How to Afford Traveling

If you looked at the map on our office wall, with bright colored pins poked in various destinations, you would see we have had some wonderful opportunities to travel, both throughout the United States and abroad.

Some of our favorite places include: California, Las Vegas, Yellowstone, the Oregon Coast, Mexico, Florida, Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Guatemala, Brazil, Iceland, England, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, France, Monaco, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece.

We are currently planning our second European adventure for this summer to include some combination of: Prague, Poland, Spain, Morocco, Southern Italy and Croatia.

We have dreams of traveling to Africa, Thailand, China, Australia, Bora Bora, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, South America, Belize, Southern Caribbean, the 6 U.S. States left on our bucket list... basically everywhere. 

It's no secret that traveling is expensive.

Airfare, accommodations, food, activities... it all adds up, and quickly. You might wonder how much money we make to be able to afford all this traveling, or if we have some rich uncle or parents providing us financial assistance. 

Well, I'll be honest, we are definitely not rich. Both our salaries are average (or below). We aren't much better off than poor college students. More like poor college graduates trying to live the American Dream. And unfortunately, no rich relatives have ever donated to our travel fund. (In fact, not that it's anyone's business, but we have both paid for our entire college educations and living expenses since we graduated from high school.) 

But despite being poor, there's something we love more than money... traveling. 

I fully believe in this quote:

Traveling is the only thing you buy that makes you richer. 

And I'm lucky my husband agrees! 

I must point out that there's a difference between vacationing and traveling. It's not just laying in a chair by the pool (although some days that's necessary)... it's the experience, it's the journey, it's the memories. And we've been lucky enough to create a book full of them. 

But let's get back to the point... how to afford traveling. 

It's not about how much money you make, it's how you choose to spend it... and not just while you're on vacation. We not only travel frugally, we live frugally all year long, so we can afford traveling. Budgeting and money is constantly on our minds. 

So here are 5 simple ways we cut back, so we can afford to travel and experience the world.  

1. Housing

We live in an averagely priced apartment that is within our means. We don't have a house payment (yet) but someday when we do, we will choose an average to small home that has just enough space for what we need. Nothing extravagant or luxurious. Just the basics.  

2. Cars

Actually make that singular: car. We share a car... and it's old. 12 years old to be exact. Husband rides his 1980 Yamaha motorcycle (almost) year-round and we give each other rides to/from work or school on days that riding the bike is not possible.  Yes, some days I dream about having a brand new car with leather heated seats, a sunroof and all 4 hubcaps in tact...but it's nice that we don't have a car payment. And although sometimes we have car repairs, we drive carefully and focus on upkeep and maintenance.

3. Food

For us, it's not really about frequency of eating out vs. home cooked meals - because honestly, it's actually cheaper to get a $5 Little Caesar's than it is for me to cook a pot of homemade chili. But to put it simply: we're cheapskates. When we order fast food - it's dollar menu items. When we go to a nice restaurant, we often fill up on the all-you-can-eat salad, chips or bread sticks and then share a meal. We always order water and never dessert. A lot of our home cooked meals are Mac n' Cheese, cereal, Ramon noodles, or pasta... part of that is because neither of us have much free time to cook - but another part is because we buy cheap food. 

4. Deals, Coupons & More Cheapness

We live on coupons, deals and cheap stuff! Crazy as it sounds, we have never bought brand new furniture. We scour Craigslist, garage sales, clearance racks, and thrift stores like it's our job. And we have saved SO much money by doing so. We also re-purpose things like two antique crates for night stands, an old door for a headboard, and extra bed sheets for curtains. Plus ugly things get a sanding and painting make-over, like our two dressers and desk (which were all FREE). We LOVE Groupon and Sunday coupon deals... even tried extreme couponing for awhile but decided to save it until we have more kids and room to store it all, when stocking up on family packs makes more sense. But believe me - someday I WILL be that crazy coupon lady. 

5. Extra Money & A Piggy Bank 

Lastly, we make extra money wherever we can. We have two side businesses, plus we often find things at thrift stores or garage sales and then re-sell it. Sometimes Chris does extra manual labor, whether it's construction or odds and end jobs. It's not a lot, but every extra dollar helps. Whenever we have extra cash or change, we put it in our piggy bank or "travel fund." Once we establish a budget for our upcoming trip, we start setting money aside in a separate savings account that we vow not to touch unless it's an extreme emergency.

Now, some people may read all this and think.. nah, I'd rather live a little nicer, have a bigger house, new cars and not have to work extra hours. While it would be ideal to have the best of both worlds... we aren't to that point yet. So for now... we sacrifice a lot so we can afford to travel.

And even once we've reached our destination, the sacrificing isn't over. We aren't staying in the Ritz Carlton or eating at fancy restaurants every night... we're snuggling up in the twin bed of a hostel to save 15 Euros or desperately emailing Couch Surfers and sleeping in the home of people we just met 5 minutes ago. We're writing down every cent we spend on food, train tickets and markets so we can make sure we're staying on budget. We're bartering with the locals to get a hotel for 25 Euros (instead of 50) and renting a moped for only 10 Euros (instead of 25). We're sleeping in our rental car for the night because that Couch Surfer never picked up his phone.We're sharing a baguette with cold hot dogs and skipping the ketchup because they charge you .60 Euros for it. We're sometimes a little risky and don't pay for the metro/tram. We're biking 5 miles down cobblestone streets at 3AM so we don't have to pay for a taxi to get to the airport...We're always sacrificing. 

But believe me. 

It's all so worth it. 

When you catch a glimpse of this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or you literally can't breathe for 10 seconds because you just saw this.

And once you finally catch your breath, you jump up and down and squeal like a little kid. 

When you meet awesome friends while Couch Surfing, who take you to the BEST local places where you eat the most delicious food of your life. (And dream about it every single day since):

Or find a completely secluded (romantic) beach with not a soul in site... Life goal, check. ;)

When you fall asleep on an overnight bus in Brussels and wake up in London (it was the worst night's sleep ever, but was 1/4 the cost of the fast-train) and who cares... you're in LONDON! And that's a pretty sweet looking bridge.

Or you run across the Golden Gate bridge and complete 26.2 miles for your first Marathon:

 When you meet the cutest pet monkey named Pancho in Guatemala:

And then meet the happiest kids, ever who put everything into perspective:

When you wave goodbye to your Oma out the train window, after spending a weekend together admiring fields of sunflowers, exploring castles, eating Spaghetti Eis, and stocking up on German chocolate.

When your heart pounds so hard, you can barely hear the tandem jumper say 3, 2, 1...and you jump out of a plane:

Or you almost get arrested by the Mexican police, while on a plane:

When you spot a giant momma Grizzly bear and two cubs trotting along your car while driving through Yellowstone:

When you meet a random friend on the beach and he teaches you how to scuba dive off the Florida coast.

Or you kiss a dolphin:

 Or kiss under the confetti of Times Square on New Years:

Or kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower:

When you have to pinch yourself, because you don't think this is real life. You don't think you could possibly be this lucky.

And then you realize...

It's not luck. 

While yes, you are grateful for every single opportunity and all those who have supported you throughout your life... it wasn't by chance. It wasn't some good fortune sweepstakes. It wasn't a hand-out. You worked hard for this. You sacrificed. You saved. You earned every single penny that brought you here. This is your life and you deserve it, no matter what the critics may say. And at that moment you realize - all the sacrificing was so freaking worth it and you can't wait to save up for your next adventure!!