You want to travel, but don’t have a super great paying job and savings, family money, or any idea where to start?  You can travel.  It won’t be quick and it won’t be easy, but you can do it.  Here’s how to start.

START WORKING YOUR ASS OFF!

I worked my ass off, had virtually no life, moved across country where pay was higher and cost of living was lower, and spent 3 years paying off debt. Car payments, WAY overdue student loans, medical bills, and everything else I had, I paid off.  Do whatever you have to do pay off debt too, even if this means picking up a couple shift a week flipping burgers at McDonalds or babysitting.  If you have to get a second job to save, use that second job money to pay off debt while living off your regular job.

PUT $5 A PAYCHECK INTO A TRAVEL SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Or jar, or sock…whatever you can do (bank or keep it in cash in the house) that will make you save money, do it. AND START DOING IT NOW!  Start doing this the second you decide to travel, even when paying off bills still. Use this money for only travel related stuff – passport, shots, your trip – and nothing else. Become strict. Once this money is in its savings place it no longer exists.  If you can afford to put more money a week in go for it.  Once a month or so count the money, and see how much you have saved. (You will either be excited to save more, or realize you need to cut back more to start saving more).

START A CHANGE JAR

Every day when you come home, empty your pockets and purse of all change (and maybe a few $1’s) and throw it in this jar. You will be surprised how much you can save (and how much you start TRYING to get change vs. trying to use your change when you go out.)

STOP BUYING STUPID STUFF

Until travel becomes more important than your morning cappuccino, you won’t ever travel!  Think about what you don’t need to either survive or stay sane.  You do not need that $10 lipstick in 3 different colors, that new pair of sneakers to go with the other 6 you don’t wear, or 4 new pairs of jeans.  You also don’t need to go drinking with your friends Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, or spend $50 at the steak restaurant when you can buy a better steak, and cook it at home, for less than $10.
You may still need to go out with your friends one night every other week.  You may still need to have a relaxing Saturday morning cappuccino at your local coffee shop while you research places to visit, or you may still need to keep that gym membership (or start using it you slob…you want to look sexy traveling, don’t you?).
Do what you love, just do it less.  Way less!

MEET OTHER TRAVELERS

One of the best ways to get info, is to network (whether in person or through social media). Plus talking with experienced travelers keeps you motivated and they understand the stress, the “I’m never going to do this” feeling that will happen, and can help lift up your spirits when you get frustrated. Some great groups to check out:
- Meet, Plan, Go
- Local Couchsurfing.org community (many communities have meetups where you can meet travelers and hosts)
- Twitter. Follow the hashtag #TTOT (travel talk on twitter) to start meeting fellow travelers.
- Facebook. Search travel groups on facebook. Travel Bloggers, Travel Video Group, and Travel Photographers. There is also the Travel Blog Chronicles if you want to read stories from travel bloggers. Even if you don’t plan on shooting, photographing, or blogging, these are great groups to find and meet travelers.

GET A ROOMMATE

If you are living in an apartment by yourself think if you really need all that room.  Of course you don’t!  Splitting bills with someone is a great way to suddenly have a few hundred extra dollars a month for paying off debt, or putting in savings.  Plus you are about to go traveling, and if you are this broke, you will likely stay in hostels, Couchsurf, or do some kind of working stay, so you might as well get used to living with people now.

Helpful sites:
HostelBookers
Couchsurfing
Woofing
WorkAway
If you are possibly interested in housesitting or learning what it is, read these House Sitting Guide and House Sitting Guide Part 2 posts from my friend Talon who has been traveling and housesitting around the world with his son Tigger for the past year.

GET A PASSPORT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Passports are usually a couple hundred dollars tops.  Buy a thermos, and bring coffee from home for a month.  Use the money you saved by not hitting up the coffee shop every morning to buy a passport.  Once you have that in your hands, travel become much more real and possible and it will motivate you.
Also, keep it somewhere safe that you will remember!  But look at it often.  You can also photocopy it and tape photos of it to your mirror, fridge, coffeemaker, etc.

GET SHOTS

If you are lucky enough to have health insurance that covers travel vaccinations, get them.  It will make you feel one step closer.  Plus some places require certain vaccinations (like Yellow Fever, Hep A or Hep B).
If you can’t afford the shots in your country, look into countries with cheap or free medical care (like Thailand or Brazil).  I actually do my doctor checkups in Colombia because it’s cheaper here.

