Andre Gide said “man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” As humans, we seem to have a need for travel. A thirst for it. With the desire to travel, comes the need for money. We must somehow fund our travels. Have enough money to see what it is that we want to see. This is where the idea of savings for our adventures comes into play. Let's explore how to save money for travel, so you can indeed jet off somewhere and explore for yourself!
Shift Your Spending To Saving
When you are wanting to save for something, you need to shift from spending to saving. It's actually quite amazing how much you can save up when you decide to make that your priority. You'll start to question your spending habits. Do you need that coffee? Can you make do with the clothes you have? When you start to think about where you are spending your money, you can instead, start diverting that into your savings pot. We're not saying to stop living. Not at all. In fact, those things you do decide you want become even better because you have thought them through and they are a treat. Rather than the normal everyday stuff. That weekly coffee will taste better, that once in a while outfit will make you look hotter. You can still spend money, on things you have properly thought through. However you'll also be working towards that vacation savings goal you have set for yourself. The answer of how to save money for travel starts with actually saving.
Change Your Focus
This change in your focus is necessary for many of us. We so often spend what we have on things we think we need. However that leaves us without any leftover money for savings. When you change your focus and put that thing you want to start working for at the top of the priority list, you start to value it more. Pay into that savings pot first. Well, after your rent and other bills anyway. In fact, treat it as another bill. View it as something you need to fund every week, month or whenever you get paid. If travelling is something you want to get serious about, you need to get serious about the money it is going to take to get you to where you want to be. Of course, there are many stories of people travelling ‘on a dime' however to be comfortable and sensible, you likely want to have some sort of cash in the bank.
Know Where You Want To Go & How Much It Will Cost
The money will help you get to where you want to be, pay for accommodation, food and travel whilst you are there. When you are changing your focus towards saving, you need to know how much saving you are going to require. You could pull a random figure out of the air but until you've done some research, you won't actually know how much you'll need. It is easy to look online at how much air fares will be. You can also discover the cost of rail travel and accommodation in different cities. Put all of this down in some sort of document. Somewhere you can refer back to. This research will help you figure out how much you are going to need, what your savings goal is. Many people say that you need £50 a day to live on when you are travelling. Of course, there will be those who use a lot less and depend on a lot more.
Create A Budget
This is a budget you are creating. A budget that you will help you figure out how much you will need for your travels, but also how much you will need to save. How you will save will also come into play. If you want to visit New Zealand in two years time, you need to figure out how much you will need for said trip. Then you can determine how much you'll need to save every month, maybe even every week. It could be £100 a month you need to pull together. It could be £200, or £400! Depending on where you are going, for how long and how soon you want to go, will change the amount you need to budget for. That might mean cutting back on some spends, redirecting what you would usually pay for into your savings fund. Get to know your budget.
Plan Your Travels
You need to start to plan your travels. Where you want to go, how you want to get there, how you want to spend your time whilst you are there. Check out how much you'll need for tourist attractions. How much the bus fare is from one point to another. How much it will cost you in mobile phone data too so you can stay in touch with loved ones. Travels are a huge part of life, but it's not just about where we go, it's about the journey to getting us there. Make this fun. Make budgeting and planning your finances for travelling, part of the journey. Take photographs. Celebrate the high points knowing you are saving to make memories. It might not always go to plan, but that is life. It can twist and turn as we live it!
Now we have looked at how to save money for travel, you can start to plan your travels. Get your travels saved for, get them booked and then go and enjoy them! Life is short and there is a big wide world to discover, just remember to take in the view.