The Question I’m Asked MOST About My Travels
My mom was a middle school teacher for 23 years before she retired this past May. Throughout the majority of her years teaching it seems like she was always given a class period or two in which she taught varying subjects; American history, life skills, science, A.R. reading, and most recently her beloved AVID classes. But the one subject which she consistently taught throughout ALL of her 23 years in the classroom was 6th grade world history. When my work schedule finally allowed it and I was able to start traveling often, my mom would always (in a nice way) get SOOO jealous any time I took a trip to a country she taught about in her classroom. And she would always ask a MILLION questions about my travels to those countries… “What are the people like?” “What’s the culture like?” “Did you see (this or that) historical site?” “Have you noticed a lot of influence from (such and such) religion?” “What are the places like that you’re staying in?” “Are there bugs?” Etc etc. But the #1 question my mom would always ask me is the SAME question that I get asked most often by EVERYONE else… “How do you afford it??” So as promised, this whole post is dedicated to answering that most frequently asked question.
As I’ve said before, I’m a flight attendant. I don’t think it’s a secret that with being a flight attendant comes certain travel benefits, but I’m going to leave it to Google to provide anymore information on that. 😉 I don’t think this is a secret either but in case you didn’t know it already, flight attendants aren’t exactly “rollin’ in the dough.” I’ll leave it to Google to provide anymore information on that, too. 😉 So aside from the flying and the income parts of it I’m going to explain how exactly I afford my travels; all the tricks and strategies I use. So this is what works for *me*:
When I’m Not Traveling:
The way I see it my monthly core expenses consist of 3 things; my rent, cell phone bill, necessary living expenses (which in my mind means utilities and groceries) and that’s it. I mean, there are definitely other monthly expenses that my pennies consistently go toward each month (CTA [Chicago Transit Authority- the public transportation system in Chicago] church tithes, Netflix account, etc) but I have no debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. The three core expenses I named are my biggest bills and they’re (roughly) the same amount each month. That means I know just about how much I’m going to spend on my core expenses every month, I have a pretty good estimate of how much I’m going to spend on my “other” monthly expenses, and then anything leftover that hasn’t been put into savings or spent on day to day living goes towards my travels. (Which is where I’d actually LIKE to spend my pennies, let’s be honest 😉).
In the back of my mind I keep the thought that the LESS money I spend on everything else the MORE money I have to spend on traveling. That means the less money I spend on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING else the more money I have to spend on traveling. And so, for example, I live in a humble abode; a three bedroom apartment that I share with two roommates. The stars aligned and the universe was on our side when we found this place because it’s absolutely PERFECT for us. The apartment itself is humble. The living space is on the smaller side and a friend described my tiny (but perfect for ME) size room as a little IKEA bedroom display. (You know those little bedroom setups you see when you walk around the displays at IKEA? Totally the size of my room!😄) We live in a great neighborhood right off a blue line stop (a train line in Chicago) which we all needed to be near to get to work. We’re walking distance from the train, grocery store, the gym I go to, nightlife, etc. But the BEST part about this apartment is the price. It’s PERFECTLY within our budget and I think we’re all pretty happy with what we get for the price we pay. I could EASILY spend more money on rent. I could live in a new or recently updated building, find a place with a sweet roof top and awesome views of the city from my bedroom window, have no roommates, etc. But again, with the mentality that the LESS money I spend on everything else the MORE money I have to spend on traveling I don’t WANT to spend more money on rent. And so I’m perfectly satisfied with the humble little abode I share with two other girls.