SELL/DONATE STUFF

What do you have that you don’t use, don’t like, forgot you have?   Start cleaning and going through your STUFF.  If you can sell it, do it and put the money in your travel fund.  If you can’t (or don’t want to deal with) selling it, donate it to your local charity or thrift store.  Getting rid of STUFF helps you save money on storage fees when you leave.

PLAY WITH TRIPS

Spend an hour in the evenings or 3 hours Saturday and Sunday mornings, looking up places to visit and cost of plane tickets over a nice glass of wine. Use sites like Skyscanner, which have a “To: EVERYWHERE” option to see where you can fly cheaply. They don’t always have the best deals, but they can give you an idea of what’s out there.

Constantly looking at travel makes you more excited for it, and more determined to save money to do it.  Whether you know exactly where you want to go, or have no idea, playing around helps keep you focused.  And you never know what new places you’ll learn about or what deals you may find.

Realistically there is a million other things to do, but these are the very first steps in planning your long-term travel.  These steps can take months to years to finish before you can realistically buy a plane ticket and think about actual travel.

DON’T GET DISCOURAGED!

Talk with other travelers, they can help encourage you even if everyone else in your life thinks you’re crazy.  You can travel.  And the harder you work for it, the more you will appreciate it!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

Once you pay off your first major debt (credit card, student loan, car) you will be so excited to suddenly have a few hundred extra a month that you may want to spend it all or save it all.

DON’T DO EITHER!

This is what you do:

1. Treat yourself.

You just paid off a major expense.  Go out with friends to a nice dinner.  Buy yourself a new outfit that makes you feel sexy.  Go racecar driving.  Whatever ONE thing you’ve really been wanting to do, but haven’t, go do it.  You deserve it.  Congrats!

2. Save half the money.

Each month when the bill was due, put HALF of what the bill was in your travel fund. Why only half?  Because life likes to screw with you.
If you paid off your car, something in your car will break (or get stolen, like mine did).  If you paid off a student loan, a major appliance goes.  Something always happens, it’s Murphy’s Law.  So save half the money in your travel fund, and put the OTHER HALF into a “That’s Life” fund (aka your regular savings account).   That way when stuff goes, you don’t have to dip into your travel fund.

It took me about 3 years to pay off my debt and be able to do some long-term travel, but the lack of a social life, and daily Dunkin Donuts was worth it!  (And I still had Dunkies sometimes, and treated myself to things like Cha Cha Velour’s 12 Week Burlesque Intensive Stage Performance classes).

Once travel becomes the most important thing to you, and you start believing you can do it, it will happen.  Don’t give up!

Cheers!

Hilary for Park Ranger with Hilary Billings

Living in Las Vegas, I have been lucky enough to meet Hilary Billings – The NomadGrad – in person a couple times.  Actually the first time I met her in person was when I accidentally ran into her while attending my first Swing and Lindy Hop dance night at the Aruba – Thunderbird Lounge in Vegas.  

And let me tell you, can this girl dance!  

Hilary has quickly become one of my favourite people in Vegas mainly because of her love for life.   Her enthusiasm is infectious!  You just can’t be around this girl (or even talk with her on Facebook) and not get smiley.  So when I heard she was up for Park Ranger in Australia’s Best job in The World contest, I couldn’t help but be super excited for her.  

And I am thankful to announce, that Hilary has made some time in her ridiculously busy schedule to let me interview her about her blogging, how she became one of the 25 people on the short-list for Park Ranger, and how you can follow her/support her for this job.   

Hi Hilary, so where are you from?

Originally from Southern California, but I have been raised in Las Vegas and attended college at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

How old are you?

24 years-old. But depending on the day, I may act like an excited twelve year-old.

When and why you became a travel blogger?

I started my blog after I graduated college.  I faced the biggest rejection of my life when I was rejected from graduate school, even though I graduated summa cum laude and was named Outstanding Graduate of my class.

I decided to attend this surf retreat in Nicaragua, run by this awesome pro-surfer, Holly Beck.  And right before I left, I decided to blog about the journey.  After all, my life was suddenly more ridiculous than fiction.  Little did I know that two years later I’d still be blogging and have an amazing following from around the world.  Now the amazing and ridiculous is my everyday.  And I encourage others to find everyday adventure as well.

What’s the most unusual/unique/craziest thing you have ever done?

