It has been almost 3 years since I got back from my first long term, solo backpacking trip. I traveled for 8 months after university and before starting my first full time job. I spent approximately 4 months in South East Asia and Nepal and about 4 months in Europe were I waled the Camino for the first time. It was an absolutely fantastic trip, but it did cost a fair bit of money – just over $12,000 to be more percise. I saved for that trip through out the entire last two years of school and was very glad I did so. Here are 5 ways that I saved money for my first trip as well as some of the ways that I have changed how I save money for travel.

I took my time 

This may not be what you want to hear, but I think it is an important side that you don’t normally read on blogs. Blogs normally have the catchy, clicky worthy titles of people saving $13,000 for travel in 7 months. These are super impressive, but that was not how I saved for my first long term trip and that is not how I’m saving for my next trip either. It took me approximately 2 and a half years to save money to travel for 8 months.

In my third year of university I went on an exchange to England and I immediately knew that I wanted to travel again after graduation. Luckily my parents helped me pay for a lot of my expenses while on exchange, but I knew they would not be bankrolling any of my post-graduation trip. So I started saving immediately. When it comes to saving money, time is on your side and I had two years of it. If you think that you might want to travel in the future, don’t procrastinate, start to save money for travel right away.

I took a second job 

Money comes in and money goes out, the best way to save more money is to work on both ends of that equation. So many people only focus on cutting expenses. While that is an important part of saving money, making more money is helpful as well. 

At university I was in the co-op work program which meant that every second term I did a work term. In my last two years I worked full time for 8 months. During those 8 months I also took a second job working at a bar. It was crazy busy and exchausting. I would work 8:30am – 5pm at my full time job, change into my uniform on the train ride home then start work at 6pm for a 4 to 6 hours. I worked even longer shifts on the weekend as well. Essentially I worked two full time jobs; 40 hours at my co-op and 30 at the bar. 

This was incredibly stressful and I would not suggest this for the long term. However I think if I had not done this trip would have only lasted 3 or 4 months. I only worked for 4 months at a time so it was easier to handle. Every time I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion I would go back to school and get a little ‘break’. It also helped that I really liked both of my jobs. A second job also limited the amount of money I was spending because in all of my free time I was working. 

I am currently saving up for another big trip and I have not taken another job. Partially because my full time job is more demanding. Partially because I am taking more time to focus on building passive income. A second job does not necessarily have to be at a physical location. I am trying to establish a ‘second job’ that I can keep while I travel. However you decide to do it increasing the money coming in means that you can save faster.

I moved home 

Accommodation is almost guaranteed to be your biggest spending area. You can cut as many $4 coffees as you want, but it will not have as big an impact as cutting your accommodation costs. I was lucky that my co-op placement was close to home and that moving home was an option for me. That meant that I save pretty near 100% of every paycheck that came in. 

While at school living with my parents was not an option, but I did still make sure that my accommodation was affordable. After school I spent the first 2 and a half years of working full time sharing a small apartment with a roommate. It is a one bedroom place and we artificially divided it so we could both share the space. I could have afforded to live in the apartment by myself, but I choose not to so that I could increase my savings rate.

I created good spending habits 

Good habits follow you and establishing them early can make a big difference in the long term. My parents have always made fun of me for being “cheap” so maybe I’ve always had good spending habits. However I definitely focused on them more when I was saving money for travel. The habits that I started then still help me save today. 

When I was not working during my co-op periods I didn’t really have much income. I took one job for a few months during school right before I left, but essentially I had no income. That meant that during my co-op terms I had to save money for travel, but also to live off of until my next co-op term. That meant that I had to become very aware of what my expenses were and where the money was coming from. As a student I was already pretty frugal, but I leaned into that as much as I could.

Some Good Financial Habits

• Tracking your spending 
• Determine what your needs vs wants are 
• Cutting expenses that aren’t adding value to your life
• Having designated accounts for your money
• Avoiding impulse purchases 

I automated my savings 

Every time that you have to make a decision about where to put your money there is a possibility that you could make the wrong decision. SImplify your life and eliminate as many financial decisions as you can.

In my case every paycheck that I received from my co-op went to travel savings, no questions asked. I put it in a GIC (Guaranteed Investment Certificate) that I could not touch. It would deposit into my account at the start of every month while I was planning on traveling. My paycheck from my second job went straight into an account that went towards paying living costs while I was back at school. The tips that I got from my second job (~$20 a shift) is what I used as spending money during co-op. That is what I used to buy coffee, go out for lunch, etc.  This meant that every dollar I earned had a place, I didn’t have to think about where it would go. 

What I didn’t do – cut everything 

Yes I worked my ass off and yes I cut some costs, but I did not cut everything. I still wanted to enjoy my university days. I did not want to give up going out for drinks or the occasional trip to visit friends abroad. These expenses were ones that still brought value to my life so I did not cut them out. A balanced approach to personal finance is very important, it is easy to forget that you have other important aspects of your life. Reading about people stoping their lives to save for travel is inspirational, but it is not the only way. Sometimes trying to cut out everything in your life can be harmful. I have changed how I save money for travel, but I think for the most part how I saved money for my first trip was a pretty effective method.

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