Ever wondered how we afford to travel so much? Spoiler: We didn’t win the lottery! In this guide, we’re breaking down the real strategies we’ve used—from saving hacks to smart spending habits—that have allowed us to explore the world for years without breaking the bank.
If you’ve ever wondered how people afford to travel full-time, you’re not alone—we get asked this all the time!
We traveled full-time for 5 years before settling in our current home base in Bend, Oregon. And we still take big trips all the time. We’ve been to over 50 countries in the past 10+ years, many of them more than once!
And no; we don’t come from wealthy families, we’re not drug dealers & we didn’t win the lottery. (All assumptions we’ve heard.)
We’re so grateful for the freedom we have created for ourselves, but it’s not magic. It has taken hard work, planning and dedication.In this guide, we’re breaking down exactly how we’ve made long-term travel work—no fluff, no vague advice, just real, actionable tips you can use too.
Let’s jump right in…
1. We worked hard to SAVE money for travel
Before we were jet setting travel bloggers, we were living a relatively “normal” life. You can read more about our story on our About Us page, but here’s the gist: Ben was working as a manufacturing engineer and Katie was working as a graphic designer (with a touch of advertising, marketing and photography!).
We lived in a cute apartment in a great area and generally liked our lives. But decided that we wanted to have an “adventure” before really settling down.
So we made the decision to work our a$$es off to save money.
- We had nights in with friends instead of going to the bars as often.
- We cooked most of our meals.
- We took on side jobs.
- We cut all our non-necessary expenses (like cable TV).
- We thought about every purchase, and I said goodbye to shopping sprees.
→ Read More: This is the EXACT plan we followed to save up enough money to pay for our wedding, pay our loans and feel comfortable quitting our jobs to travel. The best part is it didn’t take all that long to save a LOT of money!
Our savings grew quickly, funding our wedding, honeymoon (in Banff!), student loans (grrr…), and—of course—our travel fund.
When we hit $10,000, we set off on a three-month backpacking trip in South America. But instead of “getting travel out of our system,” we craved more. With our funds running low, we knew saving alone wouldn’t be enough.
So we created a plan—a plan that kept us traveling for the next five years and then some.
We’re going to share all aspects of that plan so you can replicate it or take bits and pieces and make it your own.
Because one thing is for certain: You can spend years saving up money, but that isn’t going to be sustainable. At some point, that travel fund is going to run out.
So what did we do next…?
2. We taught English overseas
Teaching English in Korea was one of the best decisions we ever made. We immersed ourselves in a new culture, made lifelong friends, and had the adventure of a lifetime.
Oh, and we EACH saved $22,000 in just one year—that’s $44,000 between the two of us!
We’re not sharing this to brag, but to show how incredible this opportunity can be. Teaching abroad made it possible for us to travel the world for an entire year, and it could do the same for you.
If you’re even a little curious, our detailed guide walks you through everything you need to know to get started!
→ Related: Before you sign up for a TEFL course, download our e-book that explains everything you need to know before teaching overseas. It’s the stuff that no other bloggers tell you, but it’s suuuuper important. Oh, and the e-book is free! We just genuinely want you to feel prepared and equipped with the right information.
3. We travel on a budget
When we set off on our 3-month trip in South America, $10,000 felt like a lot—until we realized how fast it could disappear.
Instead of splurging on fancy hotels and cocktails, we chose to travel frugally so we could go further and stay on the road longer. And honestly, some of our best adventures came from “roughing it.”
That said, we didn’t want a tight budget to keep us from once-in-a-lifetime experiences or supporting businesses that do good for the environment and local communities.
The key? BALANCE. Splurge where it matters, save where you can.
Check out our cheap travel hacks—the exact tips that helped us travel the world for a year on less than $75 a day (for both of us!) while still paying student loans—without coming home broke.
4. We find cheap flights
If I’m totally honest, I think most travel bloggers make way too big a deal about finding cheap flights. I means, just because you find a $200 flight to Paris doesn’t mean you can afford a trip there.
I think learning how to travel cheaply is much more beneficial in the long run. But for people who fly as often as we do, it does help to know some strategies for finding cheap flights.
