This topic keeps popping up, whether it be informally with friends or in more serious travel blogger debates. It's that taboo question that no one wants to ask, but everyone wants to know the answer. How do you pay for it? So, we're curious to poll you and ask you "how do you pay for your travels?" We're not asking for full financial disclosure, just a sense of what it is that you do that allows you to travel the world far and wide. Feel free to leave a comment and share your philosophy.
Round Table: How Do You Pay for Your Travels?
In the past, I relied more on debt than savings to go on trips (which got me into trouble.) But, I've learned to use it more wisely, and to budget better so that I can have savings when I leave for a trip.
Unfortunately, what allows me to travel is the fact that I work full-time (in addition to Travellious work,) which limits the amount I can travel. I can always hope to be independently wealthy, right? :)
I recently posted about this on my blog. I always get comments like "wow, must be nice to travel so much" and "where is your money tree" and things like that, which makes me a little uncomfortable. I'm always quick to point out that my husband and I are far from rich, but we live pretty simply to save money for our travels.
We try to limit going out to eat or going out for drinks to 2-3 times a month and when we do go out to eat we try to keep it under $50 (Chicago allows BYOB, a big $ saver).
I get my hair cut every few months and dye it at home. I do pedicures and eyebrow maintenance at home. Husband cuts his own hair.
We only buy clothes on sale. We don't have cable. We don't have cars and rarely take taxis. I have the most basic cell phone plan and belong to a $10 a month community gym. We bring our lunches to work.
Doing all this allows us to save a large chunk of money every month for our travel fund. So when my friend shows me her new $300 bag or talks about the amazing multi-course $200 dinner she had and then says how jealous she is of my travels, I remind her that everyone has their priorities and I definately sacrifice to make travel mine.
I'm very lucky to have been able to travel as part of my work in the last eight years. My most frequent destination is China where food, travel and accommodation is extremely cheap so I usually try to tack some leave time onto the end of my work trips to explore a bit.
Once I took a train from Western China to Kazakhstan, another time I flew from Beijing to Japan for a week (although I had a Chinese friend organise the flights in advance for me, they were much too expensive to buy in the UK). Most recently I went by train from Dunhuang where I was working to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army and the Hanyangling tombs; then took another train back to Beijing. The combined cost of the two train tickets cost less than half the price of a direct flight so I kept my boss happy and only incurred the personal cost of one night in a hotel and a couple of meals (about £25 total).
For non-work related travel I used to do the same as Austin and I'd end up paying off credit card debts for a long time after I'd come back from a trip. These days I try to save and pay for trips in advance and have my spending money put aside before I leave. I have the same attitude as Katie; travel is a priority for me so I'm prepared to make some sacrifices. Again, I'm in a fortunate position to be able to work overtime to make some extra cash but if I couldn't I would probably take a second job.
My best tip for saving money while you are away is to rent an apartment rather than a hotel room. For two or more people it works out comparatively well price wise and you can stick a pizza in the oven or have a quick snack at lunchtime rather than having to sit in a restaurant for every single meal. I love the 'home from home' feel of an apartment and consider supermarkets to be the ultimate combination of museum and giftshop, I reckon you can learn a great deal about a country and its people from a visit to the supermarket. HomeAway Vacation Rentals is a good place to look for apartments all over the world as is their UK sister site Holiday Rentals.
If what I am doing now counts as travel (moving abroad) then I am traveling for work ;) But in the past I would save up for it.
When it's time for me to take yet another adventure (very often) I start to save months in advance. I guess what I'm saying is is that I always contribute to a travel fund. I'm not a shopaholic so I don't spend my money on silly stuff. I'd rather drop money on a plane ticket than a purse or designer jeans. I also tutor French and English. You'd be surprised at how much money you can earn tutoring.
I just save money in any way that I can and when the plane lifts off the ground into the great wide open, I smile a smile so wide with glee.
Felicia, This Time Now
www.thistimenow.wordpress.com
Post new comment