Over the past two years, I’ve done some pretty unusual and crazy things. But the one that sticks out right now is volcano boarding down the world’s most active cinder cone volcano.  As if that wasn’t crazy enough, I did it during a thunderstorm, which apparently is a big no-no.  Turns out volcanic ash is a great conductor of electricity, so now I know.

You recently entered Australia’s BEST JOB IN THE WORLD contest and got picked as one of the 25 finalists (from over 45,000 people) for the Park Ranger job. What made you want to apply for this contest?

I was on Facebook one day and saw a lot of my travel blogging friends (including Going Nomadic) talking about this amazing contest and I had to go check it out.  It seemed too good to be true… getting paid generously to travel, explore, conserve, and share my adventures with the world? It really couldn’t get any better.  So I figured I had to give it a shot.

Why did you apply for the Park Ranger position?

I love nature and being outdoors. I’m an adventurer and advocate for wildlife conservation. We’re so lucky to live in a world that offers such awe-inspiring landscape and I feel like it’s our job to not only enjoy it, but preserve it for future generations as well as all the other creatures we coexist with.  I’ve worked with sanctuaries in the past and thought I would be a good fit for the position.

How long did it take you to make the video?

It took about two weeks to plan, write a script, pick locations, photos, and edit it together.  Of course, a lot of that time was deliberating back and forth as to whether I was taking the right angle and ensuring I was addressing everything that Tourism Australia had asked for in their terms and conditions.

Were you nervous?

Incredibly. I wanted this so much, but I didn’t tell anyone that I had entered because it sounded like such a long shot.

Did you ever think you’d get on the shortlist? (be honest)

No. I believed in my video and my abilities, but there were 600,000 applicants.  And it’s a tough situation because you’ve got amazing candidates from around the world and you have no idea what their videos or backgrounds are.  And at the end of the day, you never know what they’re really looking for, or what conversations are being held in the decision room.  So I wasn’t going to believe it until it happened.

How did you find out you got on the shortlist?


My parents told me. They called screaming and hollering and telling me to pack my bags. But I reserved my happy dance until I saw my video up on the website.

What was the very first thing you did when you found out?


I probably spent ten minutes jumping up and down.  And then I think I sat on the floor to let it sink in.  It’s all such a blur.  But I remember feeling sky high!

What part of the Park Ranger job are you most excited about doing?

Oh man. There are so many great things about this position.  Not only would I get to learn alongside experienced guides, but I’d get the opportunity to talk with The Aboriginals, play with wildlife, and most importantly to me, keep their state parks protected.  But, as is the driving factor behind my blogging, I love to share what I’m doing with others and inspire and motivate them to have their own adventure.  So the most exciting part for me is showcasing all that Australia has to offer and getting people interested in visiting and helping to protect their parks.

Have you ever done anything like this before?

Enter contests?  Not really. I won’t even call when there are giveaways on the radio. There was something about this that called to me and I’m thrilled that I listened to my intuition.

Do you have any other talents that you think would help you do this job?

I’m a great communicator, and am so lucky to have a following that believes in my writing.  I know I can tell a story, I know I can engage readers and I know I can market.  I also have a TON gumption and spice for life, so having a new adventure everyday appeals to me greatly! I think my travel experience and coming from Las Vegas, a city that boasts 40 million tourists a year, are also additional brownie points.

What skill would you like to learn as a Park Ranger in Australia?

I think I’m most excited at the potential to immerse myself in the culture, land, and history as a whole. There’s so much knowledge to be had on such a thrilling backdrop.

What animal are you…

 - Most excited to see?
A cassowary. They look like real characters!

 - Want to hold?
Certainly koalas because they are fuzzy and adorable, so who wouldn’t want to snuggle that?  Also would like to pet a kookaburra. But really, I’m such an animal lover, you’d have to convince me not to cuddle a snake because it’s poisonous.

 - Want to learn about the most?
I think as a surf enthusiast and beach bum, I’m looking forward to learning about sharks and colorful marine life.

What is your plan to get picked for this job now?

We’re all in the middle of battling it out via social media.  I can’t give away my secrets just yet, but know I’ve got a plan and it’s growing daily due to increased involvement and community interest.  Please check for updates on my Facebook page and blog as to what I’m up to!

What can people do to help support Hilary For Park Ranger?

I need as much social media support and help as possible!  Please LIKE my Facebook page, FOLLOW on Twitter, and check out my blog to see what crazy adventures I’m getting into along this journey.  I can only do this with your help! So please support  #TeamHilary  for  #ParkRanger!

