How Can I Afford to Travel?

I read a post on Wandering Earl a while back about how he’s been able to travel for the last 12 years almost continuously and my friend Margo just reminded me of it. So how have I been able to afford to travel?

In most people’s terms, I can’t. 

I’m not a trustafarian with parents bankrolling this “broadening of my horizons.” I have never played or won the lottery. I don’t even work over 40 hours a week at a soul sucking job. I basically have just worked for a few months at a time, traveled, worked, traveled, repeat. I also take a few steps to ensure I keep things as thrifty as possible.

1. I live at home while saving up to travel. I’ve got great parents who support me in my love of travel, so I live rent free for a few months at a time.

2. I cut down on things like eating out, new clothes, nights out. Not to mention that I don’t have much time for a social life when I’m working.

3. I budget my money while traveling in regards to accommodations, but splurge on experiences. I wrote down literally every tiny expense while in Australia, which you can see on the insane spreadsheet I created.

4. You don’t need nearly as much money as you think you do to travel. Flights will almost always be expensive, but if you cook your own meals and CouchSurf, you can save lots.

5. Temp jobs are easy to find if you know where to look. Many of my friends in Australia worked for agencies for hospitality staffing, event staffing and worked handing out fliers.

Trip: Amsterdam and Paris 2006-2007

How I Saved: I must admit that my parents gave me some money for this one as a Christmas gift, but I covered most of the other expenses by working at a department store for the summer. It was also an organized tour, so the majority of the expenses were covered before I even left.

Trip: London and Ireland 2008-2009

How I Saved: Twice a year I work for a month or so, doing over 40 hours per week at the Atlanta Gift Mart, which sells merchandise to stores all over the Southeast. By the end of that time, I have enough for at least half of my trip’s budget. I also worked as an office assistant at a law firm for almost six months to save up for this trip.

Trip: Thailand 2010

How I Saved: I didn’t really. I went on a mission trip with my church and the spot had already been covered before I even volunteered to take it. All I needed was spending money, which I didn’t need much of since I was staying in volunteer accommodations in the mountains, with little time for souvenir shopping.

Trip: Croatia 2010

How I Saved: I worked at a Mexican restaurant for three months to save up for this trip. I also received spending money for graduation, which I used on this trip.

Trip: Australia 2011

How I Saved: I immediately started saving up for this trip once I got back from Croatia. I worked another show at the Atlanta Gift Mart, as well as working at a French cafe for six months and doing a bit of freelance writing.

This amount of money lasted me a little over a month, so once that ran out I got a job, where I stayed for another six months. I didn’t go out too much but still paid rent and bills, but was still able to save up enough money for another three months of travel.

Trip: Germany and Austria 2012

How I’m Saving: I work part time at a restaurant and am doing a bit of freelance work on the side. I’m also (hopefully) getting my superannuation money back from my time in Australia and saving my tax refunds. And while it doesn’t count for much, I fill out surveys on e-Miles and e-Rewards.

I hope this sheds some light on how easy it can be to save for travels if you make it a priority.