My budget travel life requires moving slowly and spending lots of time with locals – my dream come true!
Made friends with lots of wonderful locals while house sitting during infamous fall colors. Budget travel opens lots of doors, and world travel can be yours if you know the right cheap travel secrets! photo Anthony Quintano
That means most of the people I meet do not travel the world and know nothing about budget travel. Which also means 90% of my first-meeting conversations involve a discussion of my finances. They go much like this:
Me: Hi there! Great shoes! Where’d you get them?
Other party-goer: Oh, hi. Thanks! They were a present from my boyfriend.
Me: Cool! I’m Jema, what’s your name?
Other party-goer: I’m _______.
Me: Nice to meet you! How do you know the party hosts?
Other party goer: (________Story _____________).
Me: Awesome. And what do you do around here?
Other party goer: I’m a _________.
Me: Wow – sounds like a fun job. Do you like it?
Other party goer: Yes/No.
Me:: What else do you like to do?
Other party goer: (___Stuff_____). How about you? What do you do?
Me: Oh, I’m a nomad. Right now I’m _______. I’ve been here for ____ weeks.
Other party goer: [cue the now predictable question]:
Really?! How do you afford to do that?!
Obviously not me. I don’t point my finger – even when being asked the same predictable question for the millionth time. photo Kristin Baldeschwiler
The assumption is that freedom of location 1travel and autonomy 2control over how you spend your time are expensive luxuries available only to the wealthy.
Not so, my friend!
Most citizens of the developed world can afford a normal, budget-travel trip around the world. This is not the way I travel, but I think it’s what most people have in mind when they long to take off on a world travel adventure. For them, I finished this article two weeks ago:
What it Costs to Travel the World
However, another reason people think my life must be crazy-expensive is because they imagine me doing full-time what they do on their annual ten-day vacation. Yes, that would be ridiculously unaffordable. More importantly, those who don’t travel the world are surprised to hear it would also suck.
The great news: avoiding the pitfalls of “normal travel” requires strategies that make it possible to travel the world endlessly! For people willing to make the lifestyle change, I just finished this article:
What it Costs to Travel the World Cheaply
There you have it!
Happy Traveling! ♣
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