And there is something pretty satisfying with getting a great deal. It was a super cheap flight to Colombia, after all, that convinced us to quit our jobs and take the plunge. (Well, a cheap flight AND a bottle of wine!)
We’ve bought round-trip flights to Thailand for just over $600. And we’ve flown to Europe for just a couple hundred bucks. So how do we do it?
Here ya go: These are our top tips for finding cheap flights around the world.
5. We have taken jobs all over the world
We don’t like the idea of running our savings completely dry. We always want a cushion, and we want to be earning more than we spend.
So before we became full-time travel bloggers and started earning a livable income on our blog, we found ways to work while traveling.
Ben taught English online, and earned good money! And the best part is he was able to do it all around the world: from a hostel in Vietnam to the drivers seat of our campervan.
I used to take on freelance writing jobs that I could do in my own time – like after a day of exploring.
We’ve also done volunteer work in exchange for room and board, which has allowed us to travel longer. We have had some really wonderful experiences working on organic farms we found through WWOOF or WorkAway.
And when we needed to save up a bit more, we took jobs at a ski resort in Washington state where we got to have “fun jobs” while slowing down for a bit.
6. We live simply
It sounds cliché, but traveling has taught us that less is more. We rarely buy new clothes or “things”. We think about each purchase, and make sure that it’s something we really need.
One of our happiest times of our lives was when we lived the simplest. We spent 3 months living in a campervan we built with our own 2 hands (well, technically 4 hands, because there are two of us!).
We slept in the woods and cooked outside and spent the evenings by campfires. It was magical. And it was cheap.
What many people don’t know is that travel can actually be cheaper than living at home. Yep, you read that correctly.
Take away the monthly rent (or mortgage), cable, Internet, gym membership, car payments, insurance payments, and all the other stuff that comes along with living in one place, and you’ll find that you really don’t need much to be happy.
7. We keep track of EVERYTHING
Anyone can make a budget, but not everyone sticks to it.
The only way we have been able to stick to a (pretty tight!) budget all these years is by keeping track of everything. Yes, EVERYTHING.
Any time we make a purchase or pay a bill, we record it.
There are lots of apps out there, but we suggest TravelSpend because it’s super easy to categorize expenses and track your budget in real time. Plus, it was designed specifically for travelers, so it seamlessly handles currency conversions and works offline—perfect for keeping your spending in check on the go.
It took us a little while to make this a habit, but it was so worthwhile. We recorded exactly how much we spent every single day for the first 5+ years of our travel, which has allowed us to be totally in control of our spending and savings.
8. We are determined AF
The only way that we were able to keep this up for 5+ years is because we genuinely LOVE our lifestyle. If we didn’t, we would have given up years ago.
It hasn’t always been easy, and there have been months where our savings is dangerously low. But we saw a path and we were determined enough to make a plan. And we were passionate enough to stick to that plan.
Whatever it is that you’re saving for – whether it be travel, starting your own business or providing for your family – your reason for saving needs to be something you are passionate about. Otherwise your savings will fade along with your motivation.
9. We make sure we’re always covered
We have always, ALWAYS had travel insurance. We’ve missed flights, had medical issues and had valuables stolen, and are so thankful that these things have not become a financial burden.
Travel insurance isn’t as expensive as you’d think.
Don’t let the thought of it overwhelm you: we’re here to help. We’ve created an article that answers all your questions about travel insurance and lets you in on which policies we actually use.
10. We make money on this blog
What started as a passion project is now our full-time job and income.
We used to read that exact same phrase on other blogs, but never thought we’d be able to say it too.
Being able to work on something that we built out of passion is something that we will be eternally grateful for. And the fact that we make money on it—our full income—is still mind-boggling to us.
But it hasn’t been easy. It has taken thousands of hours of hard work, tears, arguments and conversations about quitting. We have made countless mistakes that have cost us time and money. But we have pressed on and outlasted the statistics. (Technically, only 20% of blogs ever make money.)
If you are at all interested in travel blogging, listen up…
We just re-launched our blogging course and are so excited to help others on this journey.
