How I Afford to Travel
People often ask me how I afford to travel.
*This is a transparent yet cursory overview of my finances over the last few years.
I worked about 3 years at PAREXEL a clinical research company. I started at $15 per hour and finished at $18.60 per hour. I made about $38,000 per year at my full-time job. My take home pay after taxes was about $2000 per month “guaranteed”.
In my free time, my side hustles were mostly work as a Brand Ambassador at different companies such as Scores ($20 hr), RedPeg Marketing ($25 hr), and Models on Demand ($30-35 hr). My Scores gigs were 2-4 hours each evening and I’d do those 2-5x per week. Weekends included the longer gigs, usually 12 hours per day, Saturday and Sunday, 1-2x per month.
Monthly overhead costs:
Rent: $791/2
Utilities: $100/2
Internet: $100/2
With a roommate, it cost me around $500 per month to live in Baltimore, Maryland. I lived about 5 min drive from the inner harbor. I also had parking and was within walking distance from my job at the hospital. I lucked out. I also made a few mistakes with roommates which cost me $1700.
Food/ Groceries: $300ish
Cell phone: $118 with Sprint
Planet Fitness or Gold’s Gym: $10-30
Baltimore Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: $115 for 8 classes per month. For a little more, I could have gone unlimited, but I never needed to because my social life and side hustles took up the rest of my time.
Things I didn’t spend my money on:
Drinking: I don’t drink. I’ll take a shot once in awhile if the occasion calls for it, but drinking has never been my thing. I don’t like the way it makes me feel (Asian Glow). And damn, drinking is expensive…anywhere from $5-15 each. Do you know how many tacos I could buy with that?!
Car and insurance- I drove a 2005 Ford Focus that belonged to my parents. They graciously let me drive it and paid for my insurance by bundling it in with their own.
Health insurance- My dad had benefits at his company, so he kept me on until I turned 25. Correct me if I’m wrong, but under Obama, I was able to stay covered the remainder of the year even if I turned 26 (Birthday March 28, yay Aries! Holla at ya girl). In preparation for the loss of coverage, I applied for Medicaid and got accepted. In my application, I said I would be travelling but not making any income in the USA. My Medicaid automatically renewed this year!
Student loans- My parents helped me pay for my student loans. I’m lucky I was able to go to a university at the time I did, but nowadays, there are so many more cost effective options for garnering an education or obtaining a means of income.
When I left my job September 2017, I had roughly $29,000 left in the bank. I had paid for Peru by this time.
Trips I spent money on:
Thailand (with Bamboo) April 2017: $1400 for two weeks with group. One week by myself +$200.
Nepal (with Bamboo) September 2017: $1400 for two weeks with group +$200 trekking supplement.
Peru for 6 months (with Maximo Nivel) Nov 2017-May2018: $6,745 for TEFL certification, volunteering programs + holiday accommodation and 2 meals per day.
200hr Yoga Certification Course with Siddhi Yoga School: $1400 for about 4 weeks all inclusive. Accommodation in hotel room and 3 meals per day.
India (with Bamboo then transferred to Volunteering Solutions) $1400 for three weeks.
Goa, India: During the off season (end of June/ Beginning July) I was able to get a bed in a hostel 2 mins walk from the beach for $5 per night at Bunkker Container Hostel. Because it was the off season, I was able to get a whole 6-person bunker all to myself 😊
Spain with Candis for ten days: $300 for accommodation and flights in between 3 cities. My best friend is a goddess for many reasons. Travel planning is one of them.
BJJ Globetrotters Camp in Heidelberg, Germany for one week: $700 for food, accommodation and training.
Bali MMA: $1500 for three months of unlimited training and accommodation in Bali.
Jamu Spa School: $3500 for three-month program and $1000 for accommodation at hotel during that time.
Kentucky Louder Than Life Festival : It came out to roughly $400 per person for Airbnb, rental car and flights. Tickets for event were $187 each but those were refunded because the event was cancelled and we didn’t realize until we were about to board the plane.
I’ll start to run low on money around May 2019. I plan to go to Australia for a year and then New Zealand after that and make money through the working holiday visa. In my research, their minimum wage is decent (better than USA) and the visa is accessible to expats.
Other Stuff:
Traveler’s Insurance: My first year, I paid $1274 for standard coverage with World Nomads. I had to increase it to Explorer coverage for roughly $1600 this upcoming year, mostly because of training jiujitsu. It’s a chunk of change out of the pocket, but something Candis taught me is: Peace of mind is worth it.
Plane tickets: A majority of my plane tickets this year have been bought using points from my credit cards. More on that in another post.
*Important Side Notes:
As you can see, I don’t have a “Secret sauce”. I have not yet figured out how to make money online or invest in the stock market. I grinded around the clock, working my ass off and trading time for money.
It would be a lie to not acknowledge the privilege and blessings I have with the family I’ve been given. They’ve taken care of some expenses that otherwise would have made saving money so much more difficult.
I did not include the cost of food on my trips in the calculation because it would have been too much to keep track of. I spent what I needed to and ate what I wanted, mostly I was frugal but sometimes I splurged.
To sum up my finances: It’s a combination of working hard, getting lucky (or being privileged) and prioritizing what to spend my money on.
**What are some financial challenges you have? Do you have any financial advice? What is your greatest obstacle in regards to travelling? I’d love to hear your thoughts!