To be honest, I am blessed as HECK. I am HECKIN’ blessed. I was able to go to college, get a decent corporate job, and bring in a steady income. Not everyone is afforded that opportunity, and I am incredibly grateful. It is part of what has helped me pursue my dream of seeing as much of the world as I can. As much as I try to stay humble, when I get a message from a jealous acquaintance while I am traveling, I get giddy. I love to travel, I love to experience the unknown, and I love to inspire people to do the same.
I have friends who I went to college with and who also have decent corporate jobs, and still approach me asking how I afford to travel like I do. No, I didn’t win the lottery (because gambling is not my bag). Even with a 9-5, though, you have to be strategic with your money if you want to travel the world. You have to prioritize travel above buying new clothing, above buying the newest iPhone, above your fancy, gas-guzzling car. I’ve had the same phone for years, I’ve had the same car for years, and I wait as long as possible before I do any repairs to it, even if it means feeling the steering wheel vibrating violently under my clenched fists every time I press the brakes. Travel is my number one priority, aside from my friends, family, and chihuahua child, of course.
Here is a little insight into my strategy for affording to travel around the world. You don’t have to make a lot of money at work or inherit millions from a long-lost relative. These may not work for everyone, but I’m convinced that at least one of these ideas will be helpful in your quest to tackle your travel bucket list!
BABYSIT DOGS.
In all honesty, babysitting little floofers is the number one way that I am able to travel so much. It’s the perfect side hustle. Can you imagine? A house full of good boys and good girls, cuddling with you as you watch TV, trotting alongside you on your runs, giving you endless face kisses, keeping you company when your boyfriend is camping on the other side of the state. I know this sounds like a dream to a lot of people. People love dogs. And getting paid to be surrounded by dogs in the comfort of your own home is almost too good to be true. I have Rover to thank for it.
Using Rover, which is a service that connects sitters to pet owners and allows sitters the chance to build their business and reputation, I have been able to obtain some regular clients who I absolutely adore (including my surrogate son, Zen the pug). Getting paid to watch them seems unfair. I also have had some puppy clients who have pooped on my rug. The great thing about Rover is that you can choose your preferences. If you don’t want non-housebroken puppies, you don’t have to accept them. If you only want one dog at a time, you can specify that in your profile. The scope of your business is completely up to you and your sitting schedule is on your terms.
The process is this: pet owners search Rover for sitters in their area, and your profile comes up if you’re in the proximity, complete with your experience, photos, and services you provide (boarding, walking, drop-ins, etc.). If you fit what the owner is looking for, they reach out to you, and you can choose to arrange a meet-and-greet, where you meet them and their pup and decide if it’s a good fit. If so, they’ll book you! They’ll bring their dog over with the dog’s food and toys, their credit card will be charged, and after they pick up their dog, you’ll receive a Paypal payout. Easy peasy. I have made over $2,000 some months on top of my income from my day job, money that all goes towards saving and traveling.
Rover is like Airbnb for pets! It has changed my life in a major way, and I have made some amazing furry friends over the past year and a half.
If you’re interested in joining Rover and starting your own side hustle, you can sign up via my referral link (and if you sign up through my link, I’ll get a Visa gift card, and you will be well on your way to your next big trip!): http://sit.rover.com/nGS6q
Monetize Your Website.
By far the most common and effective way of making money on a blog or other website is through affiliate marketing. You promote products or services, and if readers make purchases through your links, you get a small cut of the profits, and it costs the reader absolutely nothing. The past year I have used Amazon Associates as an attempt to use my blog to make a little bit of extra money. I shop almost exclusively at Amazon, so it’s an easy method of monetization and a way for me to recommend my favorite products to readers.
This obviously won’t work if you don’t have your own website, but if you’ve started to build a brand and have a good amount of traffic, you can definitely make enough to make a difference. And if you’re not using Amazon for all your purchases, you’re missing out.
Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Save a little bit at a time.
Every paycheck I get, I take out a small amount of money, put it in a special, separate travel savings account, and force myself to forget about it. I pretend it never even existed, and have found that this attitude makes it easier to resist the temptation of taking it back out and spending it. With just a little bit each time, the saving is less overwhelming, almost imperceptible. In no time, you’ll find yourself with hundreds of dollars that you’ve forgotten about, are surprised that you’ve gotten by just fine without, and can put towards your next trip.
Stop spending so dang much.
