How to afford a life of travel – Part 1: SAVE MONEY

Does traveling full-time sound like a dream to you? Well, it doesn’t have to be just a dream, and you don’t even have to win the lottery, inherit money from a Nigerian prince, or have rich, generous parents to make it become reality. We sure didn’t! What if we told you that traveling full time is cheaper than our old lives?! So how can you escape the 9-5 rat race and achieve the nomadic life of your dreams?

In August 2018 we left everything behind and started traveling full-time together, but this didn’t just happen from one day to the other. Taking this step took a lot of research, planning, and preparation. We took a lot of precautions before leaving, learned some lessons along the way (either from our mistakes or from other full-time travelers) and now we’re sharing all of our knowledge on how to afford this lifestyle with you, so you can be prepared too!

We’ve split this blog into two parts – saving money (below) and earning money (coming soon). Both, saving and earning, can be done before and while traveling. Read on to find out ways to save up for travel and how to stretch your savings while traveling.

1. Start a dedicated savings account

You’ll need money to travel, and even if you intend to find a source of income while traveling, you still need money to bridge the time until that happens. Besides, it is always good to have a reserve in case something unforeseen happens. An equivalent of $10.000 should be enough to enjoy the first few months of freedom and give you enough time to find ways of making money.

If you’re anything like us before we started traveling, you have a normal life and a normal job. Tom was working as an account manager and Zi worked as a brand and marketing manager. We didn’t have an income that we could take with us, which meant that we had to save up. Plain and simple, and no quick fix about it.

Something that worked really well for us and helped us save the most was changing the way we looked at the money coming in. Zi set up her banking so that as soon as her paycheck came in it would go straight into her savings account and she would only ‘pay herself’ a small portion of it. This was her spending money and all else was her travel money which she could not touch.

 

2. Live simply

Everyone who has ever gone backpacking will agree with us when we say that you really don’t need much stuff. You don’t need 6 pairs of shoes and a wardrobe full of clothes, you don’t need a fully equipped kitchen to cook delicious meals, and you most certainly don’t need a big tv or rooms full of other expensive toys. When you’re traveling, more stuff only becomes an obstruction and holds you back.

The easiest way so save up is to cut down on those expenses and stop buying unnecessary stuff.

Some of the happiest moments in our lives were when we lived the simplest. We spent almost a year living in a converted van that we built ourselves. Everything we owned fit in that van and every day was an adventure. It was the experience of a lifetime, it was cheap (no accommodation costs!), and to again mention the point of not needing a fully equipped kitchen – we’ve cooked amazing dinners on two little gas burners.

 

 

3. Stick to a budget

When we set off, all the money we had saved and gathered by selling our stuff seemed like a lot. At first, it was really tempting to splurge on eating out and staying in fancy places, but we realised that our savings would run dry pretty quickly if we did that. So instead, we decided to not spend money on things we didn’t need, and only occasionally splurge. Splurges are fine, but they need to be balanced out with days of little spending. Try to decide on a realistic budget that allows you to see things and have fun, but doesn’t drain your bank account.

 

4. Cook your own meals

We love eating out as much as anyone, but gosh does this drain our bank accounts! Cooking your own food is the easiest way to save money – before and while traveling. Most hostels and BnBs will have a kitchen where you can prepare your own food. You can also take it a step further and invest in a small portable gas burner and a travel cooking set so you can cook wherever you are; if you go camping for example.

 

 

5. Beware of unnecessary expenses

Being aware of any hidden or unnecessary expenses will make it easier to stick to your budget. A few ways to cut down on expenses without having to sacrifice travel experiences are:

• Get a travel bank card: Most banks will charge you ATM fees for withdrawing foreign currency, and charge big fees when you want to transfer money to an overseas bank account. Getting the right travel card can potentially save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. We both use Transferwise, which gives you both an international bank account with very low money transferring fees, and a bank card that doesn’t charge ATM fees up to a certain amount.
• Groceries: By going to the local food market to get your produce, eating street food, and buying local brands instead of imported ones from overseas you can quickly save dozens of dollars per week.
• Transport: Avoid taxis and tuk-tuks wherever you can and instead take buses, metros, and trains. It is not only a LOT cheaper, but you will also have a more authentic experience and engage with locals more. If getting a taxi is the only option, research what taxi booking apps are commonly used in the country you’re visiting. For example, in most of Asia GRAB is cheaper than Uber, in Indonesia GoJEK is the way to go (also for food delivery and even courier services!), and in other parts of the world DiDI is taking over. In saying that, when traveling as a group, splitting the cost of the taxi might actually be less expensive than public transport.

