On Monday, I blogged about living intentionally and how I'm living freely and traveling constantly because that is what I want more than anything.
A couple of times when I mentioned I spent a month (twice) traveling through Europe I've been met with responses like "must be nice to have that kind of expendable income" but I don't have expendable income. And I'm not rich.
Backpacking is actually very cheap.It cost me less to backpack for a month in Europe than it did to pay one months rent.
I made it on about $1,000 (not including airfare, just accommodations, sightseeing and food) both trips and my rent in NYC for our humble studio apartment was $1,550. You could say I saved money backpacking.
I saved up for the plane ticket and other travel expenses by taking on extra work (a part-time job in addition to my full-time job). But it only took 2 months to make enough to cover a plane ticket plus the cost of my rail/bus pass to get around Europe.
During this last trip, I wrote everything I discovered during both trips (i.e. how to blend in) as well as my secrets and tips for traveling cheaply in a notebook. Little did I realize I was penning a travel ebook! I finally organized the information and now my book, Broke Backpacker, is for sale.
If you don't have a kindle, you can read the book on your iphone, ipad, laptop, computer, website browser or other device using Amazon's free kindle reader software.
Although this book is specifically about traveling cheaply in Europe, it can be helpful for planning cheap trips anywhere. In fact, my sister and I are going on an 8-day vacation to Mexico, for $502 a person (all airfare and travel, taxes, fees, food and accommodations included!) in April. I used my tricks to plan that trip. We're staying in a nice hotel on the beach, which is why it's so much more expensive.
If you want to go to Europe, Thailand, Australia--- GO! Don't "wait until you have money" to travel. Go while you can. Go with a bag and $1,000 bucks. Travel is so much cheaper than you think. Travel for the experiences not the hotel room. Travel to change your world. See the world. And buy my book :) It's only$3.99!
UPDATE: Woohoo! Broke Backpacker is #1 in tips #1 in budget travel and #2 in Europe. Thanks Herbies!
