“I can’t afford to travel” Shut up. Yes you can.

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Right. I’ve heard too many people say that they would love to experience the mystery of Asia, or the adrenaline of New Zealand, but they just can’t scrape the money together. Is that how you feel?

*slap!*

Yeah, that’s right, I slapped you. I literary slapped you and I’m not sorry (unless you agreed with me in the first place, in which case I shouldn’t have slapped you and I’m dreadfully sorry).

Saving money isn’t easy, and I’m not going to pretend it is. It’s hard to put money aside, especially when your wage isn’t particularly impressive. If you are really serious about it though, you can find the money. I was a student when I saved for travelling. I worked a part time job while studying, and had a budget of around £100 a month for living costs, with all my wages from the job going straight into the travelling pot. After a few months, I’d save up a thousand or so. Then, I borrowed some money from my long suffering mum and maxed my student overdraft. It’s not a pretty or particularly admirable way of gathering money, but I made it happen. And so can you.

When you’re staring at your bills and outgoings, shaking your fist at the sky/nearest bank, try to think of it like this:

Let’s say you go somewhere cheap. Vietnam, for example. A meal over there will set you back maybe £3/$5/whatever. A hostel is maybe £5. A beer is about 10 pence. You can live over there for about £12 a day – and live well. The minimum wage in the UK is £6.60/hour. This means that for every 2 hours you work, you’ve earned enough for a full day of travelling. A full days work will earn you enough money for almost week of travelling. Yeah.

Unfortunately, Fate has a nasty habit of tripping you up in the egg and spoon race of Life, and it’s to be expected that you will end up, on more than one occasion, with your egg shattered and yolk running through your fingers. When this happens, the only thing to do is clean yourself up, pick the eggshell out of your hair, go back to the start line, and try again. Remember – your victory cake will only get bigger with the more eggs you crack trying to make it.

God, that was a weird metaphor. Look, in an eggshell, what I’m trying to say is – keep at it.

You can do it.

One thought on ““I can’t afford to travel” Shut up. Yes you can.

  1. Pingback: What the Dream Costs | World Hangover

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