More risk, more experience, less stuff, less regret. This is
the life I have chosen.
In 2017, I made roughly $18,000. I know what you are
thinking, "That is absolutely nothing". You're right, it's not very
much at all. The only good thing is that I had very minimal expenses; no rent, no
phone bill, all student loans paid off, and no recurring monthly payments in
general (i.e., Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, etc.).
Many people have asked me how I afford to travel. The short
answer is a little focus, determination, and prioritizing it as a must do,
instead of something I will do eventually. I would like to break it down more
in depth in this post and help anyone who is considering how they will afford a
trip coming up by showing exactly what I did- because I have no other advice
other than to simply be candid about my finances and spending habits.
I won't lie, this frugal lifestyle is not for everyone. It
can be tough, especially at first, but with a little practice, it becomes a
habit and your decisions are made for you through your own willful automation.
I do not require much. I would rather repair a broken bag instead of buying a
new one, or I would rather meal prep for the entire month than go out to eat at
all. I have gone as far to teach a friend how to cut my hair by letting her
mess it up to learn how to do it so I could pay her in beer and wine. Call me
selfish, but I have been known to sacrifice developing friendships (meaning I
have chosen to stay in instead of go out) in order to save $10 on a meal or
drinks. I have learned that just because "it's only $5 or $10" really
means "it's $5 or $10!". That only $5 turns into 100 "only
$5" and before long you have spent $500 on stuff you didn't need. Over the
course of a lifetime, this $500 a year is broken down as such; $500 x 50 (years
of remaining life expectancy) = $25,000. That "only $5" turned into a
new car, or in this case, a lot of trips (or what you want it to be).
Keep this mindset and you can save all that money on things
you don't need in order to spend it on the experiences that matter. The
experiences that give you life and meaning. Science has proven those who spend
money on experience over material objects are happier and expected to live a
longer and more fulfilled life. I am not sure about this, but I am positive it
gives my life more meaning, more structure, and allows me to keep less stuff
and more value in my life. So here we go.
I made dirt wages at Edelweiss. I'll give you the template. (Not
100% accurate, but very close).
I did not make very much at Edelweiss, but I picked up as
many hours as possible while working there even though it was only
"part-time", I was able to maximize the lack of hours and wages.
As you can see, my wages greatly outweighed my expenses, so
I was bringing in a surplus. Many people might be wondering about all the trips
I took. Yes I did not add these, but my last 6 months trips totaled to around
$3000, so we can take $3000 out of the surplus for a new surplus of $3283, this
new number is what I would use to budget my next 2 months in Asia.
For Asia, the main budget eaters were my flights totaling
$1500 for all of the stops including heading home. With $1700 to spare, I could
have lived in India for 6+ months if I kept the same mindset I used in the
western world. It was incredibly cheap. I spent less than most people would
because I did not buy souvenirs, or stay at many hostels. I used workaway,
couchsurfing, and a meditation retreat as my resources to travel and stay
around in order to maximize my experience and minimize my expenses. I rode
passenger trains and tuk-tuk's that ranged from $0.15-$4 per trip. My main
meals consisted of popular street food stands, curry dishes at restaurants, and
eating with my hosts. I ended up spending slightly over $200 for this leg of my
trip, leaving me with $1500 to utilize in the remaining countries.
With $1500 to go in Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea, I
decided to treat myself and get advanced scuba diving certified. For 12 dives,
a place to stay, and an excellent experience, I paid $650. On top of this $650,
I spent about $100 on food for 3 weeks by eating a lot of street pad thai and
cup noodles, and also went on 2 tours (Elephant camp and a temple tour) for an
additional $110. I paid another $40 for splitting an airbnb for 5 days. This
leaves me with $600 to go for Vietnam and South Korea.
Vietnam was incredibly cheap as well, it was the 2nd
cheapest place I went to. A bowl of noodles was about $2.50 and I ate a lot of
them when I could. I decided to utilize my resource of workaway in Vietnam for
10 days again. This covered my stay and food for these 10 days in exchange for
some physical labor on a family farm. Again, this maximized my experience and
minimized my costs. I spent $10 on my first 2 days for food and a hostel. I
also talked a local shop owner down on a $50 "NorthFace" jacket to
$15. Then took a bus for $3 to my destination, I did not spend money again
until my last 3 days in Vietnam. When I left my workaway, I bussed to SaPa
Valley for $3 and stayed at a homestay for $4 per night at 2 nights, I decided
to hire a guide to hike the mountain for another $60 (completely overpriced
hike but I decided to follow the law and pay the toll instead of rebelling). I
had to take motorbike taxi's to get around at $1.5 per ride and rode about 6 of
these totaling $9. If you are keeping track, I spent around $170 in Vietnam for
2 weeks. This leaves us with $430 to spend in South Korea.
You get the point. I looked for ways to greatly decrease my
expenses while maximizing my experiences, and this was the theme of my trip.
Save money, increase value. I did not want to go to these destinations and
simply do the tourists things and then leave. I wanted to get a feel for how
locals live and I got a pretty good idea of that in India and Vietnam, I sort
of treated myself in Thailand and South Korea and could have made my trip even
cheaper, but I wanted to live a little.
*As you can see, this is how I budgeted my trip, or was able
to afford my trip. Although, the real trick is changing your mindset about
money, when you do that, you can save for anything you want. It might take some
time and a lot of sacrifice but it's possible, and you will never get there if
you do not begin immediately. If you have high rent and a large car payment, no
one said you had to live in a luxurious place or drive a brand new 2018 car,
you made that choice. No one said you had to eat your avocado toast and drink
your 3rd wave drip coffee from Kenya at your local coffee shop for $18 per
sitting, you made that choice. No one said you had to order all those clothes
on Amazon for $250, instead of hitting a 2nd hand shop or being satisfied with
what you have, you made that choice. "You can't have that cake and eat it
too." I finally understand this quote. You have to choose what is
important to you. Your life is a long succession of decisions that you make,
and each decision compounds from the last decision. One day, you might be
somewhere in life and realize you have been living the rat race life marketed
to you by society and be very upset and begin pointing fingers, but the goal
should be to realize the error in our ways and correct them moving forward. I have simply chosen to live a simpler life with
less stuff, less eating out, and a little more risk in order to maximize my
experiences and minimize regrets in life.
"We don't regret the things we did, we regret the
things we did not do."
If you read this far, thank you. If you need any money tips
or advice then feel free to reach out. I am trying to figure out how to share
my tips without sounding like a broken record or lecturing too much. Sometimes
it is difficult for me! The biggest step is narrowing your focus, changing your
relationship with money, and prioritizing what you want then going for it
without wavering. Good luck!
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