Budgeting for an "Around The World" Trip: Post 1 of 3 - How to Begin
Hi! You might have noticed that we’re starting a new series on instagram about #family_travel_tips! We’re diving right into one of the biggest questions: how can we afford full-time travel? If you click on this Instagram post you’ll see that there are a number of ways you can make room in your finances for a big trip:
Active income: Will your current job allow you to work remotely? If not, are you planning to leave your job? There are lots of great resources online to help you become a “digital nomad”. Upwork and Fiver are two well-known sites, but there are plenty of others. You can also teach language courses online or get paid for transcription services. The combination of options is almost endless! All you need is a laptop, reliable WiFi, and a little free time!
Passive income: This is all about making your money work for you. Are you getting interest on that savings account balance? Do you invest in the stock market? Are you renting out your house while you travel? All these options can help you offset a portion (or all) of your travel expenses!
Sell off your possessions: Purge! We know so many families who “sold it all to travel the world” (ourselves included)! Go through your home and belongings and figure out what you can live without. Sell it in a garage sale, on Craigslist, eBay, whatever works best for you. Selling big ticket items like an extra car, a boat, or RV that you just don’t really use can be really helpful here. Bonus, knowing that your things are being “upcycled” is so much better than sending them out with the trash!
Points: Every time you make a purchase on a credit card, you’re most likely earning a point of value for something. Find a good travel credit card with a low (or no) annual fee to earn points toward flights or hotels. And check those hotel rewards programs and frequent flier memberships you’ve had forever! Those points accumulate and they are often forgotten about (example: we are staying in Vietnam for a week with Marriott points that we’d forgotten about)!
Use your savings: This is something I hesitate to say because everyone’s financial situation is different. We were comfortable taking a bit out of our savings because we knew our trip had an end-date, but that decision might not be right for everyone. If you’re traveling for an unspecified amount of time, it might not be best to rely on savings to fun (you’d need income to make it sustainable). That said, I would highly recommend NOT touching your retirement accounts (401k’s, IRA’s, etc). Those are sacred dollars that grow exponentially over the years, not to mention you get taxed when you take that money out!
Funding a big trip isn’t an overnight process. It takes a lot of planning! But if you are make it a priority, you CAN make it work!
Did I miss anything? Do you have any other questions? Tips? Let me know!