Contact Info: (click the links)

Blog: www.NomadGrad.com

Facebook:  HilaryForRanger and TheNomadGrad

 Twitter: @TheNomadGrad  and @HilaryForRanger

Support Hilary by sending her tips and ideas on how she should prepare for her Park Ranger position!  Want to see the video that got her on the shortlist?  Check it out:

I’ve returned to out tour boat alone. Jorge is nowhere to be found. Diego is running down the white sand beach to find him. I am waiting anxiously with ALL our gear strewn across the 3 front bow seats we’ve claimed during this trip, wondering if i’ll be returning to Cartagena alone.

The second boat comes back with neither of my tour-mates. Shit!

Wait. I can see a third pontoon on the beach filling up with more people (and we are the last real tour boat left, so it is obviously for us.)

“Maybe Diego found Jorge and they are on this boat”, I hopefully think.

People are piling on to the ship. What if Jorge comes back but Diego misses seeing him and gets left on Playa Blanca? What if they both miss the boat? At least they can take a cab back…..

I HAVE ALL THE MONEY!

Oh dammit! Now I’m getting really worried. I have no idea if Jorge has enough, or any, money with him, and I have ALL of mine and Diego’s money. And all the drinks. Oh man. They are screwed if I leave without them.

I make a decision, if I don’t see Diego on this 3^rd boat I’m heading back to shore. As the 3^rd boat come closer, I see the 2^nd boat back on shore making a last and 4^th pickup. Ok. If they aren’t on the FOURTH boat, I’m going back. I have to. I have money to get back. I can’t leave them there stranded.

The third boat comes, still no Diego or Jorge. DAMMIT! I’m semi packing our stuff together so I can make a run for the fourth boat. A couple of guys from the crew have seen me pacing and made gestures that they are aware I may get off. They even nodded no when Diego wasn’t on the third boat.

The fourth boat pulls up. I’m searching and searching, and getting ready to run to go back to shore, when I spot them. Well, Diego. I spot Diego. Where’s Jorge? Maybe I missed his arrival. Maybe I just can’t see him. Diego climbs aboard, I breathe a sigh of relief, but don’t see Jorge. I’m just going to sit down and wait, and try not to look like I’ve been waiting nervously on the boat or anything. Try being the operative word here

(I fail by the way).

Diego comes running up. “Did Jorge come back?”
“I haven’t seen him. You didn’t find him?”
“I couldn’t. I thought I missed the last boat when I saw the third leave. I barely made the fourth boat!”

Uh oh. We have all the drinks. Diego had grabbed Jorge’s beach shoes (so they wouldn’t get stolen just sitting on the beach). We have EVERYTHING!

“Does Jorge have any money?”
“I don’t know”

We just left our lost friend alone. We are horrible, horrible people. We have no idea where Jorge is or if he has any money. At least he speaks Spanish (giant bonus), and I did see the bunch of Chileans that left the hostel last night (obviously to stay ON Playa Blanca), so Jorge will likely find them too.  Yea, so he will be fine.  We hope.  Because we can’t do a damn thing about it now.  Oh man, we have to tell the hostel. We are the most horrible friends on the face of the planet!

“Ok, maybe Jorge will be at the hostel when we get back? Yea, or we will give him like an hour before we go looking for him?”

We succumb to the fact that we can’t do a damn thing until we get back to land, and hope Jorge will figure it out. I mean, it’s not me with my limited Spanish that was lost, so that’s better…

Maybe the boat will wait?

Nope.

The boat pulls anchor and heads off for Cartagena. We just left our friend shoeless, possibly penniless, and waterless on Playa Blanca…..

“We should go to go to Playa Blanca”, Diego tells me.

He has been in Cartagena for a couple of days already, to learn about the city from his local friend. Playa Blanca is the most beautiful beach in Cartagena with “white sand and clear water you can see to the bottom of”.

It’s our last day in Cartagena, and, it’s Diego’s birthday week, and I will take any excuse to go to a beach, so we are going. Our new friend Jorge, who we have been hanging out with this week, wants to go to. Through the hostel, we can book a boat tour to the beach; an hour boat ride each way, includes lunch, and we get to spend the whole afternoon on the beach, all for 50.000COP (about $30) each. But a few fellow hostel-mates have said that we can book the Play Blanca boat cheaper if we do it ourselves at the marina, which is only a 10 minute walk from the hostel. So that’s exactly what we, our cheap-ass selves, decided to do.

