Have you ever wondered how your next-door neighbour keeps travelling every other weekend or have you heard of people who have quit their jobs to simply travel the world and thought that they had so much money? Well, that’s so far from the actual truth.
Of course, travelling is an expensive ordeal and you might say, “Oh Lucie, you’re able to afford these family trips because you have the resources. Your husband has a stable job and you own a business,” but if you think about it in the long term, with the number of trips we were taking and the amount of money that was coming in, we would eventually declare bankruptcy.
And that was something I already knew…
So I had to come up with a system that allowed us to travel with our kids, see the world, and still maintain a good lifestyle back at home.
Basically, this is how I was able to travel the world with my family:
Set up a travelling money jar
I cannot tell you how many times I have used a travelling money jar to help us save for an upcoming trip. It’s quite efficient and as long as you place the jar in a convenient place, then all should be well.
In my case, what I did was I placed the jar at the entryway so all the change we had accumulated during the day was all dumped into the jar.
And we also let the kids join in the fun. It was a way to cultivate the culture of saving while at the same time encouraging good behavior without having to use time-out.
So the simple rules were every time my kids didn’t use the word ‘Thank You’ or ‘Sorry’ they would have to place some money into the jar. And it worked like a charm.
The funniest part about this money jar is that it helped me become a healthy snacker. So what I would do is that every time I would want to snack on some chips or Cheetos, I would instead put in the money I would have spent buying those snacks into the jar.
At first, I won’t lie, it was really hard, but as time went on, the habit caught on plus I wanted to travel more than I wanted to snack on Cheetos.
Pick a destination in advance
If you are a spontaneous traveler and you are seriously considering the idea of travelling the world constantly, you need to really reconsider your spontaneous decisions.
What I found out is that every single time we planned ahead, did our due diligence, researched about the destination we were going to visit, our expenses nearly halved.
We would not overspend on eating out at restaurants and incredibly enough, we had more money to spare to buy things and have more fun.
The things we would research on entailed:
- The cost of hotel accommodation.
- The general cost of eating at restaurants.
- The cost of activities that we would all enjoy as a family.
- The travelling expenses in terms of airfare, cab money, etc.
- Miscellaneous activities such as shopping. In this case, we would always place at least 1/3 of our total expenditure and it was more than enough.
Avoid travelling during peak season
When travelling with kids, the mere thought of having to pull your kids out of school just to travel is never in the equation so what we did was we would travel on Fridays and come back on Sundays.
This is why.
I quickly realized that every time schools were closed; hotel prices would skyrocket. So I had two options: to pull my kids out of school during the off-peak season or to book early in advance.
Which one do you think I chose?
Obviously, we had to start booking our travels in advance during the off-peak season for peak season. That way I got the best deals ever.
Save up on the hotel accommodation
Did you know that hotel accommodation costs ¾ of your total travelling expenditure? Yes, it’s that much.
Now, imagine if you could save even half of that money. How many places could you visit outside your hotel? How many activities would you be able to afford? Imagine the amount of house décor or cloth shopping you would be able to afford.
I mean, it only makes sense to travel to a city to experience its culture, its people, its wonders, its activities rather than just lazy around the pool of your hotel and then go back home and tell your friends and family how you enjoyed your holiday.
The best way to do this is to find rentals or get yourself an Airbnb. They are really affordable and you get to cook for yourself meaning you save up on eating out at restaurants.
Speaking of cooking, let’s dive into that.
Cook for your family
Instead of splurging on eating out at expensive restaurants that will have you digging into your pocket and spending hundreds of dollars than what you had initially budgeted for, simply buy groceries at a local market and cook your own meals.
The best way I found to do this was finding a guide who was familiar with the locals who would help you find whatever product you are looking for or get alternatives to companies like HelloFresh in whatever country you are visiting.
Foreign Exchange Rates
Did you know airports have the worst foreign exchange rates? Yes, if you have been changing your money at the airport, stop it now. The best way to do it is to go to the local foreign exchange stations usually situated in the Central Business District and you will be amazed at the huge difference it will make. You can thank me later.
Work on the go
In as much as I would love to say that there is a way to continuously travel the world for free, it’s not possible. There is a lot of expenditure that you need to be able to cater for and so you have to learn how to make money while travelling and they’re flexible.
The top, most common way is becoming a travel vlogger. It’s quite easy to start but takes 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to actually start making a decent income out of it.
Use dream trippers.
I used all the methods that I’ve spoken above but they were very tedious and I soon became weary of constantly doing research on our next destination and calculating how much it would cost us to a T.
We had to compromise on a lot of things just to ensure we fully experienced our travel destination but the problem was that instead of enjoying my travel, I was always calculating our expenditure, cooking for the family, going to substandard places for accommodation.
Was it all worth it? Yes.
But…
I also wanted to enjoy my holiday. I didn’t want to keep cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and I was on a holiday.
So I started looking for an alternative and I found it.
Instead of having to settle for less, save for months on end, I found an easier way of travelling the world at an affordable rate.
I joined a members-only club that allowed us to travel to exotic places, visit the hotels that seemed almost too expensive to stay at.
And the best part about it was that I could accumulate travelling points which I could redeem and I could also make money off of it. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
This is how Dreamtrips changed my life as a travel enthusiast.
Avoid Extra luggage fees
In as much as I used dream trips and did all my research, there was always this one thing called luggage fees that always caught me off guard. The more luggage we had, the more we were charged at the airport.
NOTE: If you are travelling with a child and you happen to carry along a stroller, most Airlines like United Airlines don’t charge a fee to check in your stroller.
Depending on the airline you are travelling with, you could either be charged per kilo or per bag. So you need to clarify this information with your Airline to ensure you understand their baggage policies.
If it is per bag, the fee increases with each extra checked bag. If it per kilo, the best way to go around it is by weighing your suitcase before you leave your house to get a rough idea of how much you will pay.
But basically…
The more bags you have, the more you get charged for it.
Now, this is one travelling expense I have learnt to go around. Even if you have a toddler, one bag is enough. In my travelling essentials guide that launches this Friday, I talk all about how to pack like a pro so as to save up on luggage fees so stay tuned to it.
I hope those tips were helpful in understanding how I am able to travel the world with my family. If you found this article helpful, share it and leave a comment on the next topic you would like me to talk about.
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NOTES: I would like you to set up the meta description of this blog post this way
This is how I was able to travel the world with family: Set up a money travelling jar. Pick a destination in advance. Don’t travel during peak season. Save up on hotel accommodation. Cook for your family. Foreign Exchange Rates. Work on the go. Use dream trippers. Avoid extra luggage fees.
