Today marks officially ONE MONTH until the start of our radventure. As I type, Derik is in the processing of homebrewing an IPA- this will be given to each of our (USA) hosts as a "thank you" for hosting us! This is his second homebrew (technically third, but we don't discuss the first try -wink-). We threw a "beer release party" a few weeks ago to debut the beer and all attendants agreed it was amazing!
This past weekend I went with a friend to Houston to visit her family, and the radventure came up in conversation several times. Her dad replied "and what does your husband do to afford such a lavish trip?". I get variations of this question almost every time this trip is discussed. Let me tell you: neither Derik nor I make a ton of money. This trip is not going to be a luxurious vacation, and our budget isn't too high. We made traveling a priority, so budgeting and saving wasn't too difficult. We try to be as conscious with our money as possible in daily life- shopping at thrift shops & on clearance racks, consuming two buck chuck from Trader Joe's instead of $20+ bottles of wine, supporting local business when we do eat out, partaking in as many free activities as possible (thankfully Austin has a lot!), making products if we can (like laundry detergent), and not keeping up with the latest technology/gadgets (we don't even own a TV). We choose to do this because we find joy in experiences rather than things. To us, doing things is worth way more than owning things.
We save some money by living frugally, but that's not the secret to having money to travel. The secret (or what we have learned, at least) is in transferring that frugal mentality into your travels. People think that traveling means you have to spend a lot of money, but the question to ask before even planning a trip is "what do you want to get out of your travels'. Our answer is "a better understand of our relationship and life in general, learning to be adaptable, meeting locals who then turn into friends, learning how to better be in the present moment, discovering individual passions, and ultimately enjoying this awesome adventure". These things don't require much money, therefore, neither does our trip.
I'm going to wrap this up with a few frugal travelling tips we intend to implement on the trip:
This past weekend I went with a friend to Houston to visit her family, and the radventure came up in conversation several times. Her dad replied "and what does your husband do to afford such a lavish trip?". I get variations of this question almost every time this trip is discussed. Let me tell you: neither Derik nor I make a ton of money. This trip is not going to be a luxurious vacation, and our budget isn't too high. We made traveling a priority, so budgeting and saving wasn't too difficult. We try to be as conscious with our money as possible in daily life- shopping at thrift shops & on clearance racks, consuming two buck chuck from Trader Joe's instead of $20+ bottles of wine, supporting local business when we do eat out, partaking in as many free activities as possible (thankfully Austin has a lot!), making products if we can (like laundry detergent), and not keeping up with the latest technology/gadgets (we don't even own a TV). We choose to do this because we find joy in experiences rather than things. To us, doing things is worth way more than owning things.
We save some money by living frugally, but that's not the secret to having money to travel. The secret (or what we have learned, at least) is in transferring that frugal mentality into your travels. People think that traveling means you have to spend a lot of money, but the question to ask before even planning a trip is "what do you want to get out of your travels'. Our answer is "a better understand of our relationship and life in general, learning to be adaptable, meeting locals who then turn into friends, learning how to better be in the present moment, discovering individual passions, and ultimately enjoying this awesome adventure". These things don't require much money, therefore, neither does our trip.
I'm going to wrap this up with a few frugal travelling tips we intend to implement on the trip:
- Couchsurfing, camping, and staying with friends often to cut lodging costs
- Don't underestimate the power of networking- if a friend knows someone in a city we are traveling to, we ask if they would mind hosting us, or at least meeting up to give us travel tips
- Comparing all methods of travel from city to city to find the cheapest option
- Explore ALL lodging options before getting a hotel- hostels and air bnb's are typically much cheaper, and can also help with networking/gaining tips/meeting travel buddies
- Researching average food costs and tips from locals- we learned that meal prices can double from lunch to dinner in certain cities, so planning accordingly
Will share more as we experience them!
Have a rewarding and memorable trip. Sounds like the way we travelled to some locations in Europe as fiancees.
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