This seems obvious, but I don’t know if everyone really realizes the difference it can make. I am inherently not a big spender, which is lucky. But I have a friend who buys new clothing for herself frequently, spending a few hundred dollars every time. When she found out that she could refrain from buying those clothes and purchase a plane ticket abroad instead, she was shocked. In all likelihood, you don’t need those pricey new shoes, or that overpriced jacket, or your tenth manicure this year. Don’t stop taking care of yourself, but staying aware of frivolous spending and eliminating shopping sprees will save you a lot.
I find that tracking your spending and writing down everything that you spend makes you hyper-aware of where your money is going and helps you notice your spending patterns. If I would feel guilty writing down a $200 purchase, it probably means I shouldn’t make it. If I find myself writing down a $4 coffee purchase every day at Dunkin Donuts, it probably means that it’s time to start making my coffee at home instead.
Personally, I still have some of the same clothes from high school. I hardly spend anything on myself ever. It is freeing, in a way, being happy with what you already have.
Take advantage of credit cards.
Credit cards take a certain amount of self-discipline to ensure you’re not spending more than you have, but once you master it, they become invaluable tools for travelers. One of my favorite cards, Capital One’s Venture card, is geared specifically towards saving you money on your travel. Since you have to pay your cell phone bill, your grocery bill, and your electric bill regardless, putting it on your credit card instead of pulling it straight out of your checking account costs you nothing (as long as you pay it off every month), but earns you lots of rewards. When I was traveling through Australia, I ended up paying for several flights with my accumulated miles on my Venture card. It’s basically free-ass money.
There are tons of cards out there, some of which will give you bonus miles just for signing up, so do your research before applying.
Meal plan.
For a while, especially when my boyfriend and I first started dating, we would go out for several meals a week. Every trip to Chipotle put me out $10, every time we indulged in a steak dinner at a casual steakhouse, I’d find myself dropping $30 or more. For one meal. That is absurd, when you can be spending $5 or less per meal, if you do it right.
Recently I’ve started meal planning, cooking a big pot on Sunday afternoon and eating it throughout the week for lunch. It’s cheaper, and it’s fun finding new recipes to make every week. Here are some of my favorite slow cooker recipes that I’ve used so far:
Forego cable.
In this day and age, with all the streaming services available, the need for cable is almost obsolete with a good internet connection. I save about $50 every month by only paying for wifi, and I have never missed a show that I really want to watch by doing so.
Save the environment.
I have found myself being very stingy with my electricity and water. That means taking quick showers, reducing how much I wash my hair, only doing laundry if I have plenty of clothes to fill the washing machine, waiting to turn on the heat until absolutely necessary (that’s why they made fleece blankets and fuzzy socks), and always turning off all my lights when I leave the room and house. I’m using fewer resources, which saves me money while saving the environment, and many electric companies will give you account credits if you use less electricity than your neighbors.
Use T-Mobile.
If you live in the US, you probably have either Verizon or AT&T as your cell phone carrier. For a while, I never considered using anyone else. Two years ago I switched to T-Mobile, after a bit of unfounded trepidation, and I haven’t looked back since.
T-Mobile was the first carrier to offer unlimited data for an affordable price, which was what originally drew me into its grasp. For years using AT&T, I would end up paying $15 or more a month in overage charges, because no matter how hard I tried, I could not stay within my 2 GB limit. My cell phone bill was astronomical. T-Mobile offered me a way out, and with a cheaper price tag.
When I first went abroad under my T-Mobile plan, I was able to take advantage of T-Mobile’s incredible international coverage. For no extra cost, you can use your regular plan abroad, including unlimited text, data, and hotspot. AT NO EXTRA COST. T-Mobile has saved me so much at home and abroad, and I will hype them up now until the day I die.
Sign up for a flight deal notification program.
Last year I discovered Next Vacay and Scott’s Cheap Flights, one of the coolest new concepts in the travel sphere. Both were started by kind souls wanting to help fellow travel lovers, and they take the time to scour the interwebs to find the best flight deals. Though both offer free services with good deals out of airports around the country, if you pay for a premium membership ($25 per year for Next Vacay and $39 per year for Scott’s Cheap Flights), you’ll get personalized emails several times a week with the best, most exclusive priority deals out of the airports closest to you. If you are flexible with your travel plans, you have the opportunity to find some insanely cheap round-trip flights (think $400 to China, $600 to Australia, and $200 to Europe). The membership fees will pay for themselves if you book just one flight a year.
There’s my best advice. There’s no magic solution to traveling when and where you want, and those who do are often not rich. Anyone can travel; it is less expensive than you think. Good luck and safe travels!
