How I Afford Travel

How I Afford Travel

Badass trips on a not-so-badass budget. 

Many travel blogs are written by people who’ve sold all their possessions and have taken a huge plunge into the world of long-term travel. This can sound expensive at first, but when you consider that you don’t have rent or a car payment in this lifestyle (or much room to carry any possessions), it can actually be very cheap to live this way, provided you can work a little along the way, or do some kind of virtual freelancing or contract work.

I’m not one of those people.

I do have rent to pay, and a car payment, and bills, and the trappings of a fairly typical middle class young urban professional life. I have a cat. I work in a cubicle. I like some amount of routine, and sleeping in my own bed. I have a ladder to climb, that I want to climb. 

I also don’t have a ton of free income to spend on travel.

Despite all this, in the past 2 years I’ve managed to visit 9 cities in 4 countries (Colombia, Jordan, Egypt, Spain) and very soon I’ll be off to visit 7 more cities in 3 countries (Italy, Croatia, and Spain again — I love Spain), a 17 day trip; a few weeks after I return, I’m off again on a small trip to Mexico for a wedding. When I’m done, that’s 16 cities, 7 countries, in just 2 years. Not much for the permanent nomad, but a lot for someone who’s expected to be at work by 9am every weekday.

When people find out how much I travel, some imagine I must have a lot of spare income or be a trust fund baby. I keep encountering this perception — especially among Americans — that travel is this huge undertaking that is incredibly expensive. Well, it sure can be, if you choose to make it that way. But if you step outside this perception, and do some research, you’ll find that it really doesn’t have to be that way. Travel can be affordable, if you plan for it and prioritize it in your life.

Here’s how I do it:

1. Flights. By far, this can be the single most expensive purchase of your trip. A coach round trip ticket from the US to Europe usually runs anywhere from $700-1200 on average, depending on the season. The trick is: don’t buy your ticket with actual money. Buy it with fake money called points or miles. A few years ago, I strategically opened 2 different credit cards (one an AmEx, one a British Airways Visa) with unusually crazy high enrollment bonuses. Within just a few months’ time I went from 0 miles to 50,000 AmEx points (redeemable for airline miles on at least a 1:1 basis) and 100,000 British Airways miles. Keep in mind, BA is part of the OneWorld alliance, so I can book with other airlines using these miles. In just a few months’ time, with 2 credit cards (that didn’t hurt my credit, by the way) I earned enough miles to take 3 international round trip flights — without ever stepping on an airplane. I got the AmEx points simply for opening the card, and I earned the BA miles after spending $2500 in 3 months, which wasn’t that hard for me because I strategically put ALL my expenses on the card for 3 months. 

The trick is knowing which cards to open. These cards usually aren’t well advertised, so you’ll have to do your research. A few good resources to get you started:  Unconventional Guides: Frequent Flyer Master by Chris Guillebeau. This is actually the first resource I used to learn more about travel hacking. If you’re a total newb, as I was, this is the best introduction to the world of frequent flyer miles that exists. But it’s not overly simplistic; there are a ton of insider tricks and tools in here that I haven’t even taken advantage of yet. This guide is the reason I earned 150,000 miles without stepping foot on an airplane. FrugalTravelGuy.com This is a great blog for those interested in staying up to date on the latest frequent flyer news and credit card offers.

FlyerTalk.com This is a forum for the serious hardcore travel hackers — the credit card “churners” who sometimes earn up to 1 million miles a year doing this. FlyerTalk can be intimidating at first if you’re new to all this, so I’d recommend starting from the top and working your way down.

2. Rooms. Very rarely do I stay in what most Americans think of as a “hotel” when I travel abroad. Many travel hackers and frequent business travelers are loyal to a certain brand of hotel, especially those with their own reward points systems, which earn them free stays (and yes, there are credit cards for this too). These can be a great value and I do participate in a few programs like Hilton HHonors for stateside bookings. For my international trips, however, I prefer everyday price flexibility, so I book a variety of inexpensive, off the beaten path accommodation types — and none of them involve splitting a room with strangers, camping (not counting the bedouin camp I stayed with in Petra, which I did for the experience and not the savings), or couchsurfing. A lot of people associate budget travel with roughing it, but it is possible to be comfortable. In fact, by avoiding the beaten path, I usually have a less expensive, equally as comfortable, and more interesting cultural experience. Most of my international trips have involved staying at a combination of private rooms at hostels, small independently owned hotels, bed & breakfasts, and private apartments.

