Vawn's Blog

No money, will travel anyway

VAWN HIMMELSBACH, Chic Savvy Travels

Choosing a career as a freelance writer isn’t something you do for the money. In fact, you’re essentially relegating yourself to the lower echelons of the CCRA income tax scale. So, considering this, people often ask me how I can afford to travel. Nope, I don’t have a sugar daddy, and I’m not living off an inheritance. And yep, I have a mortgage.

Here’s what I did: I figured out how much it would cost me to own a car, including payments, insurance, parking and gas. And then I didn’t buy a car. Instead, I put that money aside into a “travel fund” (one of those savings accounts that require 24 hours to transfer money to curb impulse shopping), every month, as though I was making car payments. It wasn’t long before I had enough money to afford a year of travel in Southeast Asia.

Of course, you might actually need a car or have other financial commitments. But there might be another area where you could cut back — even saving $100 a month adds up to $1,200 in a year. And you might be surprised where that can take you.

A few years ago I studied Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala, where I lived with a local family, ate all my meals with them and studied Spanish with a private tutor for four hours each day — an amazing experience, all for a grand total of $80 Cdn a week. At another point in my life, I took on an editing job in China, which paid for months of travel after my contract ended — and I came home with money in my bank account.

How and when you travel also makes a big difference. I like to travel at the tail-end of the low season, so I get good rates, but typically still get decent weather. And, though every now and then I like to splash out on a fancy hotel, most of the time I choose inexpensive family-run guesthouses. This not only saves money, but often provides interaction with local families and culture that you simply don’t get at the Four Seasons.

Money doesn’t have to be an obstacle to travel. Stay tuned for more articles on how to budget for trips, including an interview with the financial experts over at Smart Cookies.
Vawn

Date Added: January 17, 2011 | Comments (0)