If you (or someone you know!) has been wanting to start a blog or level up to making it a full-time career, this is your sign.
If you’re on the fence, we totally get it! It can feel like a big investment, and you want to be sure it will be worthwhile.
We poured years worth of blogging experience and knowledge into this course and we certainly think it’s worth your while. In fact, we’re so confident about that, that we’re willing to give you a little sneak peak to decide for yourself…
You can get the first 3 lessons of our Blogging Bootcamp right now, TOTALLY FREE. No strings attached.
Sign up now and you’ll receive:
- Lesson 1 | Find Your Audience: Honing in on your niche and writing to connect
- Lesson 2 | Goal Setting for Bloggers: Planning for success with big, realistic and achievable blogging goals
- Lesson 3 | Monetizing Your Blog: Actionable steps to begin earning money on your blog today
That last one is particularly exciting as we share exactly how we’ve earned six figures with our blog for 4 years and counting!
You’ll come away with the exact strategies we use, plus the know-how to design your own monetization plan for building a blog that pays the bills and allows you to live the lifestyle of your dreams.
More budget tips
Want to learn more about our budget tips and hacks? We have poured our hearts and souls into writing tons of content on this exact subject.
We passionately believe that travel shouldn’t only be for the rich. And we want to help you plan the travels of your dreams (even if you have debt!).
- Are you going on a road trip soon? After converting our own campervan in one week we hit the road for 3 months exploring the Western United States. Check how we built our campervan and saved money on the road.
- Do you want to live in another country? We have tons of tips on how to save money while living as an expat teaching English or working as a digital nomad.
Let us help you travel better…
Be sure to check out our Travel Planning Homepage for resources on everything you need to know about how to plan a trip, from packing to budgeting and more! Or you can read some of our favorite articles about planning your next trip below.
- How to Plan a Trip in 10 Simple Steps
- Expert Tips for Finding Cheap Flights
- Carry-On Packing List: What You Actually Need on a Flight
- Our Favorite Travel Essentials
- This is the one thing we NEVER travel without!
- Packing Hacks to Help You Pack Light Every Time
- Tips to Fight Jet Lag (that actually work!)
- How to Get Cell Service Abroad (without spending a fortune!)
→ Traveling as a family? Don’t miss our family travel articles!
What if the hard part was already done for you?
All you have to do is pack your bags!
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We want to hear from you!
Have thoughts or questions on this subject? We’ve love to hear from you in the comments below.
This post is both practical and inspiring, making travel seem achievable for anyone. The tips are straightforward and really empower readers to take action.
I had the pleasure of traveling to NZ a couple of years back for my birthday, you guys are inspiring me to go back and camper van my way around. thank you for sharing
Wow, now I just need to find a partner to do this with!
Glad it was helpful! Solo travel is pretty great too if it is of any interest to you 😉 Lots of new friends to meet along the way!
Wow! You two are amazing, and so inspirational! My husband and I love to travel with our two kiddos, but it makes things complicated for sure! We have set ourselves a goal of visiting all of the national parks in the US, and so far we have only accomplished 10 of them. I have just spent the last few hours (cue early morning insomnia) pouring through your website, and I couldn’t be more excited/motivated to quit my job RIGHT NOW! Thank you so much for all of the information. You now have 4 more fans!
I read about a site called trusted house sitters from another blog. You can stay at someones home overseas for free in exchange for taking care of their pets and other chores.
This is genuinely a great article. You guys have made things look so easy through this article. I was recently on a trip to vientam and I planned it completely. It was a low budget trip so I had to keep my hands off from expensive stuff, but I did have a lot of fun.
I recently came across the concept of work exchange. I think it could save me a lot of money on accommodation and food. One of my friends recommended me a website named https://hippohelp.com. I checked it out and it was pretty easy to use. They don’t charge you for signing up and have this map based system just like a GPS to locate hosts all over the globe. I think I could use it to plan my next trip to Portugal. Have you ever used it?
No, we haven’t tried it, Hrishi, but thanks for the tip!
Thanks for sharing this informative post. I really like this amazing post. This is nice and useful post.
Glad you found it helpful!
Thanks for this article, found it really useful 🙂