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The number one response to my travels seems to be: "How do you afford it?!". Even though that response is kinda understandable, I also feel it's a little intrusive. I for one, am never asking other people how they can afford or sustain their lifestyle. Anyway, even though this is what some people think, I am not spoiled rotten by my parents and am in no way rich..
Well, actually; I guess I AM rich, but in (travel) experiences and not so much in material or financial matters. I like to think I just make different choices in spending my money, leaving me with more money to spend on trips. I understand people have different circumstances than me (high end jobs you don't want to leave, kids, mortgages, debts) so this is just some personal tips and tricks that explain how I do it and how you might be able to do it too!
SAVING AT HOME
When I'm in Holland I try to both live as financially conservative as possible and save as much as possible.- Reduce/ cut out home expenses
It makes a big difference if you wanna take a short holiday or a trip that takes months. I've met a lot of people who gave up on or sold their home prior to a big trip. I've actually moved back in with my mom to save home expenses. Obviously this is a far from ideal situation and it makes you give up a lot of the comfort and security you're used to. If that is a little extreme to you, you could always sublet your room or house. I've done it before and even though it didn't make me money, I at least didn't have to pay my rent for the months I was gone. An option that actually allows you to make money of your place while you're not there is Airbnb. You basically rent out your place for a couple of nights to people, tourists, that need a place to stay. I've never used it but heard good stories about so you could check that out.
- Set priorities for having fun
Day trips, going out for dinner, having drinks and full on clubbing are all fun but tend to cost a lot of money. I almost never do any of that. I either just stay home, go to the cinema, or hang out with people without actually spending a lot of money. I also don't smoke, do drugs or even drink most of the time. To a lot of people that sounds boring and they prioritize this over traveling. That's all good too, it's just a different lifestyle.
There's still a lot you can do without spending money (just google 'free things to do in...' ) or discounted through websites like Groupon. I think the one thing I do spend money on that most people maybe don't, is tattoos. I like to see them as permanent investment.
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| Walking my dog at the beach at home.. fun and free! |
I tend to try to sell as much of my stuff as possible before I leave. I sell my clothes online or to people I know. I also sell my (school)books online or just random stuff I have laying around. I've also sold my car. Websites I use or recommend for selling stuff are the usual places Bol & Marktplaats (Dutch), eBay and some specific Facebook pages.
I've had more than one job at a time and worked as many hours as possible to get more money. If you're just working a regular 9-5 job, you could consider working another side job in the evenings or weekends.
I've also done this weird thing where I would take part in medical experiments/ clinical trials for money. (This explains a lot huh?) It is supposed to be completely safe and makes A LOT of money. I've been in a hospital for 3 weeks where I took 16 pills a day but it enabled me to book a ticket while I was laying in bed there. Besides.. being paid to lay in bed all day sounds pretty good to me. For anyone else who likes that idea, I've used this company.
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| Unclear photo (and in Dutch) but this is what a day at the hospital looked like. Pretty busy with a lot of bloodtests etc. |
- Saving saving saving
I'm not very good at saving but I think I might save most of my money through the most simple way... I just don't spend it. Of course there's a lot of material shit I kinda want to spend money on but then I don't. I have an old phone with a sim only subscription, an old camera, no game console, I've been using a small netbook as main computer for years, most of my clothes are either cheap, super old, a gift or thrifted. Before almost any purchase I make at home I ask myself "Do I really want this?" (yes yes yes), "Do I really need this?" (often, no), "Would I not rather spend this money in a foreign country?" (often, yes).
I guess I live very irresponsible in the way that I never have money on my savings account unless I'm saving up for a trip and I have zero savings left when I return home. I've also used student loans to pay for my trips. I know this is all not the 'smartest' way to live, but it's fun and worth it to me. If you set financial safety and comfort over this, then that's all good too but it will mean you'll probably have to save a lot longer before you can take a trip.
"You're so lucky"
This is a little unrelated but I just wanted to clear it up. Number two and three responses to my traveling are something like "I'm so jealous" and "You're so lucky". I am very well aware that I am indeed lucky, blessed and privileged in a lot of ways that do help me to travel as much as I do. HOWEVER, in general I feel like telling people they're plain lucky dismisses the choices they have made and the efforts they have put into it.
There are sacrifices every person makes to pursue whatever it is that makes them happy. Traveling makes me happy but the sacrifices I make for it means I actually don't have that much to come home to. I have no house, no savings, no 'real' job, no car, no fancy belongings and very few friends. Distance is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but the reality shows that that often isn't the case.
So when you are blessed with the things above, you are also very 'lucky', but in a different way :)
Tomorrow I will upload a post about saving money when you're traveling!
Hear hear! I often get asked the same things and although I don't live as frugally as you do, I do spent most of my money on traveling instead of going out (except to the cinema).
ReplyDeleteIt's really just a choice of where to put the money you earn. A fun night out with a musical, some drinks afterwards and a cab ride home can amount to a 100 Euro easily. Is it worth it? I'm sure it is. But I'd rather put that money towards a ticket and spent just 10 Euros to a trip to the cinema and maybe another 10 Euro for some cheap and tasty Chinese dinner afterwards :)