*** Just to be clear… this doesn’t in ANY way mean I judge those who choose to live in a nicer place than I do, to not have roommates, pay more in rent, etc. To each their own! I’m just describing what works for *me* as far as affording my travels. 😊 ***
Another thought I often keep in the back of my mind is how far the amount of money I’m spending on _____ (fill in the blank) could be stretched in another country. I remember a few years ago I was visiting my parents in Southern California and while I was there I got to spend some time with my best friend. She asked if I’d want to go get our nails done (something neither of us do very often) at a place she knew of that was really inexpensive. We did end up treating ourselves at this nail place and while I didn’t regret it I still couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the amount of money I was paying to have my feet pampered was the same amount of money that would put a roof over my head for five nights in India, where I was going in less than a week. Definitely puts my spending into perspective when I look at it that way! I find that when I’m mindful of what my pennies could be spent on to travel (hostels, bus and train tickets, entrance fees into museums or historic sites, etc, it makes it easier for me to NOT spend my pennies on anything else. (In theory of course. I obviously still do make non travel related purchases. 🙂)
In addition to those thoughts I keep in the back of my mind…..
– As I’ve said before I live in Chicago and I don’t have a car payment. There’s an awesome public transportation system in Chicago, so I don’t NEED a car there. That means no car payment, no car insurance, no filling up the gas tank, no oil changes, no maintenance costs, nada.
– I’ve never been a big go-er out-er, so I essentially save money there. That’s not to say I NEVER go out of course, it’s just not something I do on a regular basis.
– I’ve never been a big fashionista so I don’t typically spend a whole lot of money on my wardrobe. (Which consists mostly of the same $5 t-shirt from Target in 10 different colors by the way 😄)
– I don’t have regular or standing appointments for (sometimes) pricey services, (i.e. mani/pedis, tanning, massages, hair dying, haircuts (which I should probably change 😳) etc.
– This thought comes from a recent conversation with a roommate…. I try to use what I have before I buy more. For example: I have one set of shampoo and conditioner. When that runs out I buy more. I have one bottle each of hairspray, mouse, gel, lotion, etc, and only after I’ve used a bottle completely do I buy more of it. I feel like this prevents me from buying more supplies than I really need and also keeps me from potentially throwing away half used bottles of products. I know it’s not much but I mean hey, a penny saved is a penny earned, right?! 🤷♀️
Now just to be clear, I’m not absolutely PERFECT at my penny saving strategies. I’ve definitely gone on some shopping sprees in my life, I’ve gone out too many times in too short of time with friends to movies, dinner, shows, pricey events, etc, I may not get regular mani/pedis and haircuts but I DO regularly get my eyebrows done, etc. These are some mindsets and strategies that I TRY to stick to in order to save pennies for my travels. (And I’m always open to learning some more, so if you have any great methods that work for you, please send them my way! 😊)
When I’m Traveling:
I would say the most important factor that allows me to afford my travels is the way I spend my money while I’m actually traveling. I try my best to (mostly) travel on the CHEAP… So here are a few ways I do that:
– For starters, I opt for the “do it yourself” method rather than the “guided tour” option. I find that most ANYTHING I’m able to plan on my own is cheaper than paying someone/a travel agency/tour guide to do that for me. And so I use my Lonely Planet guides and the apps I mentioned here to plan my trips.
– I stay in hostels rather than hotels. (Unless I’m traveling with my parents in which case we stay in local hotels we’ve found great deals for on booking.com). I’ve paid anywhere from $3-$5 USD a night for hostels in places like Thailand and India, $6-$11 USD a night for hostels in places like Russia, China, and South America, $10-$15 USD a night for hostels in Europe (except for London and Paris which are more like $22-$30 USD a night) etc. If you want to see our big world on a small budget hostels are seriously the way to go. 👍
– I utilize public transportation. It can definitely be a little (sometimes A LOT) intimidating, but more often than not the savings are HUGE. An example for you…. The most recent trip my parents and I took together was to Germany. We were taking a flight out of Berlin at one point and my dad decided to ask the employee at the front desk of our hotel for an estimate on how much a taxi to the airport would cost. (He was thinking a taxi would be more convenient than lugging our bags around on public transit. He was right. Buuuuut…..) The estimate was about €60. SIXTY EURO!!! We opted to lug our bags around on public transit. And for less than €6 all three of us got to the airport just fine. For less than 10% of the cost for a taxi! Slightly inconvenient? A little, sure. HUGE cost saver and therefore totally worth it? ABSOLUTELY.
