How to afford traveling full-time

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 and earning money. 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.

PT. 1 of how to afford traveling full-time; Save

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.

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.

PT. 2 of how to afford traveling full-time; Earn

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.

While saving money and reducing your expenses is a great way to make your travels last longer, making money is at least as important. So in this blog post, we’ll focus on ways of making money to fund your travels and make that digital nomad life that you’ve been dreaming of a reality!

1. Sell everything

While it is not technically earning money, what you get from selling your stuff before you leave can still be a big addition to your travel fund. Especially if you plan on sticking to the nomadic life, there is no point in leaving any possessions behind. Leave a box with stuff that holds emotional value with your parents or friends, and get rid of everything else. Apart from giving you some extra cash and a liberating sense of freedom, selling things like a car or maybe even a house will get you rid of recurring expenses like a mortgage or car insurance. You’d be surprised at how much cash you can make on those clothes that have been hanging in the back of your closet or the blender you never used. On top of that, we found decluttering and getting rid of stuff to be very energizing and liberating, some belongings just seemed to weigh us down.

 

2. Find a job that requires you to travel

Apart from the obvious pilot and flight attendant, there are actually a lot more jobs that require you to travel than you’d think. Besides expat jobs that require you to settle somewhere longer-term, jobs like (IT) consultant, engineer, project manager, auditor, and event planner often involve working on projects abroad. And jobs like travel doctor, travel nurse, travel writer, and travel photographer actually have you travel for work! While you usually don’t get to pick your destinations and have to spend a big chunk of your time working, you do often get a few days of free time and you can always explore at the end of your workday. It isn’t exactly the digital nomad life, but it can be a great way to see a lot of places and experience a lot of different cultures while still earning full pay.

Our favorite option is travel agent or travel/tour guide because they are all about travel and have you go to places all over the world to either research a destination or organise trips and show people around. You get to travel heaps and even get paid to do so, how good is that?!

 

3. Work casual jobs abroad

A lot of people who travel longer term apply for casual jobs whenever they stay in the same location for a while. A casual job is a job that doesn’t have a fixed number of working hours per week. The good thing about casual jobs is that they’re flexible, pretty unconfined (you work more, you get paid more), there is usually plenty of demand for casual workers, and you can quit as quickly as you started when you feel like moving on. You’ll often find casual job vacancies in hospitality and retail. Remember to keep your visa limitations in mind as you are usually not allowed to work on a tourist visa. Depending on your passport and your destination you might be allowed to work abroad or be eligible for a work visa. While we’re writing this, we’re in Australia where Tom is on a Working Holiday Visa. Working Holiday Visas are great to earn some cash while exploring a new country and are usually fairly easy to obtain.

 

Read next: Everything you need to know about a working holiday in New Zealand

 

4. Work Remotely

While the looseness of casual jobs can be an advantage, they generally don’t pay very well and you’ll have to find a new job every time you’re in need of money. Alternatively, you can try to land a job that offers to telecommute, allowing you to do your job from anywhere in the world. Look at websites like Flexjobs to find remote job opportunities. There are many companies worldwide that are transitioning to a more decentralized workforce because it makes them more flexible as a company and it allows them to employ qualified people, regardless of where they are. These companies are more than happy to employ you (both full-time and part-time) if you have a skill set that is valuable to them. It will almost be like having a normal job, except that you’ll be sitting on a beach sipping mojitos (don’t worry, we won’t tell your boss).

 

 

5. Freelance

In part one of this blog we mentioned exchanging services as a way to save money, but you can take this a step further and start earning money by offering your skills. Everyone is good at something, and that something can be valuable to others. Maybe you have a really good speaking voice making you perfect to do voice-overs, or maybe you know enough about fitness and nutrition to offer your services as an online health coach/personal trainer.

We’ve met digital nomads that fund their travels by doing part-time coding or web development from the road, and a lot of them are offering their skills through websites like Fiverr and Upwork. Have a look there to get some inspiration and see the countless different types of freelance work people do.

6. Teach English online

If you’re a native English speaker and have any kind of bachelor’s degree you can get your TEFL certificate and easily sign up to teach English online. Via video chat, you’ll teach English to both kids and adults all over the world. Most teaching companies have created their own teaching material that you will receive before each lesson, so you don’t have to create your own lessons which greatly reduces your preparation time. On average, teaching English online pays $ 21 per hour. Some companies will even allow you to teach English online without a bachelor’s degree and/or TEFL certification, but you’ll earn a lot less.

