loss will be significantly smaller… hell, someday I’d love to turn a profit! (My savings can only last for so long!) But I made this past year work through a combination of picking up jobs on the road and saving like a madwoman beforehand.
I wish
Saving Before You Go
So, working along the way was always part of my plan. But I knew that it would take me a while to get that off the ground, and I also knew I wanted a safety net. Luckily I have always enjoyed working and I’ve had a job, sometimes multiple, since I was 13. None were high earning, but I’ve worked at an arts camp, as a nanny, as a production assistant at a graphic design studio, at an upscale boutique… the list goes on. Basically, I’ve taken advantage of every spare moment in my schedule to earn a few bucks. Super-Groundbreaking Savings Tip: Get a job. Get another one. Forgo sleep if necessary.
My first trip to Thailand when I was 19 changed my life. I came back with a clear realization of what I wanted for my future and how to get it. One major part of this was breaking my shopping addiction (an ongoing journey!) After spending a summer living out of a backpack and seeing firsthand how little people need to be happy, it was a wake up call that I was trying and failing to buy my happiness with things. My parents had imparted on me their Midwestern frugality – so I had never been one chasing designer brands or caring about labels. But I was addicted to bargains and to the act of shopping… and dozens of $20 purchases add up to a bursting closet and an empty wallet. So, I started on a two-part strategy that involved selling off old things that were becoming a physical burden and trying not to add anything else to the mix. Ebay, Craigslist and Amazon became three of my closest friends in the year before I departed on my big trip, and I made over $2,000 selling stuff that quite frankly wasn’t very valuable in the first place (like I said, I was a bargain shopping addict rather than a designer one). You’ve-Definitely-Never-Heard-This-One-Before-Savings-Idea: Stop buying crap. Sell the crap you have.
Now, two systems really helped take me from simply a practical person (someone who works more and buys less) to a rabid saver. One, I read personal finance books or blogs daily. Taking ten minutes to read a passage from The Joy of Less
Second, I recorded every purchase in a fairly obsessive compulsive fashion. I had a little notebook that I carried around and listed my transactions down to the cent, much to the amusement of my saner friends. At the end of each month I would sit down with Mint.com and balance my notebook against my bank account balances. I was rarely off by more than $10 and let me tell you, those ten dollars drove me crazy. Write down every single transaction you make: THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE PIECE OF ADVICE I GIVE TO PEOPLE SAVING FOR TRAVEL. It is so important to me that is deserves the full caps lock treatment. Recording your income and purchases keeps you accountable and makes you hyper-aware of your goal and the steps you are taking to achieve it. Just-Do-It-Already: Use a Mint.com account and a notebook to record your income and spending.
In the end, everyone has to find their own system. My biggest secret is that I wanted it. I wanted it so badly. I wanted it enough to walk away from the sale rack at H&M, to forgo fancy gift exchanges with my then-boyfriend (we always put a small dollar amount cap on gifts at Christmas and birthdays) and to take on another babysitting gig rather than hit happy hour with my friends. I still traveled and I splurged occasionally on dinner with friends and other n, but I never wavered from my goal.
Now here is the disclosure no one is supposed to ever make: My parents gave me some money. I received a major merit-based scholarship all four years of university and worked my bum off to keep qualifying for it. In gratitude and in generosity, my parents gave me a gift upon graduation; a small percentage of what they had saved thanks to my scholarship. It has provided me with a great safety net. And yet… I still haven’t touched it. True, I have made some decisions differently knowing that I have a small backup that I have yet to use. I’m well aware that admitting your parents have helped you financially is street-cred suicide in the blogosphere or the travelsphere, but I want to be transparent. I know that I would have made it work with or without that safety net — and many of those that write to me asking for advice could do so too.
Stretching dollars in the Cayman Islands
Earning on the road
I left home with enough money to travel frugally for a year. But I didn’t want to travel for a year – I wanted to make this a lifestyle. So I knew I’d have to work as I traveled. And work I did — in the past year I’ve called myself a freelance designer, freelance writer and editor, underwater videographer, bartender, flyer girl, babysitter, and oh yeah — blogger.
When I kicked off my year in the UK and Europe I was coasting off my savings, and I’m the first to admit it was super stressful. Ibiza isn’t such a party when you’re having a meltdown over the cover charge to Space and Pacha. When I got to Thailand I started work immediately, and while I wasn’t earning big bucks in Thai baht, it did offset the cost of my living. In October I made my first dollar off this website. I was thrilled, even though it was pitiful money. It wasn’t until February that I started making a living wage off this baby blog of mine.
