financing your travel

I'm not wealthy so the first two things you mention are routes I've gone. The main thing is the commitment: everyone makes some amount of money, how will it be spent? Remember there will be sacrifices, and that's a broad term: relationships, comforts, mental health etc etc. But I know I'd go nuts if I tried to plug into some straight life. It's not a formula you can just pass on to someone, it's something that figures itself out. Times of joy, times of drudgery - barley living until you make that next trip for the sake of the trip, times of straight up blues. But if it's in you, you know and you just go.

It's a long story of course, but the short version is I've been to all 50 states and 24 countries so far. This is 90% financed through my own blue collar hands and since '86. I have never made more than 24k in a single year, most years much less. I consider these 'hobo' skills, and yet rarely am I living on the street, yet often 'homeless' for periods. Gotta be good to good friends and appreciate a couch.

I return to Thailand and quickly head up into Laos again as of Nov. 2 These are some of the good times!
Also, depending on where you want you want to go and what your comfort zone is, it doesn't take as much $ as most Americans think. I know it's different for women, but this fact cuts two ways in a manner of speaking.

Just as important as how much money make is how much you spend.
I used to travel on a few bucks a day in south America and it can be done in asia, if you get paid 10$ and hour, every hour is three days, provided you spend little while you make that.
Now, I have business where fortunately I have to travel to make my money, I do imports, primarily custom surfboards out of ecuador, but the potential for independent business is unlimited.
You can always work as you, for free rooms or whatever.
Be creative and practical and live your dreams.

I live in Los Angeles and earned (before I quit my job) decent pay for someone with a degree and lived in a fairly nice apartment with a roommate. I simply did not buy a lot of things. I could still afford to go to concerts and travel because I didn't buy all the "stuff" most of my friends get, and I saved abought $500 or more a month. Two years later...

A lot of my friends do not cook and eat all their meals out. This costs SO MUCH. Their cost for food for one day is what I spend per week on groceries.

I'm working towards being 100% virtual employee and business owner. This way I can work on the road and from anywhere.

Other tips

Buy a small RV and try to get seasonal / temporary jobs as a Resident Manager, security, watch dog

recycle - I use recycling as gas money and sometimes I make $3 or $4 a weekend (lazy - no effort) and when I actually try I have made up to $20 per weekend day and than again after a festival at a local park I've made almost $50....

Know where you can turn for help if anything goes wrong. I.e. Travel Assistance foundations, friends, network with online people.

Camp Grounds are cheap to spend the night at - up to $20 per night.
If you have an RV you can do it for free on public streets.

Volunteer for entertainment - work and have fun at concerts, galleries, clubs, festivals ect...



Online research will give you tons of resources for jobs, hints and tricks.

I've been practicing the travel nomad lifestyle for the last month...
I have a gym membership for showers and general fitness and a mail box where all my mail goes to.
I plan to get a laptop for all my internet / pc needs
I'm taking Karate for self defense confidence
Learning how to handle problems or ensure bad situations don't happen or how to take care of them if they do.

depends on how many folks you got with ya too. on board a bus we all worked on hemp jewelry and beadswork. in key west walkin the streets at night my bro drew and me were making $100 a night easy.
that same $100 night some cool guy who bought 6 braclets earlier in the day was at a bar me n drew stumbled into, and he bought us a burger.

depends on how you're gettin around too. you can travel by car or foot, depends on what you wanna do, yeah an auto is gunna cost ya some cheddar, but really sister, out on the road you dont spend too too much money either way. ya can, but man... making sometimes some good money one night can last ya a few days.

drew would drive the bus into trucker fill up stations, and would light up a cigarette and talk to some ridinon truckers, fin-john in hand. talk about his travels and his bus - the highway child. they stayed on willie nelsons ranch earlier this year~~,, finish a cigarette, and ask if they could spare a gallon or two. they usually fill up the finjohn, few gallons,, do that a few times and ya got yourself a free tank.

get a van, you can suit it to Home , put in a cozy bed and even a little stove? cooler and build a shelf for food, usually not too expensive for the propane and to keep the supplies stocked,,

free gas, few bucks food... what else do ya need?

on the highway child, i'd walk into subway sandwich shops late at night and ask em if they could throw me some cookies , if they could hook it up a sub.. they do,,
mcdonalds, free fry friday~? thanks mama~ luvin you~*

FOR FINANCING~~ making hemp jewelry could keep ya funded. you'd have to sell it in the streets and some places ya might get nabbed by the fuzz for doing that.. but when you're sellin, im tellin ya, folks love themselves some Love n Light, bright gypsie eyes and open heart,, you wont ever have trouble selling off your hemp.
travel around , visit the towns you wanna see,,, tallahassee, atlanta, chatanoogah, knoxville, asheville
enjoy the town, sell the goods, do the damn thing, and head back up off..
ask folks in towns where there is good forest, good trail, good folks to park a van. GOOD NATURE! =)
vans bed is cozy dogs den, comfy comfy
but sometimes it's nice to take a backpack and tent into the woods and camp out ,,, ya got that onboard~
if you go with a few people things get easier,, faster hemp makin, good times round campfire, etc,

right now im lookin to save up for a van and hit the road for a as far as i could see, myself.
goin to rainbow gatherin in ocala florida, then comin back home and gunna work for a few more months, home out my van, and vroom~~
dreams happen just like that, taking a first step.. dont gotta be rock star or nothing, heh =)
just livin dreams, it aint any harder to live em then to dream em,, enjoyem

EAT THE RICH!!!!!

