The “Broke” Traveler

It can be a startling reality, realizing you won’t get another paycheck for 7 months. Balling on one hell of a budget, I’ve decided to take the next 8 (ish) months ‘off’ to travel the world. Sounds dreamy right? Except sometimes you have to let go of the glitz and glamor of basic necessities like access to clean drinking water and personal space. I’m starting off my 8 month trip in Cancún, Mèxico. I chose Cancún because when I applied for work exchanges I sent about 50 applications all over the world and this one got back to me the fastest. I immediately accepted and a few weeks later I was standing on the white sand beaches swimming in the clear waters of Cancún. I figured you have to start somewhere right? I can see one of the seven wonders of the world, swim in Cenotes, meet new people, learn some Spanish, and not go too far from home for my first work exchange experience in case things went terribly wrong. 

They didn’t go wrong though, the work is fair, the people are nice, and overall this is one of the best experiences of my life so far! This is the part where I would throw in a sentence about how you don’t need money to travel and honestly that’s true to a certain extent, you don’t need too much money to travel. However, you do need money to live on. Even if you budget yourself very tightly and do work exchanges to defray costs, you still have to have money to start with and eventually it will run out unless you do it right. I worked a summer job for just under 6 months to fund this endeavor and I’m still running everything very tightly. Don’t get me wrong you don’t need a ton of money to do this, but for 8 months of full time travel I did save at least a thousand dollars a month with some buffer money. You have to remember that you still have to pay any monthly costs that you might have at home. For example, I pay $25 USD a month for a gym membership I can’t get out of until the new year. I pay $67 USD a month for car insurance, $150 USD a month in student loans, and a few more miscellaneous costs. All of these things add up, especially if you have a car payment, storage unit, or an apartment lease. Make sure to factor in these things when you budget for your travel. You also shouldn’t be budgeting yourself down to your last dollar.

Now obviously saving and budgeting is key. There are a couple of different things I recommend you to help yourself to stay on track. I use the app revolut a lot. I only downloaded it over the summer but it’s fantastic. There are zero transaction fees and they convert your money for free. You can connect it directly from your bank account. I couldn't recommend it more. Something else I use is an app called TripCoin. Not only can you see what you’ve spent (and what you’ve spent it on), but you can also keep a very clear track of your budget. I have $1,000 USD budgeted for my time here in Mexico. Right now I’m about halfway through my trip and I can clearly see that I am also 53% through my budget. I can track my daily average and make sure I’m not overspending in a certain category. I do WorldPackers to save on accommodation, but the sacrifice of that is a lack of freedom while traveling. Right now, I volunteer at the hostel from Monday through Friday, leaving me only Saturday and Sunday to explore the surrounding area. I also feel like I’ve seen what I need to see here and I have a little over two weeks left before I can head to my next destination. It’s all about what you want to put first when you’re traveling. Prioritizing plays a big role when you’re deciding on your budget and travel destinations.

Travel isn’t financially impossible, there are ways to do it. If I can do it, anybody can. I want to share my experiences so you don’t find your back up against the wall the way I did. This leads me to my first point- have an exit plan. For me my exit plan is a few thousand in safety money and an $8,000 USD credit limit. It’s not a fantastic idea but it’s my ‘just in case.’ Everyone in their early 20s has ups and downs financially and otherwise. I remember being in my ‘down’ and it affected every aspect of my life. I promised myself I’d never let myself get that way again. The key is just to be properly prepared and that doesn’t just mean by having enough money. It means reading up on common tourist scams in the country you’re headed to. For example, a girl in my hostel recently got scammed by a taxi driver because he was supposed to charge her $100 MXN and he charged her $100 USD. Always make sure you’re being charged in the correct currency. 

You just have to stay focused on your end goal. What do you want to come out of all of this travel? What are your priorities? Is it possible to continue to work while traveling? Ask yourself the important questions before you find yourself in need of an immediate paycheck.

Something else (and slightly controversial) that I do is make sure that I have nothing on my credit cards before I leave. I know many people would disagree with this, credit card debt being the slippery slope that it is, but I like to make sure that I have at least $5,000 USD in available credit in case of dire emergency. I have never had $5,000 USD on my credit card, literally ever, but if it’s the difference between an unsafe situation and a plane ticket, I will rack that card right up and deal with it later. However, if I am not in a life-threatening situation (which has yet to happen), I forget that my credit cards even exist. Every time I swipe my card outside of the US, I get charged a transaction, those also add up. The whole point of this post is to talk about defraying costs and skipping the transaction fees is a really easy way to do that. I take out as much cash as I think I might need for the trip and leave most of it locked up in the hostel, only taking what I need for the day. 

When it comes to being a “broke” traveler, I feel really strongly about putting “broke” in parentheses. Am I about to spend at least $8,000 USD traveling for the next 7 months, absolutely. However, I don’t want whoever’s reading this to feel discouraged. We are not poor because look at all we are getting. A lifetime of memories that are as irreplaceable as the people we make them with. My expenses in Mexico, including costs at home, food, transportation, plane tickets to and from here, activities, and more costs less than just my rent did when I lived in Los Angeles. I do tend to fall victim to girl math quite often, but this just makes so much sense. I want to travel, I need to travel. It just feels right and to be doing all of this for less than a it cost to have a rented room in LA? Sign me up.

Budgeting for travel isn’t just saying “no” to yourself all the time though. It’s knowing when to say yes and when to reel it in- it’s prioritizing. I say the serenity prayer very often. “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” There are things you can change, for example staying in budget accommodation like hostels instead of hotels and taking less convenient modes of transportation like buses instead of Ubers or taxis. You can find like-minded people or friends to bring with you on trips so costs are split which also helps to save some money. However there are also things you cannot change, like plane ticket costs. For example, if I really want to go to Asia in January I’m going to have to accept that I will not be able to find a ticket from New York to Bangkok for less than $500 USD, even with 3+ long layovers in random countries out of the way and with credit card points. It’s just not enough. The wisdom to know the difference is a really important one. Everyone has different levels of comfort. For me, I am totally okay with sharing a room full of strangers, I look at it like a sleepover every night with new friends. I am totally fine with a bunch of layovers, but I would not like to do self-transfers or airport changes. I don’t feel comfortable doing those by myself, especially in a place where I don’t speak the language. Like I said above, you just have to make sure you know yourself and know your priorities. Traveling is possible, on any budget. I would highly recommend having a safety net before you do so though. It makes for a less stressful time going all around the world :)

X

p.s. always make sure you have enough for a plane ticket home xx

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