So, let’s be real. When I say, “living wage,” we’re talking poverty level income in the US. But here’s the thing: I have no expenses back home. No mortgage, no student loans (thank you, scholarships and generous parents!) and no rent/bills to pay each month (ah, the benefits of homelessness). I also forgo fancy clothes and anything with a flashy brand name. Do I feel a bit embarrassed sometimes to be wearing fading jeans that I bought in high school and scruffed up heels from Payless to a nice dinner with fashionable friends, now that I’m back in New York? Of course. But I remind myself of my priorities, and then try to appear in photos solely from the neck up. So, by having minimal fixed expenses, fairly frugal tastes, and traveling slowly through primarily low-budget destinations, I’m able to stretch a tiny income to cover a rich life of adventure. Not-Groundbreaking-At-All-Insider-Info: Minimize expenses back home, travel slowly, favor cheap destinations
But let’s get into more details regarding earning on the road. My blog is my main income earner. Second to that is freelance work I do writing, editing, and designing. I landed most of those jobs via connections I made working in New York City before I took off traveling. I realize that not everyone has skills that can translate online, and lucky for all of us there is plenty of work to be found on location.
In the five months I spent in Thailand over the year I had some pretty hilarious experiences trying out a variety of jobs, from the good (my true passion, underwater videography), to the bad (shocker, bartending wasn’t the glamorous career I was expecting) to the ugly (nothing beats the indignity of handing out flyers for the equivalent of three dollars an hour or babysitting for the equivalent of two). Did each job I worked fulfill me creatively, utilize my expensive college degree or compensate me fairly? Heck no. Did I meet amazing people, laugh hysterically, and no matter what always wake up on a beautiful island in the Gulf of Thailand? Heck yes.
In Southeast Asia you can teach English or Scuba Diving, in Europe you can work in hostels, in Australia you can pick fruit. Sometimes you can make the equivalent of what you would make at home, sometimes you make $2 an hour. But when your rent is $75 a month, like mine was in Thailand, you can afford to work for low wages. Where there is a will, there is a well-worth-it way. It might not pay all of your expenses and in the majority of cases you won’t be saving, but it will offset your expenses and help you travel longer. This book helped open my eyes to the working-abroad world and goes into the nitty-gritty of working vises and more.
Burning through cash in Honduras
List of Resources
Inspiring Books:
Work Your Way Around the World: The Globetrotter’s Bible
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop
The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide
Smart Women Finish Rich (and other non-gender specific books in this series)
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke
Inspiring Blogs:
The Simple Dollar
Man Vs. Debt
Get Rich Slowly
I Will Teach You To Be Rich
And Then She Saved
Helpful Tools:
Mint.com
Sell Your Crap E-Course
My Post on Downsizing
My Posts on Saving Money on Travel Part I and Part II
. . . . . . . . . . .
So, as I said, this was just my brief summary of how I’ve hustled to make a life of travel viable. Two thousand words may not seem brief but I haven’t even touched the surface of things like how I stretch the dollars I do have (for examples of how I spend and save my dough on the road, see my Honduras Budget Breakdown post or my posts on Saving Money on Travel Part I and Part II).
I have dozens of friends around the globe doing the same thing I’m doing, and we have had dozens of different journeys. It’s important to note that I totally recognize not everyone wants this kind of life! I value that everyone has different priorities, be it developing a rich and successful career, having a beautiful home and family, or some other path towards bliss. But for me and for the people who email me on a near-daily basis, travel is that path. This was my story of making it work. I hope for anyone out there looking to do the same that this helped a tiny bit and that you find what works for you. Good luck, I’m rooting for you!
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!
I'm a New York native who left my home to explore the world slowly and thoroughly. I love photography, scuba diving, and reading guidebooks to countries I have no immediate plans to visit. Read more on my 
Wow, right on target again. I was just pacing the room thinking about my budget and wondering how I am going to keep traveling with the $$ I have left when I decided to take a break from my panic attack and read some blogs. Spot-on advice (especially concerning writing EVERYTHING down; getrichslowly.org was another good blog that got me thru the saving process). I, too, left the US with roughly enough $$ for a year, intending to turn one year into several. Thanks for turning my panic attack around, and thanks too for that link to globetrottergirls.com–exactly what I needed (and interesting timing!).
Hey Lauren, so glad this post gave you a little boost of confidence! When I was really starting to panic about money after a summer in the UK, setting up shop on in Thailand and staying put and working for a while was just what I needed to get back on track.