After procrastinating for the whole afternoon, we  finally head down to the marina around sunset    speed-walk down to the marina because we suddenly realize that it is getting late and they might close   smartly decide that a sunset walk would make for great photographs during our trip to the marina and back.

After a few quite necessary ridiculously silly and tourist photos of a posh pirate ship-bar-club, and the evening’s long light hitting the water, we finally decide we should probably hurry up and buy our tickets, but before we barely hit the edge of the actual marina we are approached by some guy saying he can sell us tickets cheap, $35.000COP each.

“Let’s just buy them at the marina.”, I say. I don’t trust this guy, and am protesting up a storm. “Why are you even talking to him?”. “There is no way in hell I am giving this guy any money!”

Diego and Jorge are trying to shush me, but since I have the money (well, Diego’s and my money), they have to listen. They talk with the guy, while I’m protesting and trying to figure out what everyone is discussing (in Spanish of course), and eventually Diego and Jorge tell me this guy sells real tickets.

“Yea right. I don’t care what you say. I am not handing over any money! He wants to sell us tickets, he can walk down to the gate so we can make sure these tickets are legit!”

I refuse to budge. I am not just handing over my money to some tout claiming he has the real goods, like some noob traveler.

“This is legit”, Jorge and Diego keep telling me, but I don’t believe them. It is obvious I am not giving anyone any money until I’m convinced we aren’t about to get scammed, so the tout hands Diego the 3 tickets, and says he will walk with us down to the marina gate to calm the girl who’s being ridiculous so we can check out the validity of these tickets for ourselves.

There’s a security guard at the marina entrance who Diego shows the tickets to. I wait expecting to hear “No” or “I don’t know”, or “Go Away” but instead, the security guard, semi-exasperated and annoyed, tells us “Yes these are good”.

Ok, so they are real tickets. I realize I may have been a little over, um, ‘witchy’ about the whole ordeal, but I am not apologizing for it. The tout is still a stranger, and I’m still a bit apprehensive handing over so much money to this guy for handwritten pieces of paper tickets. That is until he tells us we only have to pay the tout 5.000COP ($2.50) each.

What? That’s it? The rest is due tomorrow when we arrive? Why didn’t you say so!?! Hell, if this is a scam, I only loose less than $3? I’m cool with that! Let’s do this!

We pay the tout $9.000 total, and I throw the tickets in my purse thingy. As we start walking away, Jorge stops suddenly, and runs back to the tout like something just went wrong.

“Is lunch included in the tour we bought?”, Jorge asks the tout.

“Yes”, replies the tout to Jorge’s relief. Nothing like last minute, after ticket buying, fact checking.

Of course, I have now gotten so distracted with not getting scammed, I forgot to ask what all the mention of Isla de Rosario, some stupid little island that is not Playa Blanca, was all about….

I’m hosting another blog carnival – this time about all the little strange, weird, and amazing things that people see when they travel.  Everyone finds different things absurd (and absurdly awesome) so here are what some other bloggers have discovered during their travels.

  by  phot0geek 

 

Wandering Albatross relays a story about a hitting a sandbank while on a nighttime Amazon boat trip and his lack of “Bear Grylls skillz”.  (Glad you are ok.)

In A Parisian Bug Story, Correr es mi Destino tells about her bug filled hotel room in Paris and the fine art of French diplomatic negotiations to get another room in the middle of the night.

A Twenty-Something Abroad gives us 2 stories from her travels. First she talks about how she ruined Mancakes morning (by the way, mancakes sounds like something I need to make my boyfriend) due to way to much interest in a holy well that appeared magically one morning on her daily jog (walk).

She also tells us of the unique history behind the small Belgian town of Leuven – and how she became infatuated with the women béguinages (basically nuns without the rules).  It’s actually an interesting story and a bit of history and culture you probably haven’t heard before.

And lastly, Finding the Universe gives us a beautiful and absurd photo essay on the most scenic toilets in New Zealand.  I kid you not.   Turns out New Zealand has some of the most scenic toilets I have ever seen photos of.  I want to go to New Zealand for nothing more than seeing these toilets randomly in the middle of great views.

These are this month’s Absurd World posts.  I’m going to keep doing this.  Want to contribute your own post?  You can: HERE.