Hostelworld.com This room search and booking site will expand your idea of what a hostel can be. Often you’ll find that smaller, inexpensive and independent hotels will list rooms on Hostelworld even if they have a website and brand themselves as a hotel or bed & breakfast. You can search for rooms nearly anywhere in the world, filter by room type (most hostels have private bedrooms, some with private bathrooms and some with shared bathrooms), location (there’s a handy map view), price and more. It’s also low risk - you just pay a small 10% down payment when you book and the rest when you check in. I’ve stayed in some very nice hostels for a fraction of the cost of an equal quality hotel and it’s one of the first places I look when I start planning a trip.

Booking.com This is a rising star in the online travel booking world for hotels. Based in Amsterdam, they are one of my top sources for rooms in Europe (though they offer rooms in several other parts of the world too). Booking.com’s strength is their breadth of rooms available; you can find a variety of low-cost, tiny, independently owned hotels that will be difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. They even offer free cancellation on many rooms. Their pricing also cannot be beat — sometimes I even find rooms that are less expensive than hostels!

Airbnb.com I am a huge fan of this service. A major disruptor to the online travel booking industry, Airbnb offers you the ability to reserve a room in a private apartment directly through someone who lives and is local to the place you’re going. You can book entire apartments or just spare bedrooms, allowing you the choice between having a cozy place all to yourself or staying with — and getting to know— a local, something that may not have happened otherwise (and my most memorable trips have been those in which I connected with locals while I was there). A few other perks can involve more amenities than a budget hostel or hotel may offer, such as the ability to wash your own laundry or cook your own food if you need to (it is an apartment, after all). I travel for 2 weeks at a time when possible (more on that later), and I pack only a carry-on. After a week like that, a washing machine is an unexpectedly welcome blessing. You’ll also get to feel more like a local, even if you never meet your host. You’re staying in a neighborhood, not a commercial, touristy zone. There’s a lot to be said for that. Finally, I love their website. Not only very easy to use and socially integrated, the design is beautiful. I love flipping through the home slideshow of gorgeous apartments on offer. It’s interior design porn at its most authentic — these are real peoples’ homes!

3. Timing and trip length. I would be remiss to say that the above 2 factors are the only methods I use to travel to so many places affordably. The fact is, I can say I fit in 16 cities and 7 countries in 2 years because of how many of those cities and countries I manage to pack into a single trip. In 2011, I did only a 1-week trip to Colombia. In 2012, I did a 17-day trip to Jordan, Egypt, and Spain. This year, I’ll do another 17-day trip (that’s essentially 12 vacation days) to Italy, Croatia, and Spain. Considering all the places within those countries I travel to in each trip, I typically pack up and move on every 2-3 days. That’s not a lot of time in each place! Just enough to visit the major sites, take in the atmosphere, and decide if I’m intrigued enough to return someday to make a longer trip of it.

This pace is not for everyone, but it works for me. I’m restless, and like squeezing every drop out of my precious vacation days. Plus, nothing’s worse than booking 5 days in a place you’ve never been, only to arrive and find out you’re bored after 1 day and it’s too late to make any changes. I intend to see the world, and I have to do it in 2 weeks per year. So, I compromise. It can be a little tiring, but I don’t take these trips necessarily to relax — I take them to recharge in other ways. Travel is my passion and I crave new cultural experiences. My worldview has expanded a little more each time I set foot on US soil again; this is creative fuel to the fire of everything I do, from painting to marketing strategy. That’s why I’m determined to prioritize it, even with a limited budget. For those who’ve also been bitten by the travel bug, you get it. The rest of the world will go on thinking that we’re rich, and I suppose that’s fine.

At the Hotel Oriental Rivoli in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Somewhat fancy, resort-style digs. About $60/night.