I imagine for another 20 or 30 something with a travel dream this is golden advice. Well written
Thanks! I hope it gives a boost to someone… or at least stops the emails asking me how much money my parents send me each month! (Answer: Zero dollars)
Ditto what “Dad” stated!!! Safe travels!!!
Thanks Mike, I appreciate it!
Can you provide more info on how you make money on your blog? I don’t see a lot of Ads on your site so it is just not clear to me where the income is from?
Hi Keith! There isn’t really a simple answer to your question. I make money through a few different avenues on this site, one is through affiliate links (on my Gear and Products pages for example, I make money if someone buys through those links as explained in my disclaimer) and another is posts like this one, which are sponsored by advertising partners. I’m glad the ads are hard to find, I like to keep things discreet!
Thanks for the info. Great way to make a living.
It is, Keith! The game is changing all the time so I’m just trying to stay in it as long as I can!
Wonderful, informative and insightful post, Alex! Again, I take my hat off to you for following your bliss, rather than monetary wealth. Your wealth of life experience is most certainly worth more! There will always be money to be made, but you can’t save memories- they have to be lived
Sarah Somewhere recently posted..Welcome To Beijing!
Thank you so much Sarah. I’m just trying to keep this ride going as long as possible… so I just need to earn enough to make that happen!
Excellent blog! I wish more young people had your street smarts about “stuff”, money, responsibility, etc… this doesn’t just apply to traveling, but to every day life! I might be able to “hire” you to help out with the WDHOF website and some email blasts if you’re interested… also, I do work with another group, Working Wardrobes (another non-profit, so funds are limited but the work is rewarding) who desperately needs a good copywriter and I can tell you really are! So let’s talk!
Thank you Bonnie! I have to give my parents credit for any street smarts I might have regarding money and possessions. They have always spent less than they earned, valued saving over buying, and not cared about having the latest and greatest…. and luckily I picked a thing or two up from them.
I’d love to possibly help out with WDHOF, let me know how I can be involved!
Great post Alex…really in depth and honest which is what we need more off in the blogging world for advice and tips on how we all did it. Love the resource sites too though sadly Mint.com isn’t available in the UK yet
Keep travelling, keep being honest and keep giving hints & tips
Toni recently posted..How to save money to travel AND buy things
I learned that the hard way about Mint.com when I was trying to set up a system for Mark! I was so bummed because its made my life so easy. I’m a bit cross with them for not having a Blackberry App too… but they are a lifesaver.
I was just about to write a post like this as I’m 3 weeks from departure and 3 days to hitting the final number on my savings goal for my trip…however, yours is written much better than mine would be, so I’ll be sending readers your way
EM | Cubicle Throwdown recently posted..One month left.
Thanks for sending your people over! I appreciate it!
Alex–this is such an incredible post–so generous of you to share the reality and the hard parts: no H&M, no sales and your money notebook. I love that you do all this and that you tell it! That is like 12 step recovery too:).
It just keeps getting better and more relevant to travelers and to women who are making lives of adventure here at home.
Mucho thanks
dianeC
Thanks for the kudos Diane! While I don’t use it to the same degree anymore I still have my old money notebook and love to flip through it and see how crazy/determined I was!
ahhh money tips for traveling! You’ve won my heart girl
Though I’m a bit more spend than you when I go abroad.. and unfortunately thus far have only gone to very expensive places (Hello Switzerland what the hell??)
Bridget recently posted..What you can learn about blogging from 50 Shades of Grey
Yeah, part of being able to travel for so long has been AVOIDING EUROPE! I mean obviously I’ve been there, but it was never on my own full dime. Iceland, Greece and Turkey were family trips that were 95% paid for by my generous mother and England and Scotland I went to to visit my then-boyfriends family and friends, so we never paid for accommodation or car rental. Ibiza I revisited last year (I went to Spain as a kid and again, it was paid for by family) and I was shocked by the prices. Europe is not a destination I will be choosing for my own solo travels anytime soon! You’ve got to pick your destinations wisely when on a budget!
Thanks for this post, Alex. Something that stood out to me was that you went to college (NYU I think I read in one of your posts) on a scholarship and that’s a major achievement. Also having graduated from NYU (nowhere near a scholarship), I know how career-driven people can be there and the fact that you decided to pursue your dreams instead of the corporate ladder says a lot. You’re not some uneducated dropout who couldn’t “cut it.” You’re pursuing what makes you happy and kicking ass in the process. So like Sarah said, hats off to u!
Diane recently posted..Myth of the month: The French are rude!
