“I can’t afford to travel!”
That’s the number one reason people avoid traveling. Did you know travel is much more affordable than you ever imagined? Often, it’s not the cost of travel that hold us back; it’s the cost of life that clips our wings and keeps us {unhappily} in the daily grind.
How do we control the costs, get unclipped, and enjoy a travel lifestyle?
Here are 3 tips to make your travel dreams a reality.
Make Room for Travel
So many of us are sucked into the grind. Wake up. Commute to work. Skip lunch. Go home, exhausted. Collapse on the couch. Pay bills. Go to bed, only to wake up and do it all over again. This, for many, is “living.” However, this routine contains very little life. So, the first tip is to make room for life…and travel.
Pull out your calendar and choose your date of escape. Maybe it’s a weekend, a week, a month or longer. Just choose your date right now and block the time.
This is an important first step because you establish the goal and everything you do must support the goal. Where are you spending your time and money? If it doesn’t support the goal of travel, and traveling is important to you, ditch it or delegate it.
Crunch the Numbers
Evaluate your daily, weekly, and monthly expenses right now. Be kind, there is no right or wrong. You may find you spend a lot of money on cable and internet which support static entertainment. If your goal is active entertainment, why not reduce the expense?
Can you lower your monthly bills? Are you spending a lot of money on high interest school loans? Different lending options like refinancing those high interest loans may give you more monthly income. Then, what can you do with your new-found money to save or pay off other debt standing between you and your goal?
Look for New-Found Money
This isn’t about quarters in the seat cushions! This is about earning additional money. If you are an employee and do an exceptional job, is it time to ask for a raise? How can you add more value for your employer that translates into additional income?
What about a side-hustle? There are 24 hours in a day. Assuming you sleep for 7 hours and work for 9 hours, that’s a total of 16 hours, right? This leaves an additional 8 hours every weekday and more on the weekends to create another source of income. Some digital nomads have discovered their side hustle grows past their main income source. This means more travel.
And don’t forget the power of downsizing. You’ve heard the saying, “one man’s junk is another man’ treasure.” Are you hanging on to unused items which can be sold? Stop loving the stuff and list it! That extra jingle in your pocket could be your next vacation.
You Can Afford to Travel
Earn more. Spend less {on non-travel items}. Live abundantly. It really can be that simple. Begin with the end in mind.