From all the spam that’s going around in this tag, I felt like I needed to do a bit of service to this wonderful fan base and recommend tons of noteworthy fics and authors! Do check out their Ao3 profile for more of your viewing pleasure (some even have their tumblr links listed, so follow them too!) Apologies ahead of time for the long post.  Enjoy! 

General Characteristics of fanfiction recommended: Levi/Erwin Smith AS THE MAIN PAIRING, mainly fluff, mainly smut (some PWP), equal amounts of fluff & smut, NSFW, angst, origin/backstory canon, reincarnation, “the daddy kink,” all Archive of our Own fics (except 2), elements of BDSM, Marriage, Domestic, various AUs

INDIVIDUAL WORKS: direct links to author and fanfic

Audacity by Shoi – THE origin fic that probably every Eruri fan has read so far. Incomplete; updated regularly  (at least three times a month); Multichapter. 

Lessons in Waiting by tennou – Student(Levi)/Teacher(Erwin) AU.  Incomplete; updated regularly (at least twice a month); Multichapter. Has other eruri fics, such as An Intimate Friendship (Complete, One-chapter)

Don’t Play Jesus by GuessWhat – Drug addiction Modern AU. Incomplete; updated rarely; Multichapter. 

Gilded by the Night by rivai-lution – Prostitution AU.  Incomplete; updated regularly (at least three times a month); Multichapter. 

meditation (i thought of you) by coinseller – WW2 AU. Complete. Multichapter.  

Now, Forever by Kuri – Reincarnation AU.  Complete. One chapter. 

Road Rage by longlostwriter – Driving school AU w/ teenager(Levi) and driving school instructor(Erwin).  Incomplete; updated regularly (at least three times a month); Multichapter. 

Filth by clautchy – Origin story.  Incomplete; updated often. Multichapter. 

Levi’s Marriage (The Ring) – Afterstory; warning: you will probably cry a lot. Complete. Author link in doc. 

AUTHORS: direct links to their Shingeki no Kyojin tag and notable fanfic examples.  *ALL ERURI FICS UNDER THE AUTHORS ARE RECOMMENDED*

**CHECK THEIR TAGS IF IT FITS YOUR INTERESTS**

daphnerunning – author of Just a Job (prostitution AU) and more.  Incomplete; Hasn’t updated in a while. Multichapter.  

Cherry – author of Coup de Grace (Afterstory, Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter) and more. 

ero_hime – author of The Happiness You Deserve (married Levi/Erwin domestic, Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter) and more. 

orphan_account – author of Nothing Heals Quietly (rewritten form of what was once “Don’t Get Precious;” student(Levi)/teacher(Erwin) AU. Incomplete; Multichapter) and more – The Taste of Grave in the Mouth (Zombie AU, Incomplete; Multichapter.), Detriment (modern Orphan(Levi) AU. Incomplete; Multichapter). All updated rarely. 

sassanids – author of THE pirate AU Kindle and Char (Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter) and much more.  Also the author of just hold on tight and let me do my dance (daddy kink fic. Incomplete; hasn’t been updated in a while. Multichapter)

7dragons7 – author of Wings of Silver and Blue (origin fic. Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter) and more.   

NanakiBH – author of Retrospective (daddy kink. Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter). Various one-chapter fics. 

SPooK – author of all your BDSM needs and more. Updates regularly. Various complete, one-chapter and short multichapter fics. 

InstantPsycho – author of Tentative (BDSM fic.  Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter) and more. Various complete, one-chapter fics.

Kittypistol, Vee – authors of Big Dumb (Levi/Erwin as roommates. Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter). Check out the authors for their own individual works!

13th, Memos – authors of Take You To The Coffeeshop (Coffee Shop AU. Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter). On a personal note, perhaps my favorite Eruri fic of all time. Check out the authors for their own individual works!

stereobone – author of I’m Only Going to Heaven (If it Feels Like Hell) and more. THE Eruri sugar daddy kink fic (Complete; one long chapter).  Various complete, one-chapter fics.

animehead – author of Blood Desire (Vampire AU. Complete; one chapter) and more. Various complete, one-chapter fics.

