When friends and family see how often we're on the move, one of the first things they ask is "how do you afford it?" We'd like to share with you some tips that helped us start journeying around the world.

Where do you begin?

Well...in all honesty, it begins with the mentality that you, yes YOU can travel! Once you break free from the mindset that it's impossible, you will see how fast it can and will happen.

Pick Your Destination

Where are you looking to go? First and foremost, figure out what you want to get out of traveling. Is your idea of travel a relaxing retreat with sand between your toes? Perhaps an island in the Caribbean is the place for you. Or, if you're the adventurous type, how does a trek through the Himalayas sound? 

Once you have a solid goal in mind on where you want to go and the types of excursions you'll be taking, it becomes that much easier to begin budgeting your next big adventure.

Saving Up

Now that you've got a goal in mind, you're going to want to consider the overall cost of your trip. Remember to consider this—a trip is not only made up of airfare. When creating your travel budget, you need to take into account accommodation costs, meals, transportation during the journey, vaccinations, visas, activities, etc. 

Most of us don't have the luxury of thousands of dollars just sitting there waiting to be used on a plane ticket. In order to fund our first big trip to Southeast Asia, we really had to buckle down and start to think about where our money is going, and it was a huge test of will. You will always have those temptations to waste that $5 on a coffee, or spend $100+ on a fun weekend at the local bar with friends. But when you stop to think about it, those $150-$200 weekends can easily turn into $8-10k a year - and that alone is plenty for a global getaway!

If you're looking to travel on a budget, there are a surprising number of destinations that can fit the bill. 

Do your homework

Most people assume you have to be extremely wealthy to travel.  That is just not the case 9/10 times. You can afford to travel many places on a wide variety of price ranges. For example, Southeast Asia is an extremely affordable once you save up for your plane ticket, and you can easily live on a shoestring budget there.  We managed to rent a car and take a road trip through Ireland for less than $15 a day on 4 tanks of gas. 

Flight Hack

If you're flying, you can begin by mapping out destinations within your budget on google flights by typing in your intended travel dates and toggling around with results on the map. The good thing with google maps is that you can see all the destinations in the world for those given dates to find the best price.  Even if you don't intend on leaving anytime soon, you can have a look at the cheapest times of the year to fly and where to go.