Want to see the world? World travel has its obvious appeal: getting recharged, learning about different cultures, and experiencing new adventures. Oh yes and trying out local food.
There are real benefits of traveling and getting away. The problem is traveling to exotic destinations come with a big price tag. How can you make your dream trip a reality?
I’ve traveled to over 20 countries. If world travel is on your bucket list, but you haven’t crossed it off your list.
Here’s how I’ve traveled to over 20 countries.
1. It all starts with a dream.
Mark Twain said, “Explore. Dream. Discover.” If you want to travel, find out what it is that is motivating you.
For me, as a teenager, the travel bug hit me as my curiosity of the world grew. I would learn about the ancient ruins and Colosseum in History classes. I wanted to see what these historic places looked like in person. Plus, being Italian, I wanted to taste authentic pizza and gelatos while experiencing the culture of my ancestors.
2. Make a plan
I pin pointed what countries I’d like to visit and found a tour group. Tour groups are great for new travelers to link up and go abroad in a group setting. They offer shared rooms so the costs for lodging is split, and tours take the guess work out of having to navigate in a foreign land with a local guide who knows the language.
3. Start Saving
Also, for your first international trip a tour group is great because they provide package deals with an upfront cost, so you know what exactly to save. Even if a trip abroad seems out of reach financially, it’s possible to cash flow and pay in full for a trip. As a teenager on evenings and weekends I babysat and refed soccer games. Before I knew it, I had thousands saved and at age 16, I went on a 21-day trip to England, Switzerland, France, Greece, Italy, and Turkey.
If I can pay for a trip abroad as a teenager, then you can too!
Since then I’ve continually traveled.
4. Live and travel like a minimalist
I don’t wear designer clothes or have fancy gadgets. My happiness isn’t tied to having the newest nicest things. I’d rather have an experience over going shopping. I’d rather spend almost a month in Asia backpacking versus eating out for lunch every day.
To me, it’s worth it to brown bag my lunch every day to be able to visit Tiger Kingdom in Thailand.
You don’t have to spend a fortune on hotels, instead you can stay at hostels or use Airbnb. Once I took a camel ride and camped out under the stars in the Sahara dessert.
I loved travel and minimalism so much that I sold everything I had and now live full-time in a RV. Check out my take on RV life expectations versus reality.
All in all, how I’ve traveled to over 20 countries is by dreaming about it, making plans, saving, and living and traveling as a minimalist.
