How the hell can anyone afford to travel these days???
Most people I know have to work all day, just to make ends meet.
And the few friends who are blessed with "more" seem to work from Sun up to Sundown (sometimes longer). True story!
It's seems travel today can be impossible or just for the top 1% luxury type who just "got it like that".
Well we are hear to tell ya that you can do too this IF (a big if) you take the right steps!!!
|From ZERO dollars
saved up to having an experience
YOU WILL NEVER FORGET|
It is possible my financially free spirits and today we will show you how we did just that for real!!!
Keep reading as we break down how we not only saved enough money to travel where we want to go but also how we have adopted a traveler's' mindset wherever we are.
We are lucky because Wendy and me see everyday life as a traveler's adventure. Re-framing your daily routines might be just what the doctor ordered if you are feeling trapped in your current settings.
We also believe this will help you ultimately pull the trigger for that vacay of your dreams that's calling you, but more on that in a moment.
Trust us we have felt trapped and caged so often BUT we figured out a plan to bust loose and live our dreams!
It's important to know that anyone can do this. It may take longer for some, but all can win this game if you do it with the right mindset.
In the past year alone we have lived in Thailand for a month,
Costa Rica/Panama for another 3 weeks
and currently in San Diego, California as we are writing this post!
"Hello from La Jolla Cove in Sunny California!"
- Wendy + Dan
At the bottom of this is post is a video of one of my favorite vlogs of us in Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand.
This video is just so us!!! (we hate when people say that, but its true lol).
Enjoying life, partying, spending the day with elephants and all with some of our best friends. What else could you ask for!
But now let's give you some easy action steps you can do today to start your own journey, develop the right mindset for you and ultimately take your "future-self" on that much needed vacay.
"As always start small.
The hardest part is always the beginning."
Small consistent steps beat BIG inconsistent steps ALWAYS PEOPLE!
We can't emphasis this enough!!!
Stay small and consistent until you are ready for the next small and consistent additional step!
It's just like climbing a mountain. You better make sure your footing is secure on each step if your goal is to go up!
This mindset and way of thinking alone changed how we do everything. From our health, to exercise, to saving money, to our relationship, to our work etc.
It's a way of being every day that makes you a progress machine, no matter what life throws at you!
Let's look at this in terms of saving money for your dream vacay.
We personally don't have a lot of it and money is usually the first thing we think of when we start to dream about vacations. And usually it's a nightmare about how much we don't have.
This is called fear and worry ladies and gentlemen. And even though it might be your current reality... it doesn't mean it has to be your future realty also.
Our solution?
"Pay your FUTURE-SELF and start now!"
Most people are short-term oriented. Society today rewards the short game and often fails to see the big picture.
We want the new shoes or to go out for drinks or that extra snack at work (even though you just ate).
This are short term rewards, and ZERO long-term gain!
It's not that those things are "bad" either. In fact the opposite they are great!
That's why we all love them. But too much of anything can have negative results.
Water and oxygen are essential for life but too much of either will kill you.
Knowing how much is the real key here. You get that answer by seeing how these actions fit into our long term goals.
And our long term goals are what "future-self" is hoping we consistently take care of starting today.
We think long term initially with almost everything. "How can we keep winning in a year, 5 years and 10!" are often questions we will talk about.
We also ask, "What will give us long term satisfaction and move us toward better overall"?
And now you can start doing something similar. That is unless you got it like that, then you probably stopped reading already lol.
Lastly we ask,
"How can we show
'FUTURE-SELF'
some love for all this hard work
we are doing RIGHT NOW?"
What a thought right, paying ourselves for our hard work... Don't mind if we do, Haha!!
When it comes to money this is going to be about 10% of your income generally speaking, again find what works for you. So a $100 pay check means you will take out $10 and save it in a different account that you will not touch or only touch in emergencies. (real emergencies not a sale at the mall).
Again these are our rules that we made up, not yours. So make it make sense for you. Just realize saying yes to one thing means saying no to another and vice versa.
Not that exciting we know. It seemingly puts you a long way from your goal if you only save $10 at a time... But we will talk about that in a minute.
For now just get consistent here. If it feels "large" make it smaller, too small make it bigger... just not too big. You want to feel as if nothing is even happening and like you won't even notice it!
On a scale of 1-10 of confidence in completing this each paycheck you should be a 9 or 10 out of 10.
|So adjust until you are
CONFIDENT AF!
If you can set up an automated transaction to happen every paycheck this is the best choice!
There are many services out there, however this is one we personally used to help us save for our 1 month stay in Thailand!!!
It's an awesome saving app called Digit. CLICK HERE!
