Monday, October 19, 2015

How to travel and work at the same time

This is the first post of what I hope to become a series on travel, work and work while travel at the same time (as the title suggests) follow it on this link.

Some people think travel costs a lot of money, this is actually the opposite for me. It costs me more to live in my home town that I was based out of for the past 15 years than it does to travel to the parts of the world I went.

If you are from most North American cities, or western countries you will find that if you are willing to sacrifice a little privacy - travel, which includes accommodation, food, transport and luxurious extras will cost less than it does to simply live in that city or town.

At least this is true for me. This is how I did it:

Allow yourself to step out of your comfort zone - There are many aspects of life which are very comfortable in a home town or city, by stepping out of there you will find a much more rewarding life.

If you can live with fewer things you will find life less stressful, you can move about a city and between cities much easier and faster.

I am currently sitting in a hostel lobby (nice music) with all my things next to my side; two backpacks. Many people may think this isn't enough. But I have already lived for 2 months like this and never missed anything.

If you know what to take (which comes with a little thinking and experience) you will not need anything else. And remember that even if you do, most of the places you will visit in the world will have them for sale for either the same or less than what it costs in your home town.

Of the larger possessions that most North American cultures have are rent costs for apartment or home and vehicles. I gave up those two and noticed that my bank account started to grow.

This money will be important for your travels, because hostels normally cost under what rent daily cost amount you will see that you start spending less and actually saving.

Now that you gave up most of your stuff (this includes rent costs and vehicles) you can go to many places much faster and cheaper because you don't need to check any luggage. This is also important because there are many discount airlines that offer flights from $20 to $60 as long as you don't have luggage those prices remain cheap and worthwhile.

Be flexible - If you are flexible about where and when you can live a new lifestyle of travel. I choose my flights and accommodation based on lower price, this means that if I can get a $50 flight on a Tuesday instead of $100+ on any other day, I will book it and get to my destination twice as fast for a similar price as bus would cost.

I normally found that odd days like Tuesday or Thursday are cheaper than usual days, but this is simply a guide not a rule. If I can find a cheap flight or bus on any day that I am flexible enough I will get it. I also change hostels based on daily price changes and move to a new one if it costs several Euros less.

In the next posts I will discuss how to find a balance of work and travel, while staying fit and healthy at the same time.


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