Girl in a window...
I’m a girl who should be an ace at budgeting her money. After all, I’m a travel hound. I love to travel and I travel as often as I can. That means I’m a master at budgeting, right? Uhhh…well…maybe not. You see, I’m very similar to a shop-a-holic except I’m a travel-a-holic. I’m constantly seduced by seat sales, cheap hotel rates or dips in gas prices. If I’m bored with where I am, I look for ways out -generally with very little planning.
For years I have traveled on last minute trips using every penny I have in my bank account. I don’t spend years saving money until I have $10,000+ dollars. Nope. If I see a hot sale and I’m bored, I go now! This means my choice of being a budget backpacker is due to a light bank account, not due to my desire to stretch my thousands of dollars over a specific period of time. I realize I could be harming my reputation (I like to think that I’ve given off this air of having loads of cash sitting in the bank), but I felt like being honest. I’m not saying I cannot budget, I can. I just let my shopping impulses take over and spend my money. For instance, I spent 3.5 months in Africa and Malaysia and I think I may have spent all of $2,500 because I quit my summer job earlier to travel. Do I regret my decision? HELL NO!! I was blessed with some amazing opportunities which I felt I could not pass up.
As challenging as it has been in the past for me to save my money without going on a trip and spending it before my big goal, I actually have to do it this time. I have to buckle down. Buy only the things I need. Keep social activities to a minimum. Avoid buying cookbooks (I love to cook), dvds, music etc.
Traveling Solo on the Silk Road is a dream trip for me, I can’t blow this one. I can’t go with the lowest figure and pray for the best. Well, I could, but I think I should do things differently this time. Crazy, I know! So, how am I going to do it? This is my plan so far…
- Get a ‘day job’ to help supplement my savings -I know it sounds odd, but let’s face it, writing articles and selling ad space is not going to bring in the money I need in the timeframe I have. Hello traditional day job.
- Stay with family. At my age (no, I am NOT telling you) the idea of living with family for a few months is enough to make my skin crawl. I hate the idea more than you know. However, doing so allows me to live for free which makes saving cash a lot easier.
- Continue to write! I still enjoy writing and if I’m getting paid to do it, then I’m not going to stop.
- Hang with friends once a month, which is easy to do when ones friends live at least an hour or three away. This also keeps my spending down.
- Pay off my credit card, again. Plus side is that I have a low balance (under $1,000) so it shouldn’t take too long.
- 50% of all the money I bring in will go directly into a USD savings account. If I can put in more than I will.
- ‘Write everything down’ -It’s essential and it helps to remind me of how I’m spending my money (and hopefully not wasting it).
- Sell, sell, sell. It’s hard to believe that I still have items I can sell, but I do! A few things at least. One thing I’m selling is my action cam as it doesn’t really do what I had hoped it would. I also have a lowpro camera backpack that I find annoying (I hate having to take it off all the time). Plus a couple more things.
Here’s the thing, saving a trip like the Silk Road is serious business (well, to me it is). This isn’t simply a jaunt to Thailand or a break in Europe. This is not just a trip. This is a journey. A journey that will teach me about new cultures and traditions. A journey that will introduce me to new foods. A journey that will take place on buses, jeep shares, cars, horses and possibly camels. This is the journey that where I’ll utilize my passion for history, art, travel and photography. I guess one could say that this is my ultimate journey. The one trip I am truly dying to do.
To help keep my motivation going in terms of working my tushy off and saving for my trip I’ve decided to break it down into countries. Basically I’ll be saving one country at a time. At the moment I’m saving for China!
How do you save for a big trip? Do you try to save more than what you think you’ll need?
About Pamela
Good luck saving for the next adventure! I fail horribly at budgets and saving in general. We left home in early 2011 with $1000 between the two of us… much to the dismay of basically everyone I knew who assumed I would reappear as a failure in a month or two. Thankfully still going strong after finding opportunities along the way, but it’s hard to save a huge chunk for a trip like yours! Love your blog, excited to see how it goes!
I am SO glad that I’m not the only one who leaves on a trip with very little money in my pocket. This trip will definitely be a challenge (in many ways). I think breaking it down into chunks and avoiding looking at my savings account between now and the time I leave.
I definitely consider myself skilled at budgeting these days… however, I used to be a master at saving now but that has gone on a downward spiral lately. So tough! Good luck with your savings for this upcoming trip. Sounds very cool! And aren’t you planning to head back to Africa as well? For some reason, I thought I saw you mention that somewhere.
You’re right! I’m planning to fly to Nairobi from Istanbul. If I can hit a seat sale I can buy a ticket for $400 which is fantabulous!
I’m flying from Istanbul to Nairobi in a week
Turkish Airlines had the best flights. Of course I’ll only be there until January 24th but I might be back in the spring semi-permanently.