Remember how you promised yourself that you were going to travel more this year? Well, this year is well on it’s way and if you haven’t booked travel by now, you are close to letting yourself down again.
A lot of the common excuses for people who don’t travel include, “Work is way too busy right now” or “It’s such a hassle to request time off” or the ever popular, “I don’t have money”.
I’m not saying these aren’t valid and legitimate reasons, I’m just saying if you really wanted to travel, you’d make it happen. For this post, we’ll focus on the popular, “I don’t have money” excuse.
Listen, I get it. To travel, you need to be able to book a flight, book accommodations, and request some time off. Not to mention the daily costs of food, drinks, excursions, and what ever else you buy during a trip. But, you might not need to save up as much money as you’re imagining.
For people who haven’t traveled much or are on a strict budget, I always advice them to start slow. Visit a Latin American country. A place like Colombia, Costa Rica or even some spots in the Caribbean are great starter destinations because they are CHEAP! Your money goes a long way and it allows you to stay longer, enjoy yourself a bit more, without breaking your bank.
Still skeptical? Let’s budget this shit out then. Let’s say you’re going to Bogota, Colombia out of California for 7 days.
Flight – Under $400 r/t (Yup, it’s real! Hit me up if you want help booking)
Accommodations – $371 (about $53 a night. Yes it’s cheap there)
Total Other Expenses – $450 (average of food/drinks/Tours about $70 a day for 7 days, which is way too generous. You could get away with spending $25 per day)
That brings your total to about $1221. But, really if you’re better at spending while traveling, you could make this trip happen for $1000 easily by watching what you buy while traveling.
Now I understand that $1000 dollars is a good chunk of change to some people. But, if you consider yourself “Poor”, in my opinion, that is when it’s the best for you to travel. I’ll go into that reasoning a bit deeper in another post. Think about it this way, if you were to give up your coffee house splurges or eating out splurges for 6 months to a year, $1000 is easily attainable. Not to mention the ability to earn money while you travel, which I will also go into on another post.
The above budget is for one person, but if you’re traveling with someone else, you could cut your costs down even further by splitting accommodation and food costs.
If after reading this you still think this is unattainable, you should ask yourself if you truly do want to travel. I believe if you’re passionate enough about it, you can make it happen.
I’m happy to help anyone who reaches out to me for help with travel planning and booking, so please do reach out with any questions you may have. Get your ass out there and see the world.
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