LionAmongTheSheep – author of A very drunken Corporal  (Complete; one chapter) and more. Few complete, one-chapter fics. 

gunpowderlatte – author of various complete, fluffy one-chapter fics. 

thefangirlingdead – author of A Twist of Fate (Reincarnation AU. Incomplete; updated regularly. Multichapter) and more. Various complete, one-chapter fics.

thanatopsis – author of various complete, one-chapter fics.

eightminutes – author of Nostalgia: I Wandered Home Saying Your Name (Tattoo artist Levi. Incomplete; On Hiatus. Multichapter). Various complete, one-chapter fics.

NezuPezu – author of various fluffy, one-chapter fics.

andtheheir – author of Find Hell With Me and Vice (Origin stories. Complete; both contain one long chapter. 

cosmonaut_field – author of A Different Kind of Sugar (sugar daddy Erwin AU. Incomplete; updates regularly. Multichapter). Various one-chapter and multichapter fics. 

bandanaye – author’s writing tag. Contains Rich boy Erwin and foster child Levi (Incomplete, multichapter).

ever wanted to do some stuff? like, different stuff? tired of having to scroll through your huge ref tag? LOOK NO FURTHER!! Have a masterpost of LITERALLY EVERYTHING which took me 5 hours to make so reblog it

Art:

Painting tutorial

Female/male arms

Kneeling + Sitting ref

Dragon head view tutorial

SAI brushes 86786

Drawing expressions

Sai Brushes 1

NGE colour palette 1

100+ colour palletes

Avoiding same face

Face contours/highlighting 

free art MyPaint

Body anatomy help 1

How to shift images using blur in PS

Drawing clothe folding

How to draw ice

Colour palette 1

Colour palette 2

SAI brush settings 2

SAI/PS pixel brushes

Warm/Cool gray

Flower crown tutorial

Skin colour palette

Pink colour sheet

How to draw butts&thighs

The male torso

Drawing glowing stuff in SAI

Drawing horse/animal legs on humans

Drawing clouds

Muscular male with bow stock photos

Pastel colours

Drawing grass fields in SAI

Expressions&Legs

All about the human body

20+ colour palettes 

Colour conversion

Kissing ref

Creature design 

Colour meanings

Creating expression

Tutorial masterpost (100+)

Lineart

Canine

How to colour

Pose studies

Feline comparisons

How to draw penis

Leaf pressing

100+ anatomy references 

How to draw folds

SAI brushes 3

Sitting poses

Colour palette 4

Cloud painting

How to draw 3D rooms

Colour info

Colouring ref

Hair tutorial

Clothing ref

Bodies and poses

SAI brushes 5

Colour scheme designer

Folding ref

Heads&Angles 

Paint tool SAI masterpost

Drawing ref masterpost (10+)

Hair+Fur

How to draw faces

SAI brushes 4

Anatomy of mutant humans

What should I draw?

Free art software

pastel colour ref

Mass art ref

Soft SAI brushes

ways to draw stuff

SAI brush settings

baseball cap ref

Penis ref

Drawing human wings

Cool free art software

Huge art ref

Colour blender

2 SAI brushes

Photoshop for free 

Writing:

Inspiration 1

Instead of ‘whispered’

Music for writing fight scenes

Writing fantasy

Emotions vocab sheet

How to reveal character

Writers block resource

Writing a death scene

BIO help

Music to help you write

Writing prompt generators

Got writers block?

How to torture a character

Degrees of emotion

ULTIMATE writing ref, 500+

Character names

Body language

25 days of fic

HOW TO DRAW ANYTHING

Writing people of colour

nanowrimo start kit

character flaws

General: 

Becoming an adult masterpost

cute OTP things

Resource masterpost

For bored people

Anime + Manga recs

how to make a blanket nest

Getting an apartment

what should i read next?

