travel on a budget?
It drives me up the wall when people respond to news of travel destinations, past or future, with, "You are so lucky!" Yes, travel can be expensive, but luck didn't save my money, book my plane tickets, or make my hotel reservations. Nor did luck do all the research into best times of year, what to pack, or where to go. But I did.
We don't own a house, expensive furniture, or a second car. We plan and save for our trips. When we travel, we shop at the grocery store and market and don't buy a ton of souvenirs. If you have a passport, you can go all the places I have been. If you don't have a passport, get one. If you say you can't afford it, you could probably find a way to save $90. Put it on a credit card with 0% interest for a introductory period and pay it off in that time. Hell, put that and your whole trip on credit. It's not recommended, but it makes it possible.
It just irritates me when people act like someone dropped a magic vacation in your lap when the truth is that you've made choices in your own life that allow you to travel. If we chose not to travel, we could afford other things instead, but we haven't.
This was provoked by this post in the Craft: magazine blog talking about a new blog that focuses on Japanese crafts. "The blog has four contributors, three who have been lucky enough to travel there." [emphasis added] Not to mention the fact that I think it should be "three of whom have been lucky..." but I digress. I haven't read the actual site they are discussing, but I would imagine that their travels were also not "lucky," but planned. Even if it was for work, they had to get and keep the job that sent them there.
It's a pet peeve. So next time someone says, "I've always wanted to go there," tell them they should. Or offer to go along. I saw a good idea over at Less Than a Shoestring (among a number of excellent resources). Say you want to go on a trip in 16 months. Approximate airfare is $1000, plus $1000 for lodging and food, for nice, round example numbers. That $125 per month, or just over $4 per day (assuming you have nothing saved already). That's a latte per day or a few dinners out each month. Open (or dedicate) a bank account to your travel fund and put that amount in it. Sixteen months later, you'll have the money. It's just a big piggy bank, right? So go on your trip already!
We don't own a house, expensive furniture, or a second car. We plan and save for our trips. When we travel, we shop at the grocery store and market and don't buy a ton of souvenirs. If you have a passport, you can go all the places I have been. If you don't have a passport, get one. If you say you can't afford it, you could probably find a way to save $90. Put it on a credit card with 0% interest for a introductory period and pay it off in that time. Hell, put that and your whole trip on credit. It's not recommended, but it makes it possible.
It just irritates me when people act like someone dropped a magic vacation in your lap when the truth is that you've made choices in your own life that allow you to travel. If we chose not to travel, we could afford other things instead, but we haven't.
This was provoked by this post in the Craft: magazine blog talking about a new blog that focuses on Japanese crafts. "The blog has four contributors, three who have been lucky enough to travel there." [emphasis added] Not to mention the fact that I think it should be "three of whom have been lucky..." but I digress. I haven't read the actual site they are discussing, but I would imagine that their travels were also not "lucky," but planned. Even if it was for work, they had to get and keep the job that sent them there.
It's a pet peeve. So next time someone says, "I've always wanted to go there," tell them they should. Or offer to go along. I saw a good idea over at Less Than a Shoestring (among a number of excellent resources). Say you want to go on a trip in 16 months. Approximate airfare is $1000, plus $1000 for lodging and food, for nice, round example numbers. That $125 per month, or just over $4 per day (assuming you have nothing saved already). That's a latte per day or a few dinners out each month. Open (or dedicate) a bank account to your travel fund and put that amount in it. Sixteen months later, you'll have the money. It's just a big piggy bank, right? So go on your trip already!