 

7. Content creation

In this current time where social media is bigger than traditional media, you’ve been hiding under a rock if you haven’t heard the term content creation yet. Anything that is published online falls under digital content, and since more than half a billion pieces of content get posted each day, there is a massive market in creating content for others.

The most common types of content creation are:

• Photography
• Videography
• Social media content
• Blogs
• Vlogs
• Podcasts
• Copywriting

If you’re skilled enough in creating any of these types of content, you can partner up with companies in destinations that you’re travelling to and create content for them, like for example shooting pictures or videos for them to use in their marketing.

I teach you exactly how to pitch hotels and land fabulous collaborations in this e-book.

Some of these content types like writing blogs or copywriting can even be done from the road, giving you a chance to earn wherever you are.

 

 

8. Affiliate marketing

You’ve probably heard about Tim Ferriss and his book The 4-hour Workweek in which he explains how he created a passive income for himself and how you can do the same. One of the methods to create a passive income is affiliate marketing.

In affiliate marketing, you promote other people’s products, usually by posting links to these products on your own website. You earn a commission every time someone coming through your link purchases the product, or sometimes even when someone simply clicks on the link. Amazon Associates is one of the most commonly used affiliate programs and lets you link to products on Amazon.

If you do any sort of affiliate marketing I highly recommend you check out affiliamate – it truly is a game changer when it comes to tracking and optimizing your affiliate links and strategy.

9. Sell e-products

Another method is through selling e-products. E-products are digital products that you create once, and can then sell online over and over without having to create it again. Some examples of e-products are e-books, online courses, apps, Adobe Lightroom editing presets, and WordPress templates.

Finally, there is Google Adsense (or alternatives like Media.net). Google Adsense lets you run banner ads on your website. Every time a visitor views one of your pages that runs these ads you get paid a small commission. Be careful when using Google Adsense though, as running ads can quickly make your website seem spammy, chasing visitors away.

How much money you can make through these methods relies heavily on how well you market your products and on the number of visitors your website gets. While they can potentially create passive income streams big enough to live off, they will only really pay off in the long run. Especially when it comes to Google Adsense. To make a semi-decent income from Google Adsense you will need at least 50.000 website visitors per day. So if you do choose to go this direction, be prepared to put in a lot of long hours and hard work on your website before you even earn a dime. If you came here looking for a get-rich-quick scheme; sorry to disappoint.

 

10. Dropshipping

Maybe you’ve been reading this and you’re thinking: ‘Those e-products sound like fun and all, but what if I have an idea for a physical product? Dragging a whole stock of products with me in my suitcase doesn’t really fit in with the digital nomad image now does it?’ No, dragging your products with you isn’t really an option, but there is a solution called dropshipping. Dropshipping is a distribution method where you, the seller, do not keep stock of your own product but instead outsource this to a third party. This can be the manufacturer, who ships the product directly to the customer whenever you receive an order, or a fulfillment center. A Fulfillment center handles warehousing, order processing, packing and shipping for you in exchange for a fee per item.

This allows you to sell your own products on your website, without having to worry about stock and getting the product to your customer. By using the dropshipping method you have more time to focus on getting as many customers as you can, or just more time to enjoy your travels.

11. Start a blog

A blog combines several of the above skills and money making techniques into one. You’ll basically become a content creator that leverages affiliate marketing and ads to generate revenue and perhaps sells products or services on top.

We guide you through the process of starting a travel blog here and you can find free blogging tips all over the web but keep in mind that just publishing articles won’t generate any income. You need to optimise your blog for monetisation.

Read next: How to start a travel blog

Building a successful blog isn’t a walk in the park but with the right knowledge and training it certainly can be done and we can’t recommend Sharon’s Build blog freedom course enough.

This easy to follow course is a treasure of knowledge that will guide you through setting up the right systems, teach you how to use SEO and guide you through the messy world of affiliate marketing. If you want to speed up the learning curve this course is an investment you won’t regret – I know we didn’t and we can be stingy as!

As long as you’re willing to put in the effort there are so many ways to make money while travelling, and with this blog post, we hope we’ve given you an idea of what is possible. You’re definitely not limited to just the options that we’ve mentioned, and we recommend to always give it your own unique spin, regardless of the direction that you’re going. Remember that it is you and your vision that makes you stand out from others and succeed.