– I make an effort to eat cheaply. Best way to do that? GROCERY STORES! I usually find pastries or fruit for breakfast, a sandwich to put in my bag for lunch later, a few snacks to munch on throughout the day, and water. ALWAYS buy water at a grocery store. During my parent’s and my trip to Germany we found water for sale in a touristy area for about €3.50 per bottle. (WHAT?!?!) We went to a grocery store that night and bought a 6 pack of water for like €1.50. Not even kidding. Grocery stores are your friend. 😉
– I opt for the free walking tours. (Yes. FREE. Well, mostly…) I’ve found that these free walking tours have made their way to cities all over the world, but I first learned about them in Europe. (Google “Sandemans New Europe Tours.” They’re the BEST.) The way it works is a guide will take a group of tourists for a walking tour around a city and at the end of the tour the tourists will tip the guide based on how good they felt the tour was. Pretty cool, yeah?
– I take the cheapest route. When I need to get myself from point A to point B on a map (for longer distances outside of city transit), I try and find the cheapest way possible to do that. Five hour bus ride is cheaper than the three hour train ride? I’ll take the bus. Bus requires me to make a connection and that adds to the cost whereas the train is both direct and cheaper? I’ll take the train. I would like to think I’m reasonable (i.e. if taking a bus is cheaper but it requires three connections over 18 hours and the train requires one connection over 8 hours I’d opt for the train) but generally speaking, I’m ALLLLL about the cheapest option. 😉
So there you have it. The penny saving methods I use while I’m traveling in order to afford my travels. (😄) But for the sake of being completely honest, as cheap as I TRY to keep my travels I am definitely not against a good quality splurge. And in my mind that means… How could I go to Paris and NOT see a show at the Moulin Rouge? How could I go to Moscow and NOT see a performance at the Bolshoi? How could I go to Salzburg and NOT stay at Villa Trapp, the von Trapp family’s home that’s been turned into a hotel? How could I go to Southeast Asia and NOT splurge on multiple hour long massages for $5-$15 USD? How could I go to India and NOT buy those gorgeous hand-sewn bright colored blankets made out of scraps of old saris for myself, my mom, and my sisters? I can easily justify spending my money on a good quality splurge than I can justify spending my money on an expensive hotel room that I won’t be spending much time in, a super expensive meal (unless the meal itself is a splurge) unnecessary taxi rides, etc. for examples.
I feel like a good question to ask yourself when it comes to affording your travels is “How much am I willing to give up?” Are you willing to give up some personal space and live in a humble abode with roommates? Are you willing to give up your car and use public transportation? Or if you need to have a car could you maybe lower your transportation costs by carpooling? Or by using public transportation when possible? Could you give up the professional hair dying or other salon services? Or maybe cut down on the frequency of them? Could you cut back on the shopping sprees? Or the number of times and amount of money you spend going out with friends? Or maybe find some cheaper alternatives to going out with friends? (i.e. staying IN with friends?) In a travel group I’m a member of on Facebook I saw a girl post a picture of her tattered, ripped up sheets that she refused to replace and another girl who posted a picture of her SHATTERED cell phone screen that she had refused to replace for over a year now because it would take money away from each of their travels. (For the record, I’m not THAT hardcore. I would definitely replace my sheets and cell phone in those situations!) But again, what I’ve learned for *myself* is that the LESS money I spend on EVERYTHING else the MORE money I have to spend on traveling. So what are you (and I) willing to give up/change/alter, to save up money for our dream trip?
I’m not a financial guru and I don’t by any means pretend to be. 😳 But I hope I’ve somewhat sufficiently answered my most frequently asked question about my travels and maybe even given you an idea or two about how to fund your own travels. Again, if you have any great penny saving tips or strategies to do at home or on the road that I haven’t mentioned please send them my way. 😊
Happy penny saving to us ALL and safe travels friends.
CE
