Last Updated: 11/12/20 | November 12th, 2020
One of the most common questions I get asked about my ability to travel long-term is how I can afford to travel so much? Am I rich? Did mother and father pay? Do I have a rich uncle? Did I win the lottery?
Before I was able to transform this blog into a business, I spent years traveling the world by doing one thing: I kept track of my spending.
Det er det.
It’s easy and boring.
At the end of the day, just like there’s no secret to travel, there’s also no real secret to making your money last on the road either.
The way to make your money last is to be smart and reasonable about your budget and to do your research.
It’s boring, but it’s true.
When I first started traveling, I pinched every penny and saved money every chance I got. While I in some cases lavishly spent money like it was going out of style, I made up for it on other days by staying in and cooking pasta.
In short, I balanced my budget.
I kept a journal of what I spent so I could track my spending and be sure I was staying on budget. (I love when I see travelers keeping a spending journal to track their budget. Those are the travelers who end up staying on budget!)
While on the road (just like at home), there will be unforeseen situations that chip into your savings, like missed flights, a lost camera, or a change in plans that leaves you having to pay extra for accommodation. You can’t avoid these sorts of things, but you can plan for them. You can be prepared, know your budget, and make sure you can afford your travels.
Here are five ways to make sure you never run out of money for your trip:
Step 1: Know what you want to spend money on
When I travel, I don’t budget a lot of money for accommodation, tours, or even transportation. I find the most affordable accommodation around and I walk all over I can. If I need a ride, I’ll take public transportation or hitchhike!
But I will spend a lot of money on food and drinks.
Hvorfor?
Because that’s what I want to do! I didn’t pinch pennies back home and avoid going out so I could fly to Australia and spend my nights viewing Netflix, nor did I head to France just to cook meals in a hostel every night.
No, not me. I concerned live! I concerned eat and drink in the culture! Jeg vil gerne ud.
And I’m prepared to sleep in massive dorms, on a floor, or walk seven miles to guarantee I have the funds to make that happen.
If you can eat all your meals in a hostel kitchen then a small food budget is for you. If you plan on Couchsurfing every night of the week, then you don’t need to account for accommodations. If you are flying to Europe and know you love to drink wine, you ought to expect that you’ll probably purchase some wine.
Be reasonable about what you want to finish with your travels and budget accordingly.
Step 2: research and plan before you go
When you know yourself and what you want to spend money on, it’s easy to create a robust budget that will cover you for the duration of your trip. This is where pre-trip research comes in.
Will you be taking any trips or cooking classes?
Going bungee jumping or dancing the night away at a club?
Once you know your interests (at least a bit), you can set your budget.
When I started planning my trip in 2005, there wasn’t a lot of travel information online. I spent a lot of time reading guidebooks and searching for any information I could find about prices. I pieced together an elaborate spreadsheet of how much I would spend each day in various places based on how much I could save and what I found online.
These days, you don’t need to go that crazy when you plan your trip, because there is so much information available online about prices. You can literally Google the price for anything you want!
If you want to make your money last, you need to know exactly how much you think you’ll spend.
Too often I see travelers get blindsided by unexpected costs, breaking their budget to pieces. Sure, something will always happen that you don’t predict, but people mostly get blindsided by stuff they ought to have anticipated.
“Wow! That trip is so expensive. I blew my budget!” “I didn’t expect drinks would cost so much!” “This place is much more expensive than I thought.”
I just shake my head when I hear these comments, because these are people who clearly didn’t do any planning.
Don’t be like these people. Do your research, plan ahead, and avoid the pitfalls that will send you home far sooner (and far poorer) than you want.
Step 3: create your ideal budget
Create a budget for what you think travel will cost. write down all the things you want to do, where you want to do them, and how much they will cost. Account for your food, insurance, transportation, flights, accommodation, booze, activities, and anything else you think will be relevant.
If you need help budgeting or don’t know how much something will cost, ask someone from oUr Online Travel Forum – nogen vil helt sikkert være i stand til at hjælpe!
Trin 4: Match dine forventninger til din økonomiske virkelighed
Jeg skar meget fra mit ideelle budget og tidsplan baseret på hvor meget jeg vidste, at jeg faktisk ville spare på min rejse. Hvis jeg ville gøre ting, der udgjorde $ 10.000 USD, men kun ville spare $ 7.000 USD, var jeg nødt til at foretage nedskæringer for at matche min økonomiske virkelighed.
