The Secret to Traveling Often

I frequently get asked how we do it? How do we travel so often? WELL – if there’s a will, you best believe there’s a way, which also translates to – if we can do it, so can you. 

You CAN put effort, time, and energy into traveling and still maintain a social life (seriously, you can). The way I see it, you have one thing to focus on, and it’s called learning to budget.  

That’s all I got folks – B U D G E T! I just gave you the secret, seconds into this blog post because I didn’t want to drag you through a well-written and beautifully scripted post without telling you what it’s all about. We like to keep it real (insert 100 emoji). 

Sometimes, I budget to the point that I don’t eat for a few days – JUST KIDDING; we are not in the hunger games. In real life, I eat, and honestly, I eat a lot. I have a love affair with food, but that’s a blog post for another day. 

It all comes down to what you do with what you have left of your hard-earned money after you have paid your monthly expenses. Quick, do you buy those runners you’ve been eyeing ever since you saw Kimye strut their stuff in it? Do you buy that cleanser because everyone at work swears your non-existent wrinkles will disappear into oblivion? Do you wine and dine yourself at that fancy-schmancy restaurant down the street OR do you only spend 50 dollars and save the rest? 

Are you hoarding that, or will you use it this year? 

What we do is put away a little bit of our money every month. We budget to the point that we stick to our routines and often, avoid buying clothes unless we’re heading to a party, that we can no longer wear the same floral outfit for the umpteenth time. We also make an effort to sell things we don’t need. Our mutual best friend is the Facebook marketplace. If you haven’t used it over the past 5 years – you aren’t going to use it tomorrow either, so give it one good parting hug and kiss it goodbye. While you’re at it, kiss that ancient wine rack goodbye and those things in the hoarding corner of your house. Buh-bye. Sell it, make money, and save that money to be used on your travels – sounds relatively straightforward, doesn’t it? 

Don’t we all deserve to eat to our heart’s content? 

Food is our only weakness, and even that we try our best to limit. What do we do if we want to try a new place? We budget it into our month so that we might spend a little less the next month. Eat and repeat. 

Do we need to party like a rockstar every weekend?

What about parties, you ask? Well, don’t go to them –KIDDING, don’t be that dude. Show up and be present when and if you can. Spend a little, but budget that into your future months or just cut your losses for a month – it’s okay. We can play catch-up the following month, BUT don’t make it a habit. Be picky and choosy with your time and money.   

I hope you’ve caught our drift…it takes budgeting travel into your life and prioritizing needs vs. wants to explore the world at your leisure. We know it can be done because we manage to do it – so take tiny steps before you take leaps and save your money for those adventures of your dreams. 

Since we really want to help you, we decided to share our vacation budget worksheet with you to assist with those baby steps into the travel world. If you need any advice or help from us, don’t be shy – leave us a comment or email us. We are happy to help!

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Pro-tip: when traveling, look for free walking tours – it’ll save you time and money.