I've had a lot of success teaching English as a second language overseas. I had to sign a year contract in Korea and that sucked, but I was able to save some serious cash for my next adventures. When I was down and out in India, I hit up the one school that I saw advertising on the TV and sure enough, I sorted myself out for a month.

Someone already said it, but I'll say it again. You'll figure it out when you get there....if you really want to, that is.

My bf and came to Thailand about 2 months ago with 3000 Us $. Thailand and neighboring countries as well as India and Nepal are pretty darn cheap so you can see and do a lot without having to spend too much. We pay about 5 dollars a night for a room and 2 dollars for nice filling meal of curry and tea. I think once you get up and GO you are bound to meet lots of other travelers who will have advice about how to find jobs, save money, etc...We´ve already been offered a teaching job in Bangkok thats pays considerably well. I´ve seen quite a few bulletins for job offers too. I think its all about networking, getting to know other experienced travellers, and being creative. Oh and another thing, Volunteering is a great way to spend little money and you are doing something worthwhile at the same time. If you ever plan on going to Asia drop me an email and I can help you out.

Here's a few things I've done to be able to go on loooong trips:

1. WWOOF (www.wwoof.org) - 'world wide opportunities on organic farms'. Many countries have this organization. You work anywhere from 3-7 hours/day for room and board. You could be doing anything from building a straw bale house to winemaking to tagging sheep. I did this in New Zealand and spent one month on one farm and a couple of weeks on another. Also awesome 'cause you get to eat this great fresh food.

2. Work at youth hostels - I would work for two hours each day changing sheets for a free room. I don't know if that's the common rate of exchange but probably something close to that. Just ask at the desk if they could use a hand.

3. Under the table work - it's out there. I've done hotel work, cafe work, and potato harvesting (of all things....I don't recommend it. Dirt in all the wrong places)

4. Teaching English - in many countries, there will be flyers up on the hostel bulletin board looking for English teachers. No experience required. There are also more reputable English language schools that pay more but require something like a CELTA teaching certificate. Some countries in general are stricter in their requirements than others. CELTA requires one month of full time class to earn. It's pricey ($1200 - $2400 from what I've seen). I haven't done this but have been looking into it for my next foray. CELTA is available in countries all over the world. So you can take it in, Prague, say, and pay less than in the US and your cost of living is also cheaper there.

On the spending less money side....youth hostels and farmers markets. Not only are hostels cheap but you make new friends as soon as you arrive and wind up with penpals for years. Also you may find yourself with a place to stay when you're visiting their part of the world. Hostels often have kitchens where you can make your own food....beats eating out.

Hi,
When I was in school I was able to finance my travel through scholarships. While i was studying in korea i was able to teach english on the side. I made enough to go to China two times for a total of two months. After I returned I bought a cheap 500 dollar car, which I took good care of while I saved money for my next trip. The last few trips have been really fun. In terms of financing it just took a bit of practicality and frugality. I rarely buy soda, or fruit juice. Instead of buying some meal for 14 bucks I cook one in my house for less than 5 dollars. I mainly hang out with friends and we rarely go out to clubs.
I am self employed and try to mix travel with business. I often go to China, so I try to visit some new places when the opportunity arises. On my next trip I will go to china and japan. The ticket was 980 only bucks. I will check out some museums in japan and meet up with my friends. I will stay in hostels because those are the cheapest places to stay, and where you can meet other foreigners.
The only things I spend money on is music, food, some clothes and basic day to day things. I rarely watch tv, and try to turn things off in the house so as to save money on electricity. All this really helps and becomes meaningful when you have an a goal, being to travel for a month or half a year.
Asia is the cheapest place to visit and you would be surprised how far 1000 dollars goes in places like China or India. Meaning that if you buy your ticket on time and for you to depart on a weekday you might only need to have 3000 dollars to cover your whole trip. Any one can come up with 3000 in less than a year. I only have one credit card and rarely use it. I try to buy things cash so that way i dont have unnecessary bills at the end of the month.
A good way to save some extra cash is going to second hand stores and browsing through furniture, eating utensils, and the book section. I am not financially rich, but i intend to have a rich experience while i am alive. Many people get caught up in buying the new BMW, or some new Mustang, the ipod, the iphone, the bluetooth thing blah blah blah. In the end it is a matter of making it happen. You want to travel then take the necessary steps to be able to do so. "a 1000 mile journey begins with one step." (chinese proverb)
Teaching in the US is a great avenue to save money and travel. Atleast here in California most teachers get a total of about 3 months vacation. I guess only after you've worked as a teacher for a while you can take advantage of this time, but nevertheless alot of traveling can be done within 3 months, every year.

good day,

Armando

One thing I do to help finance my travels is buy things in that country that I know I can sell well at home, then go to a local funky shop that would sells items on consignment and give it to them. Then I get 50% of the total when they sell it. I have made hundreds this way and it takes almost no effort.....right now stuff from Japan is especially hot. YOu can buy stuff in a hundred yen (1$ shop) that people will pay $14 for here.

I also hitchhike, Wwoof, and couchsurf to save money. Busking is a good idea too....drumming, jewlery, tarot cards......learning a simple portable skill is really handy. Also, when you get somewhere, go to the main plazas or hang out points and just put the word out that you would like to make some cash....all sorts of short term opportunities can turn up to finance your stay. WOrking in hostels is always a good idea to save some cash as well....