Her er nogle gode artikler om at spare penge for at hjælpe dig med at komme i gang:
22 måder at spare penge på, før du rejser
Hvordan man undgår bankgebyrer på vejen
18 trin til planlægning af din ideelle tur
Hvordan man spiser billigt rundt om i verden
Sådan bruges delingsøkonomien til at rejse på et budget
Trin 5: Hold styr på alle dine udgifter
Endelig, efter at du har oprettet dit rimelige budget og sat ud på vejen, skal du spore alle dine udgifter. De mennesker, der skal hjem tidligt, er altid dem, der ikke har nogen idé om, hvor mange penge de bruger på vejen.
Ved at spore alle udgifter – fra hostel sovesale til den snack, du har købt – kan du se, om du er på sporet, eller om du overgår (i hvilket tilfælde kan du tilpasse dine udgifter).
Dette er den mest vigtige ting, du kan gøre for at få dine penge til at vare!
Hvis du kun gør en ting, skal du spore dine udgifter! Selvfølgelig er du nødt til at huske at gøre det, og det er let at glemme, men aktivt at gøre dette vil garantere, at du bliver en bedre budgetrejsende, og snart bliver det en vane.
Du kan holde styr på det hele i en journal (jeg bruger en Moleskine -notebook) eller bruge en app som:
Mynte
Trail Wallet
TravelSpend
Goodbudget
Jeg foreslår at spore dine udgifter i et par uger derhjemme før din rejse for at komme i vanen. På den måde, når du er på farten, føles det ikke som en opgave. Her er nogle helt gratis budgetteringsskabeloner, du kan bruge til at komme i gang.
***
Dit budget varer kun, så længe du planlagde det at vare. Hvis du planlægger dit budget godt, vil det vare indtil slutningen af din rejse. Uanset hvad du gør, skriv dine udgifter ned !!! At holde styr på dine udgifter giver dig mulighed for at foretage justeringer, når du går og garanterer, at dine rejsepenge varer, så længe du vil.
Gennemgå nogensinde budgettet?
Selvfølgelig. Men jeg kompenserer for det på andre dage. Fordi det er meget enklere at udgøre en ekstra drink end en tur til Great Barrier Reef eller kontinuerligt gå over dit indkvarteringsbudget.
Ved at planlægge og spore som en økonomisk ninja vil disse ting sandsynligvis ikke ske. Det indebærer meget flere dage på vejen, meget mere eventyr og meget mere fantastiske rejseoplevelser.
Jo bedre du kender dig selv og opretter et budget baseret på det, jo længere vil dine penge vare, når du rejser!
Sådan rejser du verden på $ 50 om dagen
Min New York Times bedst sælgende paperback-guide til World Travel vil instruere dig, hvordan du mestrer kunsten at rejse, så du kommer fra den slagne vej, sparer penge og har en dybere rejseoplevelse. Det er din A til Z Planning Guide, som BBC kaldte “Bibelen for budgetrejsende.”
Klik her for at lære meget mere og begynde at læse det i dag!
Book din rejse: logistiske forslag og tricks
Book din flyvning
Find en billig flyvning ved hjælp af Skyscanner. Det er min foretrukne søgemaskine, fordi den søger på websteder og flyselskaber over hele kloden, så du ved altid, at der ikke er nogen sten, der ikke er vendt.
Book din indkvartering
Du kan booke dit hostel med HostelWorld. Hvis du vil bo et andet sted end et vandrerhjem, skal du bruge Booking.com, da de konsekvent returnerer de mest overkommelige priser for gæstehuse og hoteller.
Glem ikke rejseforsikring
Rejseforsikring vil beskytte dig mod sygdom, skade, tyveri og aflysninger. Det er omfattende beskyttelse, hvis noget går galt. Jeg tager aldrig på en tur uden den, da jeg har været nødt til at bruge den adskillige gange i fortiden. Mine yndlingsfirmaer, der tilbyder den bedste service og værdi, er:
Safetywing (bedst for alle)
Forsikre min rejse (for dem over 70)
Medjet (for yderligere evakueringsdækning)
Klar til at booke din rejse?
Tjek min ressourceside for de bedste virksomheder, der skal bruges, når du rejser. Jeg viser alle dem, jeg bruger, når jeg rejser. De er de bedste i klassen, og du kan ikke gå galt ved at bruge dem på din rejse.