If you’re bored

Delete tourists from photos

Cute pet nicknames

Family tree explained 

Pulling an all nighter 

masterpost of themes/pixels/emoticons

List of demon names

Demons & Deities in the bible

Moss graffiti 

Types of attraction

Trampoline = outside bed

College textbooks

God masterpost

Creepypasta

OTP necklaces

Super silky summer legs

Plastic keychains

How to write cover letters

make music on itunes sound great

Documentarys 

Classic lit

Makeup:

Black/gold ref 1

Cosplay eye makeup

Halloween eye gore makeup (tw eye gore)

Rotting skin halloween makeup

Eyeliner ref

bloody halloween nails

Gender:

Getting gender-neutral pronouns on facebook

Backgrounds:

Pokemon mystery dungeons iphone

Ghosty backgrounds 

Themes/pixel/backgrounds

Clothing: 

1000+ everything clothing ref

Awesome jackets

Cheer up/Be happy

If you’re having a bad night

Movies to watch when you’re down

Confidence

Sowing:

8ft giant squid pattern

Food:

Cheeseburger cupcakes

Deep-dish cookie for one

Exercise: 

Burning stomach fat

Games:

PokéRadar guide

Play pokémon games online

Pkmn Shiny hunting guide

Animal crossing new leaf face/hair guide

Free RPG games

Mental health:

Talking about your mental health

face/expressions tutorials & references masterpost

okay so i made a masterpost of art references/tutorials for my own future reference but they might be helpful to some of you guys too idk

EYES

head and eyes tutorial

fantasy eyes tutorial (semi-realistic)

eyes + eyebrows tutorial

cute eyes tutorial

another cute eyes tutorial

semi-realistic anime eyes tutorial

eyes tutorial

another (semi-realistic) eye tutorial

semi-realistic eye process

another eye process

it’s another eye process

different eye shapes

NOSES

nose tutorial

skulls, noses and lips tutorial

semi-realistic nose process

noses tutorial/reference

another nose process

MOUTHS & EARS

fantasy lips tutorial (semi-realistic)

mouths tutorial

ears tutorial

another ears tutorial

lips tutorial

semi-realistic lips process

FACE

face tutorial

unique male faces tutorial

unique female faces tutorial

another face tutorial

profile view proportions

profile view tutorial

yet another profile view tutorial

the human head from different angles and perspectives

the human head from more angles

head proportions from different angles

EXPRESSIONS

facial expression tutorial

another facial expression tutorial

yeah you guessed it it’s another expressions tutorial

expressions photo dump

OTHER

body language

tips on drawing glasses

skin tutorial

another skin colouring tutorial

skin tone palettes

hair and necks tutorial

braids tutorial

how to draw hair

hair + hairlines tutorial

hair process

jawline + kissing tips

kissing tutorial

couples poses reference

portrait lighting reference

lineart tutorial

miss emi! i dont believe you got my ask unless you just didnt want to answer it, but in any case; id like to ask how you print your uhhhh well prints? i made a poster for my friend on sai and id like to print it for her but idk if i can print using my normal printer? when youre not mass producing prints like for a con do you still go to a print shop? also if you were to create a poster on the larger side what size would you make the canvas? sorry for all the questions im an amateur nd thank :U

heyoooo i prefer most of these questions to be answered privately so that’s prob why i missed it… but either way i make the canvas 300dpi of whatever print size i want! 8.5x11in is standard for a normal home printer but if u want anything bigger (11x17) you can go to a staples. i really like the chain minuteman press too but that’s more for mass production. if it’s just one print i think staples will be fine!

i hope its not to much trouble to ask, but how did you make your OC page???

oh it’s no trouble at all! 

FIRST YOU GO HERE FOR THE HTML CODING FOR THE PAGE, copy the code from either pastebin/freetexthost

Next, go to your customize page and scroll down to the bottom where you see an ‘ADD A PAGE’ option

A POP UP WILL OPEN LIKE SO

SELECT CUSTOM LAYOUT

and paste the HTML CODE THERE! 

then you can just edit the html code to your liking IT’s marked out in the HTML where you’re supposed to edit the character info/ insert character pictures and stuff(NEAR THE BOTTOM) SO YEAH! 

and hopefull you’ll get something like this

You can add more pages for other char info too! IF you use the standard layout you’ll p much just get whatever you type into the text box, LIKE A NORMAL TEXT POST

the page URL will basically be whatever you filled in HERE:

SO JUST USE THAT URL WHEN You wanna add links to that page and stuff

 I HPOPE THAT HELPS AND IF YOU have more questions feel free to ask! I’ll try my best to help you out though my HTML knowledge is really limited LIES DOWN BC HTML IS SO DIFFICULT