Easiest Ways to Help Afford Travel While You're Young

Hi everyone! Today's post is my first ever exclusively travel related post- all about how travelling can be very influential and how you can afford it. I am very blessed to have travelled a lot with my parents, but I am yet to go on a trip by myself, let alone pay my own way. I've read up on the topic, so I'm going to share what I've found, and at some point what I'll be doing to start funding my first ever solo trip! I am very aware that not everyone has the means to travel. But, if you can make it happen in any way, you deserve it!

The main takeaway from my research is to plan as far in advance as possible. As fun as a spontaneous trip can be, I can guarantee that the cost will be astronomically higher for airfare and your place to stay. For an international flight, prices typically begin to shoot up about 3 months before departure. Before that checkpoint, the prices will inch up gradually so you don't have to rush to get your ticket. For domestic flights, you should be booking at least a month in advance. 

The reason we travel is to reach some grand destination- so on a low-budget trip, which is what most people around my age are going to be looking at, I say save on the airfare and splurge on actual experiences like food or activities. Yes, it's a long flight (especially if you're going international), but you can use the money you save on more exciting things at your destination so it's worth it!

Unless you can get a fluke cheap hotel, Air BnB is your best bet. It's reliable, cheap(er) and gives you an authentic local feel wherever you're going. Again, book this in advance for this best deal and to ensure that you don't get stuck with the only thing available last minute. 

Utilise public transport where possible. Not everywhere will have it, but if you're going to a big city or even a town that has buses or something, it's worth your while to look at a map and figure out how the trains or buses work. This should be wayyyy cheaper than taking taxis, renting a car or even using Uber. 

Avoid tourist-y locations. This can be hard, especially if you're a ... tourist... but the prices for food and shopping and more will probably be higher than what the locals pay elsewhere. 

And you may be wondering how you're going to cover the still daunting cost of this trip you're dreaming of. I really have no idea, except to set a goal way in advance (I'm talking years) and put every penny you possibly can towards that goal. And, although a bargain is great, don't settle for some location other than what you had in mind just because it's cheaper- ultimately, the experience is going to be so worth it!

I want to save up for a trip somewhere for some point in my life- I don't have a job (I'm obviously off to a good start here) but I have some ideas that I would be happy to share if anyone's interested. Hope this post was helpful to someone out there! I pretty much just wrote it to use that funny pic of me more than ten years ago living it up in first class (obviously I was not paying my own way back then!!).