How Started Traveling with Little Money at a Young Age

I have been fortunate enough to travel every year since 2013. I have booked and planned every trip without the use of a travel agent and have learned a lot from my experiences.
When I first started traveling I was only a sophomore in college so money was a little tight. Most of the time I was staying in each country for at least 3 to 4 weeks at a time.
When I first started, I decided to take some risk to visit most of the places I wanted to see before “real life” started. Now I must admit that I was attending a low-cost university and the cost of living in the area was extremely cheap. This living situation gave me the opportunity to venture out and explore the world.

It was a little scary to get started because the strategy that I used to get started involved using up most of my savings and taking on some debt. I did however minimize my risk by doing the following:

1. Save money!
   • I know this is a given but you have to have some sort of savings outside your regular emergency fund to begin this journey. You can’t minimize your risk if you don’t use any of your own money

2. Plan out where you want to travel at least a year in advance.
   • The sooner you know where you are going, the sooner you will know how much you need to save for the place or area you are visiting.

3. Buy your plane ticket first!
   • Start scoping out prices for the place you want to visit as soon as you can. Most airlines and travel sites will let you book your plane ticket about ten months before the actual departure date. This way you can start researching prices and have a better chance of finding a deal. The most important part about this step is that you are now fully committed to your trip once you buy the ticket.

4. Use your travel fund for accommodations early
   • The next step is find a place to stay. Utilizing sites like Airbnb and staying in hostels can say you a lot of money during your trip. I made sure that most of my accommodations were booked before I took off. This way there were not any unexpected expenses along the way.

5. Apply for a 0% intro interest rate credit card
   • About 3 to 4 months I would apply for a credit card that would offer me a 0% introductory interest rate for at least 12 months. Personally, my first credit card was the Discover It card because it also included no foreign transaction fees and you didn’t need to have an awesome credit score. I would use credit option to pay for things that I needed like the rest accommodations, transportation (buses, train) and for food at restaurants and grocery stores. This way I don’t have to use all my cash and have a whole year to pay back the debt without getting charged interest.

6. Make sure you have a job when you come back.
   • This of course is a lot easier when you are a student. I had a University job so I was able to take summers off and have my job waiting for me as soon as I got back. This can also work with an employer that allows you to take unpaid time off for the duration of your trip if business is a little slow.

7. Travel with friends
   • If you actually have friends that share the same passion for travel as you do I would suggest traveling with the. This will save you a lot of money! If you want to get a hotel or Airbnb you can all split it and stay there for a cheaper price than a hostel sometimes. This also helps if you rather have a private place with people you know.

As soon as I got back from every trip my number one priority was to pay off the debt as soon as possible. I would return back to my regular routine of working and going to college to finish my degree and as soon as I was able to start planning out the next trip using the exact same steps.

Like I said I know this strategy is a little risky. If something went wrong or something unexpected happened, I could have been screwed and holding a lot debt. I was willing to take the risk because of my living situation. If I didn’t have scholarships for school I might have been a lot more hesitant to do this strategy.

I am happy to say that 3 years and 3 credit cards later I came out of this with no problems. I am now starting my professional career as an engineer and while I am looking forward to finally having a paid vacation, I will miss the flexibility of travelling for long periods of time.