One of the biggest prohibitive reasons that people cite for being unable to travel is expenses. There’s no way to sugarcoat that plane tickets and restaurant meals are some of life’s luxuries. Furthermore, even if you scrimp and save and eat only Ramen for months on end just to afford a no frills excursion, many of us continue to have bills to pay while we are traveling. It takes some patience and diligence, but debt can be managed. Everyone’s situation is different, but here is one gal’s story of how I managed to ditch my full time job in New Mexico and live life far, far away while still paying off my student loans.
- Make the choice and go all in
This may seem like a non-step or even an obvious one. But if you are really going to make a huge life change, it’s paramount to keep your goal in mind. When it comes to purging your life of excess, making drastic financial changes, or quitting your job, it’s helpful to have something close to a mantra to keep you steadfast and actually make these daunting decisions.
- Understand your debt
I have to come clean and confess that I can only speak to student loan debt. I didn’t get my first credit card until I was 23, and then I moved to an African village and had nothing to spend money on. But I do have almost $60,000 in student loans, so I’m dealing with a formidable amount. So here’s my advice:
- Do your research and know exactly what kind of debt you have, how much, and to whom. These sound like questions easily answered, but I have had student loan companies sell my debt to new companies without my knowledge. If I mess up a payment, I have co-signers who will be affected.
- Familiarize yourself with your options. If you can defer loans without accruing interest, or lower your monthly payments in order to save money towards your travels, then you can make an informed choice that’s best for you. Just keep track of how much you’ll pay overall in interest over the life of your loan.
- Be diligent! I have a password protected Excel file with each of my loans, the login information to each website, the direct phone numbers, the total sum, interest rates, and dates the loans are due. (All due on the same day is easy to remember, but your account takes a real hit). If you don’t set up an autopay situation, set alerts to your phone or email to help you keep track.
- Sell as much as you can (if not every possible thing)
After giving away most of my wardrobe, I sold every possible thing that I could to help finance my move to Thailand. You can’t take much with you, so why not make money off it (I learned this the hard way by delusionally trying to schlep crap across the globe and then abandoning it at random places or with random people)? After selling all my furniture, kitchen appliances, and cashing in my change bucket I had about $1,400. Living in a small town, I held a yard sale, but if I lived in a bigger city I would have sold my bigger ticket items on craigslist. This was enough for a plane ticket, but not enough to pay my student loans while I looked for employment.
- Liquefy your assets.
Although it caused my father shock and horror, I cashed in my retirement. I understand that not all people have a retirement fund to cash, but as a public school teacher, I had to put away 10% of my $30,000 income. After three years, it totaled almost $7,500 after taxes. I then drove from New Mexico to New York and sold the car on craigslist for $1,100. This is what paid my loans for four months while I traveled and looked for work.
- Make a clear and conservative budget
Be conservative (overly so) with what you can live off of each month until you have income again, and stay under that budget. Expect things to come up and budget for surprises. People will want to meet for drinks before you leave town or different airlines for different legs of your journey could have different, and potentially expensive, luggage policies. Research is paramount, but expect some curveballs.