 

6. Plan ahead

This is the one we often fail at, but hopefully, you can plan your trip better than us. By planning your next destination and thinking about how long you want to stay and what you want to do/see, you already have an idea of the expenses that are awaiting you and can better plan your budget. This way you can also book ahead, which often saves money and reduces the chance of pricey ad-hoc expenses.

 

7. Find cheap flights

Flights are without a doubt some of the biggest expenses when traveling and it is worth it to spend some time researching the best options. Sign up for newsletters that inform you about good deals (especially good if you don’t have a set itinerary), but above all compare, compare, compare. Don’t just stick to one website like Skyscanner, but check different search engines like Momondo or Google Flights too, and if you found a flight that seems good, check the executing airline’s website, because it might be even cheaper there.

Flight prices are a funny business – sometimes a return flight is cheaper than only buying a one-way ticket so it’s better to book that and cancel the return leg. Other times adding an extra leg to your flight brings the costs down, like when Zi found a flight from Paris to Madagascar via Amsterdam that was almost half the price compared to the same flight directly from Amsterdam.

We found out that sometimes it is cheaper to book two separate flights instead of a connecting flight. By applying this trick we flew Croatia – Kuala Lumpur – Melbourne – Christchurch for less than $800 per ticket, which generally costs over $1.200! Say Whaaaaat?! We had the chance to extend the stopover in Kuala Lumpur which gave us the opportunity to explore a new city and we found an amazing deal on our new camera – triple win!

8. Find accommodation deals

Look on booking platforms like Booking.com, Agoda or AirBnB for discounted deals on accommodation. We love to stay at AirBnbs because they give us that home feeling and usually give us a chance to do our laundry.

Before you get all judgemental about hostels, check out Hostelworld. We know that hostels have the reputation of being dirty and full of drunk teenage backpackers, but we assure that there are many non-party hostels, and there are almost always private rooms in hostels that are basically a hotel room, but still a lot cheaper than an actual hotel.

Alternatively, we recommend trying Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is not supposed to be exploited as a means to get free accommodation, but rather used as an opportunity to meet and hang out with awesome people and experience a place in the local’s way!

 

 

9. Be smart about sightseeing and activities

Tour companies often make it seem like only they can get you to where they’re advertising to take you, but more often than not you can easily get there yourself for a fraction of the price or even absolutely free! On top of that, you’re not restricted to the tour guides schedule and you can avoid the crowds if you go there in the early morning before the tours start.

Other than the sneaky way of bypassing paying for guided tours we mentioned above, there are more ways to have fun for free. Bigger touristic places usually have visitor centers where they offer free advice on activities, many of which don’t cost a dime or try asking Google for free things to do in your location. You’ll be surprised by the number of options there are – from hikes to museums and even shows!

When it comes to entrance fees, there’s usually no way around them (unless you want to climb the fence which we don’t recommend), but often you can find websites that will offer a discount on your activity of choice as long as you book your slot in advance. We found Bookme to be extremely helpful in New Zealand.

10. Do volunteer work

A lot of countries have WWOOF or WorkAway programs. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms and is a network that links volunteers to organic farms in need of workers. In exchange for working on a farm, you’ll be given food and accommodation. Usually, you don’t work 8 hours per day, so you’ll still have plenty of time to go exploring and sightseeing. WorkAway is a lot like WWOOF except that it isn’t on a farm but in a homestay. You generally work 4-5 hours per day, usually helping out around the house, in exchange for food and accommodation. In some cases, you can work a little more hours to get paid a bit on top. These are great ways to substantially reduce your expenses, and experience something unique.

11. Exchange services

Everyone is good at something. Maybe you’re super creative or super handy, maybe you’re a good photographer or an excellent cook. You could probably earn money for those skills or at least arrange for an exchange of services.

Barter deals are a great way in if you’d like to get a taste for that lux feel and afford a stay at a fancy resort or unique ecolodge. Try reaching out to accommodation and trip providers and offer your skills for something in return. While they might not be ready to pay you for your skills (or you might not be allowed to get paid legally), they will often consider an exchange of services that brings them value. For example, we’ve stayed at pretty luxurious resorts for free, in exchange for high-quality pictures for their website.

So far we’ve only mentioned ways to reduce the amount of money you spend, but ways to make money are at least as important and you obviously want to know them. So read part 2!