We saved over $1000 in about 1 month's time! PLUS You will also automatically earn $5 when you sign up!
It works like this.
Every time you use your debit a small amount is set aside to the digit account based on your settings for saving more or less.
It analyzes what’s going on and automatically pushes the appropriate amount of money (based on your lifestyle) to a savings account that you have access to anytime!
It's a no brainer in our opinion. The best way to save money is when you don't even realize it. Remember that!
DON'T SKIP THIS STEP!
Not having some recurring savings strategy is a dream killer and it's so simple.
Take time now set up digit, the come back!
FOR REAL!!!
So quick recap we have 2 saving strategies.
1) A 10% automated savings from each paycheck that you can set up with saving account.
2) Digit savings. An automated account attached to your checking account for a slight more aggressive saving strategy that is based off preference you personally set up.
Ok are you back?
Cool, now once you have a steady and consistent savings set up (using the above strategy or strategies) then it's on to take a look at where you want to go and how much you want to spend.
We could write an entire book on this but for time sake we will say to start small and again. This is usually our advice, because all the small things make the big things.
So we should start at the beginning and do it right the first time, right?
While you are figuring out your dream vacation that money you are saving is adding up the whole time! You are now literally "buying time". Cool right!!!
Since you started your account today, in 6 months to a year you will be a lot closer or even past your goal!
Of course you can increase or adjust your savings as you go, just get started today. This is the beauty of compounded interest. A term that basically means, mo' money mo' money mo' money!
But you don't need thousands and thousands to be a traveler!
We even treat our own neighborhood and surrounding locations as a chance to live that travel life!
There are plenty of ways to take a day, weekend or even extended weekend trip!
(We love day trips into NYC this location was about a 45 min trip from home!)
Nowadays there are so many cool resources for budget friendly experiences using Airbnb, booking.com and many other things via the interwebs.
Start looking today for something that makes your soul happy but that doesn't break the bank (under $300) and within a short distance (less than 30 miles) of where you call home right now.
THIS IS STEP 2 BY THE WAY!!!
A "mini getaway" might even be a saturday afternoon at a spa or checking out a part of your city you don't often frequent. Again social media is overflowing with cool (free) events. A little research and planning goes a long way!
Beauty is all around us feel free to explore.
Travel is a way of seeing the world, not necessarily seeing ALL of the world.
This reminds us of a great book...
We love this title.
It's a great quote, "Wherever you go there you are."
In other words, what will make you truly happy will come from within you.
So no matter where you go all your "baggage" comes with you. So again don't wait till you are on a secluded island to take a look at yourself.
Start that process today too!
Whether for good, bad or otherwise, it's always you baby!
So find what makes your little piece of the planet special from the get go and what makes your soul "wake up".
"Future-self" will thank you short term and long term!
Knowing this makes all future travels that much sweeter AND will give you more life right now.
Cause who wants to wait to be happy?
MOOD I choose... HAPPY!
The real key is to see we aren't limited to begin with.
Instead we just have to make it happen!
We are in control of our own lives and where we choose to take them. It's this empowering mindset that propels us past future obstacle that will inevitably come up.
It's life!
Things will happen to all of us, but again a little bit of planning goes a long way.
And having a small doable strategy to save enough to get there will greatly improve your ability to take that dream vacation!
"If we can do it, you can too!"
So to wrap up.
Many vacations don't need to break the bank, in fact they shouldn't. You don't need to be balling out of control for a week or 2 to have the time of your life.
You will probably regret it and definitely make the next trip seem that much harder to make happen.
We spent about $4k total including airfare for 30 DAYS in Thailand. That's 2 full grown people for an entire month!!!
And it was Dan's B Day month (May) so we went all out and did our thang a little bit too.
WHATTTT?!?!?!? You heard right people.
The dollar goes extremely far there so we were able to really live it up and felt completely safe, comfortable and relaxed during our entire stay.
Find out what is True4you and really try to uncover what really moves you.
Literally!!!
If it doesn't make you want to get up and start making moves, you might want to rethink it.
Knowing yourself is the key to living on your terms in all sense of the phrase.
So what will it be for you?
Whatever you choose it's all good!
|Realize you are investing in yourself|
Your "Future-self"...
The person you know you really are but just haven't taken the steps to allow it to happen... yet...
But all that changed today.
There are many destinations off the beaten path that are waiting to be explored and admired by you and your traveling spirit.
Make it your own, start so small you can't fail and your "Future-self" won't believe it's own eyes!!
As you plan your next adventure, here is some inspiration to get that traveler mindset in gear!
ENJOY THE TRIP!