There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” Colin Powell

Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren’t enjoying today’s sunshine.” William Feather

 

There are certain things that you do in your everyday life that lend themselves well to International travel. From folding your clothes a certain way to personal safety and security methods, all can be used abroad. Here I will show you how I’ve prepared for my trip and will continue to update this with little tips and ideas as I draw closer to my departure.

MONEY

Logical place to start when asking how to finance travel. Possibly the most common reason people give when asked why they don’t travel,lack of money. I’m going to show you how it’s not as expensive as you might think.

Budget Image 2 Buget Image 1

 

 

Here you see a basic budget I put together from a template I found somewhere online. I reworked it a bit and added my information. When putting together a budget don’t think about income on the road. Start by asking yourself the question, “How do I want to travel.” Seems simple but this is something very important to consider as it lays the foundation for how you plan to fiance travel for yourself. Are you a 5 star hotel kind of person or a youth hostel dweller? Are you comfortable with sleeping on someone’s couch? Do you want to fly, drive, bus, or take a train? Maybe bike. This is possibly one of the most frustrating portions of travel planning because you don’t truly know because, A. you’ve never been there   or B. you’ve never traveled. This takes personal research and insight on your part. And be honest with yourself. It could save you quite a bit of money.

TIP: If you would like a copy of the template to edit on your own and play around with send me an email

Personally I travel fast and light. I don’t mind sleeping in a ditch or a King Size bed. Less is more for me so a minimalist approach to travel is just fine by me. Just get me there and have a place to put my stuff. I’ll figure the rest out. This budget reflects that and is inflated in some areas just in case. In there you will also see some upgrades for my photography gear as there will be quite a bit of that going on. Remember, every person is different and thus every budget is as well. Use my budget as a template only.

How to fund your trip around the world

This depends on what you do. Without knowing each of you individually I can’t specifically tell you but I can tell you how I funded my trip. I don’t make much money. I’ve worked as a photographer and been a student and Guardsman since 2009. I paid the bills and had a little money to play with but nothing major. When I decided to go on this trip I started cutting back. Here are a few things :

YOU DON’T NEED (or things I didn’t need)

–          Cable/ Satellite TV: I was paying about 90 a month. I realized that I really never watched tv because there was never anything on aside from a few of my favorite shows. Once I figured out how to download and stream everything TV disappeared. It’s not only a money waster but a time waster as well.

–          Super fast Internet: I went from a $50 plan to a $20 plan. Can’t tell the difference much. My downloads are a little slower but that’s about all.

–          Eating out. I was spending easily $400 a month eating out and that’s on the low end. If you think that’s too high imagine if you grab a cup of coffee and lunch out 5 days a week. Lets say a cup of coffee is $3 ($15 for the week). And you go to a decent lunch place like Chili’s. Average is going to be about $10 ($50 a week) plus tip. That’s already $260 without a breakfast and dinner meal. Start cooking. If you don’t know how, LEARN. I now spend maybe $100 a month eating out. I’m healthier and wealthier for it.

–          To drive everywhere: Now this was HUGE for me. I got rid of my car in Aprilish. The thing about Austin is you can take a bus or bike pretty much everywhere you really need to go. That alone saved me $500 a month in payments, parking, tolls, gas, and pure anger from the ridiculous traffic here. Not to mention how amazing I feel now. I cycled to work and home every day. If you really need to go somewhere rent a car. I’m going to teach you how I rent from Avis for around $50 total for an entire weekend.

–          Designer clothes and shoes: I was that guy. Designer suits, Ed Hardy (I know I know), and nice coats. One thing I always was cheap on was sneakers. I ONLY wear white sneakers. Basically plain old white Reebok/Adidas classics. What was a fashion aesthetic for me turned out to actually be a money saving habit. I get them on sale for about $30 a pair at the outlet malls near my home. I went through my closet and realized much of the stuff I owned I didn’t wear more than a few times and I was wasting money like water. I eventually donated 7 lawn bags full of clothes to the Goodwill. I now have one suit (had 8), three dress shirts, three pair of jeans, about 10 pair of shorts, and a bunch of t-shirts and underclothes. I don’t care whose name I’m wearing on my ass (I literally had a dragon and tiger fighting on my ass once and not in the good way).

Money saving tips

–          Sell EVERYTHING. Do you really need that crock pot, XBOX 360, or armoire? I’ve sold/selling everything. Once I’m done I will only have what fits in my bag and a trunk full of military decorations and personal documents. Everything else is replaceable. I do have an awesome book collection that I gave to another bookie friend for safe keeping. What good will any of this do you when you’re gone? I’ve netted about $3000 from selling my stuff.

–          Debt consolidation and adjustments: This can not only help you fiance travel, but help you maintain a good quality of life. Some people mistakenly believe I have no debt. WRONG!!! I have debt. I’m going to pay it back…..eventually. HEHEHEHE. Seriously, debt collectors will be there. If you already have bad credit like me, what’s another few months going to do? If you have good credit, contact your debtor and ask them to skip a few payments. I did this with a credit card and they were all for it since I never missed payments. My friend was able to get two months of payments cleared. All you have to do is ask. I don’t have much student loan debt since Uncle Sam paid for my undergrad but pay off the interest bearing loans and defer the others if you can. Also you can wait for Obama to pass some nifty student loan legislation. I’ve heard rumors. Just saying.

–          Buy USED. I pretty much buy everything major used. I would say 90% of the things I own are used. Craigslist, Ebay (not so much these days), and the Goodwill are great.

 

Tip: Don’t let debt control you. Debt is a hustle. They will bleed you for every cent. If you can get away do it. Another option is a settlement on very old debt. Say you owe $500 and your debt is old. Call them and tell them you’ve got $250 to clear it. You’d be surprised how many debt collectors will take something over nothing especially in this economy. The easiest way to get out of debt is to never get in it. BOOM!!!! If you can’t buy it then you don’t need it.

 

Making extra money

Clearly the best way to fiance travel. As I said above, I made decent money but not a lot. I knew that I had to do something to fund this trip so I got a summer job. Now I initially had calculated it would take about 2 years to save the money I needed. My job at the DMV cut that by a year. I have a degree in Occupational Educational and several years of teaching certification from when I was in the military.  I went in for the interview and actually didn’t get that position. They were looking for someone new. They however forwarded my application upstairs to a department they felt I would do well in that was looking for a training specialist. That department called me two days after my first interview. I went in and won the position. The pay was FANTASTIC, people were great, and I was doing something I’m passionate about. Teaching. Although I was only given a four month contract, I was able to make enough money to fund 50% of this trip and met some amazing people. The reason I’m telling this story is to drive home a point.

We all have talents. One of my talents is I can pretty much teach anyone anything. I was able to get that position because of two things.   1. I had experience  2. I know how to ace an interview. Use the skills that you have. If you can knit a mean sweater, sell them. If you make pies then send me one, for a price of course. Are you in great shape? Thought about personal training people? Good at math? How about tutoring? In life we all have to make sacrifices to get what we want. What’s more important? The travel money you make working an extra 20 hours a week or the extra few hours of sleep and partying at the same place you always go? This is the BEST WAY to fund your trip. One job pays the bill and another pays for your trip. Lets do some quick math. Say your first job covers all bills. Say you get a part time job. 20hrs a week at 7.15 (minimum wage). Take out 33% for taxes (and that’s on the high side) and you get about $4598 a year. That’s free money. Saving almost 5 grand a year is pretty good no matter why your doing it. Depending on where in the world you go (not western Europe) that goes a long way.