One of the most important things I’ve learned about travel over the past four years of working and traveling abroad is that – world travel isn’t as expensive as many people believe.
You don’t have to be a millionaire to travel the world, however, you do have to be smart with your money.
If an around the world, adventure of a lifetime is what you want, you have to make certain sacrifices in your everyday life to save money in order to travel.
Here are a few key tips that I have learned over the course of my travel budgeting and preparation that have allowed me to continue this life of long-term travel.
Bank Accounts
Look at your bank account first. Are you bleeding funds through fees? Is your bank giving you the best interest rate on your money? Before saving money, you need to learn how to protect and leverage the money you already have.
It is best to compare bank accounts to find the best possible rates and policies for you. You want to look for a high interest rate return on your savings and no transaction fees on spending. Even if you don’t know the first thing about finance or banking, there are a lot of options online to help.
Frequent Travel Programs
For those seeking long-term travel plans, you should definitely consider joining certain flight and accommodation rewards programs that almost every travel company offers these days.
One World is a great around the world travel flight company and if you consistently book your hotels somewhere like Hotels.com, they will give you a free room every 10th stay.
I highly suggest researching the organizations that you planning on using and look into their rewards program.
Certain credit card companies also offer free flights and accommodations for signing up, but you need to be careful with additional fees like annual service fees and minimum balance requirements.
Check out ThePointsGuy.com to see how one guy mastered all the travel rewards and learn how you can do the same with tips on saving money to travel the world.
International Conversion Rates
One of the biggest aspects of financial success while traveling is to nail down the conversation rates and currency fluctuations between your ‘home’ and foreign money.
I have seen so many people loose money on poor conversation rates and extremely high international bank fees that I tell everyone I know to pay attention!
Find a good internationally friendly card like Charles Schwab and don’t loose any more of your own money is another essential money saving tip for travelers!
These three tips have saved me hundreds over the past few years as I planned and traveled around the world.
Along with the more general advice like “cut costs” and “don’t eat out,” these tips will help you make your traveling dream a reality sooner than you think!
Now, go get that second job, skip the happy hour and strive for something better!
One Response
Fantastic money-saving tips for travel! Prioritizing experiences over things is awesome. Your insights make global travel seem more attainable. Thanks for the inspiration!