What better way to wash off the salt?
Do you envy your friends who seem like they are always on the move, jet-setting and seeing the world? How do they afford it? Also, why isn’t that kid out at the bar partying with us every weekend?
We are a generation infatuated with travel. Every one of us says we travel, and even if we don’t, we make it known that we want to. However, we’re also a generation that likes to party. We go out every weekend to be social and this, my friends, is a major deflator of your dreams to see the world.
New budget airlines have made buying tickets to bucket list destinations cheaper than ever (Europe, South America, Central America, etc.). Airlines like TAP Portugal, HOP, Spirit Airlines, and the countless list of budget booking websites all offer flights that are under $500 to almost any major city, from Boston to Buenos Aires. Now, do you have a skill you can offer like teaching yoga, are you a social media guru, or anything that may be of use to someone in a distant country? You can pair those skills with affordable airfare to create opportunities for you.
More so than most athletes, surfers scour the globe in search the next perfect wave. Photo: Callahan/SurfEXPLORE
Now, back to those weekends out and the bar tabs that come with them. For most millennials, going out for drinks on Friday and Saturday nights are the standard. Even in smaller cities, nights like this can cost you up to $40-$50 a pop. If you live in a busier city, you already know that tab can fly even higher with ease. You get the picture. Now fast forward through four weeks of that weekend routine and boom, you’ve dropped somewhere in the ballpark of a cool $400 in just one month of socializing. $400 might not seem like much in the grand scheme of international travel, but if you’ve been diligent about looking for affordable flights, one leg of your trip to Madrid may be just a little over $200. Don’t believe me? Go to Google Flights now, pick a destination, and take a gander at how low airfare actually is when you’re not booking last minute and have flexible travel dates. Los Angeles to Costa Rica can run you less than $400 round trip during the right time of year. A flight out of New York to Indonesia can cost less than $500 under the same circumstances.
“But it’s still expensive to be in these foreign places once you get there,” you say. Wrong
With services like Airbnb, hostels dotting every plot on the globe, and even opportunities to volunteer your time in exchange for accommodations, you also don’t have to spend a ton of cash in your destination. There are great resources like Workaway and Worldpackers that will even help you find warm and welcoming families who host travelers. It has probably never been easier to visit a foreign country and soak in a genuine experience while you’re there.
The point is, even if you aren’t raking in a bunch of money, you can still get out there and experience the world. Even if you simply stop boozing for just one month you’ll put yourself closer to booking the dream surf trip or backpacking trip you’ve put off for years now.
Pay attention, have a plan, and fulfill your dream.
