However, the planning part requires a hard look at finances, which takes a lot of the fun out of the process. That said, when I started this blog I promised at least one post about finances. I love to analyze budgets, so it will likely be a recurring theme, but we'll start with one post on the economics of travel.
To start, I need to address the obvious lifestyle factors. I'm 35 years old, a working professional, and I've chosen not to have children. That should immediately give you an idea of how I am able to make travel a financial priority. I don't have to save for anyone's college (I'm still paying off mine), I buy clothes and food for one person (plus a dog who eats almost more than I do, and a cat but she's cheap), and I don't have to pay for daycare or insurance or any of the other high costs that come with having a family. I was born into a middle-class family that openly discussed budgets and money management, which puts me at an advantage from the get-go.
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| My dependents are pretty chill |
So, other than not having kids, how would I recommend planning and saving for travel?
1. Take an honest look at your budget.
Obvious, I know, but still worth stating. I have a list of my monthly expenses and my monthly income on my phone and in the little notebook I keep in my purse. I'm constantly checking it and comparing my budget to my actual money spent. My big bills (mortgage, student loans, HOA fees, etc.) are paid automatically from my bank account. I put all of my "extra" expenses (groceries, pet care, gas, going out, etc.) on my travel-rewards credit card. (And pay it off in full every month. Credit card debt is crippling.) I have frequent-flyer accounts with all the major airlines. I've been doing this for so many years, I've pretty much trimmed all the fat out of my monthly expenses that I can. But for folks who haven't taken a magnifying glass to their spending patterns yet, you can almost certainly find ways to save a tiny bit a month. And it really does add up.
2. Set aside monthly withdrawals into a special savings account.
I use SmartyPig, but there are ample choices for online savings accounts. I like SmartyPig because it lets me set up multiple savings goals in my one savings account, and then fund each goal with a recurring deposit from my separate checking account each month (or any frequency that works for you). I have an emergency savings fund, a travel fund, a property taxes and insurance fund, a charity fund, and on and on and on (right now I have seven different goals going). I fund them all at different amounts and frequencies. But I've made travel one of the priorities, so it gets a small piece of my paycheck every month. It's not a devastating amount to miss each month, but at the end of the year it supplements my trips.
3. Consider your income taxes.
This one is rightly controversial, but I set up my income taxes so I'm taking the fewest deductions out of every paycheck. Each year I get a tax return, and this is always my main source of travel funds. I know there are many arguments against this approach, but it's easier for me to let the government sit on my money for a year and then give it to me in a lump sum, even though I know I could be earning interest on it elsewhere. It's laziness, pure and simple. I think of my taxes as an extension of my travel saving account, and it hasn't become worth the effort to change my approach yet. Maybe I'll realize the error of my ways later, but for now, getting that tax return in February (I file early because it's always fun money!) is like getting permission to take all those trips I've been planning for that year.
4. Plan far in advance (I'm talking years).
I have a note on my phone (and again in that notebook I carry everywhere) with the trips I want to take for the next four years. I'm crazy about planning. Not only does it let me start imagining the fun way before the trip happens, but I can move trips around like pieces of a financial jigsaw puzzle. For example, in 2017 I had planned on going to Iceland for my yearly foreign trip, and then to Cuba in 2018, and Morocco in 2019. But then Andrew and I learned that we'll probably be going to England in 2018 for his cousin's wedding. That's very close to Iceland. I did a quick check into flights, and it made way more sense for us to switch 2017 and 2018. Flights to Cuba right now are about $400 round trip. Flights to Iceland are about $1000. Flights to England are in between the two. If we're going to pay for flights to England in 2018 anyway, we could tack on a cheaper flight on a regional airline from England to Iceland, and only be out a few hundred dollars. If we had gone to Iceland this year, and then Cuba and England next year, we would have been $1000 in the hole before we even started.
I realize this is an extreme example (and I sound really obnoxious), but knowing all the places you want to go in the next five or so years, and being flexible about them, can help you adjust to outside life events that might translate to big money.
5. Go off season.
Pretty self-explanatory, but travel in peak season is always significantly more expensive. Off season doesn't always mean bad weather, either. And if you've mapped out places for the next five years, you'll know which ones are good for off-season travel and which ones you really need to save more for to go during peak season.
6. Balance
My commitment to myself is one foreign country a year. That can range from less than $1,000 a trip (see my Jamaica birthday trip) to...say...six times that (see my Tanzania trip). I try to move from one bank-busting trip to one relatively more affordable trip. Obviously these ranges are whatever your budget deems expensive and affordable. But if I take a Tanzania-level trip one year, I'll be planning a Jamaica-level trip the next. That way, it's more like I'm planning two trips over two years, and they get to share the costs. The amount I save each year doesn't change, but I'll have leftover on a Jamaica year that I'll then devour on a Tanzania year.
7. Plan for a lifetime of travel.
In addition to the specific countries on my five-year plan, I have a road map of travel expectations for the rest of my life. I'm in my mid-30s now, with full mobility and good health. So I'm going to take my active trips sooner rather than later. And the older I get, the more stubborn and cranky I'll become (I apologize in advance), so I also want to take the out-of-my-comfort zone trips as early as I can. European capitals will still be lovely when I'm in my 70s, but I might not want to trek the Annapurna Circuit at that age. Plus, I'm working full time and getting full benefits right now. I have more expendable cash than I will when I'm retired. So the crazy, epic, adventure trips need to happen now. I won't be able to afford the flights when I'm on a fixed income.
That's the extent of my budget advice for now. Maybe I'll hit upon the holy grail of affordable, amazing world travel, but until that happens, I'll try to post anything that might be helpful. Hit me up if you have questions or gripes about any of this (finances are a very emotional subject, and I might have inadvertently offended someone or come off as pretentious; I don't want either of those.). And please let me know if you have travel-budget advice!
