How I Travel Without a Trust Fund

How I actually afford to travel full time

I realize that a lot of people must think I’m pretty rich, having been traveling for the past 1.5 years.

Trust me, I wish, but I’m not quite there yet.

I think a lot of people don’t know how affordable travel can actually be. They’ve been conditioned to think it has to be this big expensive thing that costs thousands of dollars for a week’s vacation. And yeah, flights, hotels, activities, those things do add up pretty quickly, so they’re not entirely wrong. But there’s so many ways to keep costs down, it’s just that most people don’t know these ways exist.

I think this mindset is especially true for Americans. We’re geographically isolated from a lot of famous vacation spots, so with flights alone you’re already making a huge investment. Plus, vacationing in the United States isn’t exactly cheap, considering it’s one of the most expensive countries in the world. Because of this, a lot of Americans don’t really see budget travel as an option. Whereas in Europe and other parts of the world, budget travel is more socially understood and accepted. It’s normal to take a €20 flight to another country for the weekend or backpack around Southeast Asia for months.

Me and my backpacks.

But even for those of us who are starting in the States, budget traveling it is a possible reality.

In fact, in my experience, traveling long term can be even more affordable than living in the States. There’s simply no way that I could live in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the budget that I travel with.

How I saved up for my travels

Anyone who knows me well knows that it has always been a dream of mine to travel the world. In fact, it’s one of the big things my boyfriend and I found that we had in common.

I’m super grateful that we pushed each other and really held each other accountable to not let go of our dreams. Because to be honest, I don’t think either of us would be where we are right now, without the encouragement and pressure from the other person to make it happen.

Though I’ll be real with you: saving for the long term travel was not glamorous.

I worked two jobs for a year after college, often clocking in over 50 hours a week. I cooked almost every single meal at home. I got coffee for free because one of my jobs was at a coffee house. I never splurged on anything. I took advantage of every single free opportunity for social gatherings and events. I was FRUGAL.

my day job…

Not to mention I had a side hustle making jewelry. And I sold half of my closet and all of my furniture before I left.

Jordan was also clocking in over 50 hours a week at his job. Plus, he had quite possibly the cheapest rent in Raleigh and never had to buy food because he either got fed at the restaurant where he worked or ate at my place.

In total, we saved close to $20,000. That’s a pretty penny, but we worked our asses off for it.

And honestly? Even though it was so hard, having a goal and an end in sight made it just a little bit easier. And you know what? It was worth every exhausting week, every skipped brunch, every night we stayed in instead of going out. Because now we get to do this.

And the hard work didn’t stop there. I still have a job, and I make $15 an hour, granted it’s only for 5-10 hours a week, but it still makes a big difference in my ability to keep going. And Jordan just recently got a job teaching English online using the platform Preply, so even if you can’t convince somewhere to let you work fully remote, there are still ways to get jobs online, and make money. Especially since while backpacking, you might have a lot of spare time on your hands, so there’s a lot of side hustles you can look into.

How I keep costs down while traveling

When I say I travel on a budget, I don’t mean I’m constantly sacrificing or depriving myself of experiences. I do what I want. Sometimes I’ll skip a more expensive option, but if I really want to do something, I’ll do it. Especially if I know later on I’m going to regret not doing something. Life’s too short. The money will come back around.

Even though it wasn’t cheap, I decided to splurge and go paragliding in Ölüdeniz, Türkiye

That being said, I don’t have infinite money, so I have to be intentional about where I spend my money. It’s just about priorities. I ask myself: what’s worth splurging on for me? What can I skip? And the answers for me are sometimes different than Jordan, or anyone else that we’re traveling with because they’re your priorities.

So yeah, I will spend a little bit extra money here and there to do something that is meaningful to me: like taking a cooking class or getting my scuba certification. But I’ll also skimp on accommodation, or take a shitty night bus where I can to keep costs down.

Here are some of the many ways that I try to stay on a budget.

Visiting less expensive countries

I know that the ethics around this idea can be murky, but it’s true. If you travel to a country where your currency has more purchasing power, you will be able to extend how long you can travel for. If you stay in the UK or Germany the money that you saved up for your travels isn’t going to last you very long. With single dorm beds in a hostel costing upwards of €25, food and activities being expensive, you could easily be looking at a daily budget of at least €60 per day.

Surprisingly, Bangkok was one of the cheapest cities I have ever visited.

Meanwhile, my daily budget right now in Siem Reap is about $8 a night for accommodation, $7 a day for food, and if I averaged my daily activities they would be another $10 probably. All of that together is less than one night’s accommodation in Europe, so it really does make a difference, and the experience of being in these less expensive countries is no less rewarding than Europe.

Accommodation

Accommodation is easily the most expensive part of traveling. It can very quickly eat up your budget, so there are a couple ways to reduce costs. As I said earlier, a way to have less expensive accommodation is to stay in less expensive places. Staying slightly outside the city center, or staying in a less expensive country can greatly affect the price of your accommodation. I also tend to have three different tabs open with Booking, AirBnB and HostelWorld open all at the same time trying to find a good deal.