Actually Diane I graduated from Pratt, a fine arts school in NYC! My sister goes to NYU though, so I’m sure I’ve mentioned it around here before. Most of my friends are kicking butt in their respective creative fields and I am so very proud of them but I figured out somewhere along the way that I was going to be doing something a little crazy! Luckily its been working out for me so far.
Great tips! I did pretty much the same thing as you (except I barely had any savings when I left the US — I moved to Singapore with $700). I had very little college debt thanks to scholarships, didn’t buy into brand names (and the few pieces I do have, I bought at outlets or discount sales). I found long-term jobs to stay abroad, and jobs that were in my field as well. My “street cred suicide” secret though is that I charged all my flights to my credit card, and I’m still paying that off in increments every month.
The one thing I’d like to add is that it’s definitely possible to develop a rich and successful career while you travel too, as you and I both prove (I assume you’d like a career in diving photography, but please correct me if I’m wrong!) — bartending/teaching English/travel blogging aren’t the only job options to stay abroad!
Edna recently posted..The magic of six months
So true, Edna. It was hard to put all my thoughts into one post since this already reached 2,000+ words but one thing I wanted to emphasize was living abroad rather than traveling constantly. Although I consider my last year a year of “travel” I actually spent at least 5 months total of it in Koh Tao! That definitely helps the budget and the spirit (I would break after a year of non-stop movement, I needed my breaks in between). And yes, I was happy to purse a career dream of mine (underwater video/photo!) and to flex my creative muscles.
By the way, super impressed you made it work with $700! That’s a leap of faith if I ever heard of it — and look at you, making it work!
Alex,
I absolutely LOVE your honesty…thank you so much for being brave enough to lose your “street cred” in favor of being real! And I agree 110%, if you want something bad enough, you’ll find a way to attain it…SO happy I came across your blog via Sarah Somewhere..I’ll definitely stay tuned!!
Hi Tiffany! Thanks so much for this comment! So glad to have you reading and I hope you’ll stick around
Alex! Hope everything is great! Ur experience sounds amazing, hope u keep having such a wonderful time, if u come back to Costa Rica anytime just let me know!
Mary! So great to hear from you! I’d love to explore a bit more of Central America… I’m sure I’ll be back in Central America someday!
ARGH, thank you for this super helpful post. I have been running around like a headless chicken trying to figure out how to save for my first trip to Thailand. Am checking out all your resources right now! Thank you! Love your stuff!
Thanks Jes! I hope some of them work for you! Best of luck.
I love your honesty Alex, and this was another well-written and insightful post. I know when I was first starting out, this was exactly the kind of thing I needed to read. Just knowing how someone has really made their dreams a reality is such a powerful driving force. You are living life your way, and I commend you for it
Hannah recently posted..The truth shall set you free
Aw, thanks Hannah! Posts like this one are hard to write so I really appreciate your feedback. As I know you know, it isn’t always easy to talk about money
[...] know, groundbreaking stuff, right? Like my post on affording travel, this isn’t a how-to or a guide or anything of the sort — it’s just whats working [...]
Alex, great post again! And thanks for the openess on how the blog part works. I gotta start including links to Amazon on mine as well! Have a great weekend & happy halloween!
Amazon is a hard way to earn affiliate cash because you have to have a lot of traffic. I’ve had some success though, but most months are disappointing!
yup that’s what i thought as well, unless you have links to quite expensive things but then people are again less likely to just click “buy”. It’s great that you got sponsors like the Thai museum, well done!
Lisa recently posted..My favorite raw food recipe: “Aphrohdisia” Melanie Maria – Warm Chocolate Milk
Hey Alex! Just discovered your blog, and really enjoying it so far! Great advice in this post, the saving part really resonated with me. The amount of effort and hard-work I put in in the preceding 13 months before my trip was insane, but it was having that goal of taking off and travelling that made it all worthwhile. Like you said – and I thought this was the key thing – if you want it badly enough, you’ll make it happen!
And now I’m back home. And want it again! So the saving has commenced…
Carl recently posted..Five Photos From… Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai
Hi Carl! Thanks so much for reading! Glad you liked this post, and that it rang true to you. Just remember, if you did it once, you can do it again… best of luck saving for the next adventure!
Thanks for another great article. As I am moving back home from living abroad for almost 3 years, I am trying to figure out how to get back out there as soon as possible. I appreciate the motivation.
Coco Marie recently posted..Frenchies Bar à Vins
I’m glad this post is still providing inspiration! Good luck getting back on the road