Another way that I get cheaper accommodation is by doing a work exchange through Worldpackers.

Fialka has an incredible article on the ethics of work exchanges, and Emma has an article detailing one of her recent volunteer experiences. I highly recommend reading both of these if you’re interested in volunteering for your accommodation.

If you can find an experience that aligns with your values, is actually a fair exchange in terms of work load versus benefits, and where you feel safe and comfortable volunteering, this is a great option that I have used many times that has greatly helped to extend my time that I’m able to spend traveling!

When I was traveling through the UK, I also used trusted housesitters, which is another work exchange but the work is taking care of people’s pets and houses. This is a great option if you are a pet lover, but again sometimes taking care of people’s animals outweighs the benefit of getting to stay in a place for free, so just make sure you don’t get the short end of the stick.

Food

For the most part, I tend to cook at home. I really like cooking, so I never see it as a burden. Plus, it’s so much cheaper, and in a lot of countries, it’s a lot healthier than constantly eating every single meal at a restaurant. That being said, I’ll mix it up. If I don’t want to cook, I won’t. If I want to go on a street food tour, I will. Restaurants tend to be a special occasion type thing. Usually if I go out, I’ll hit up a local spot or get some cheap street food, the food will be just as good, if not better, and a fraction of the price.

Some of the most memorable meals are eaten in the hostel.

If you’re in countries that have a market where locals buy their groceries, that is always a much more affordable option than heading to the grocery store. A lot of times, these grocery stores cater to tourists and other non-locals, meaning they can hike up their prices a fair bit. Whenever I can, I try to shop at the local markets, both to support local communities, and for better priced groceries.

The price of fruits and veggies at my local market is less than half the price at a grocery store.

Transportation

The best form of transportation is the one God gave you, your own two feet. What’s so great about it? It’s free. And because I am able, I walk a lot. I’ll also rent a bike or take public transportation if it makes sense, but for the most part when I’m just inside a city I’m walking. In my opinion, there’s no better way to truly see a city than walking through it. There’s so much you miss while in a taxi, that you notice when you’re taking a slow meander through the streets.

I clocked 12 mile walking days regularly in London.

For longer haul travel, I’ll take the cheapest option whether it’s buses, trains or planes. Most recently, I just took an overnight bus and spent 14 hours traveling between Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City, when the flight would have been $70 more and 13 hours shorter.

Phone/Data

In most countries, it is really cheap and really easy to get a physical SIM card. You literally just walk into the store and they change it out for you, and then you can get it topped up at any store that sells data.

However, if I’m just traveling through a place or can’t be bothered to go get a physical SIM card, I use eSIMs. I used to use Airalo, which works great. But I recently found an even better app called MobiMatter, which is an eSIM marketplace, so you’re guaranteed a great price. After using Airalo for so long, I was actually shocked at how cheap the prices were on MobiMatter.

Slow Travel

I personally prefer slow travel over quick trips. I feel like you get to see and experience of a place and the inner workings of its culture. Whereas if you do quick trips, you really only get the highlights.

When you travel slowly, your daily costs average out to be lower because you’re not booking new transportation or shelling out for the big tourist attractions every single day.

Plus, when I travel slowly, I get to spend more time in places which helps me extend how long I’m traveling, which really is the whole point of longterm travel. Also when you decide to stay for longer, some places on Booking.com or Airbnb will offer a discount for stays longer than a week.

I volunteered at a hostel in a small town near Agadir, Morocco for two months!

Traveling Off the Beaten Path

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll go to the big cities. I’ll see the famous thing. These places are popular for a reason; they’re well-loved. And if I want to see it, gosh darn it, I’m gonna do it.

But also, sometimes wandering off the beaten path can save you a bit of money. Cambodia was more affordable than Thailand. Austria was cheaper than England. Smaller cities are less expensive than capital cities.

It’s not about avoiding the tourist spots entirely, it’s about balancing them with the quieter, cheaper places.

My Advice

What would I tell someone who says “I wish I could travel, but I can’t afford it”?

You can.

Travel doesn’t have to mean a big expensive vacation. It’s hard, especially if you want to do it long-term, to rid yourself of all the things costing you a lot of money: rent, car, stuff, more stuff. But once you catch that flight, it doesn’t have to be that expensive.

Here’s my best piece of advice for people who want to start traveling affordably but don’t know where to begin:

Make the plan. Set a date—maybe the end of your next lease. Work as hard as you can and make as much money as you can. Sell all of your stuff. Cook at home. Skip the expensive nights out. Say no to things that don’t serve your goal.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not easy. But it is possible.

And when you’re sitting on a beach in Morocco or watching the set over the Julian Alps or eating street food in Vietnam, you’ll know that you earned every single moment of it.

That’s the magic of traveling without a trust fund. You earned it, which makes every moment (even the shitty ones) that much sweeter.

Thanks for reading!

xx abby

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