I hadn’t planned on ever writing this post, but when my friend sent me a one-line email reading “I don’t understand your life” I realized that it might be time for an explanation. I mean, if I were reading about a twenty-something’s jaunts around the globe I would definitely be curious how on earth she was affording to travel so much.
Just to be clear though, this isn’t meant to be a how-to post about saving money for travel – Google knows the Internet doesn’t need another one of those posts. I’m just writing about how I’m doing it, and you can take from this whatever you like.
I haven’t had a steady job in over two years now, and in fact up until four months ago I had been living purely off of money I had saved while teaching English in Japan for two years. $44,000 to be exact.
But before you start packing your bags for Japan, I should add that my ability to save so much money was largely due to four lucky circumstances:
1. Thanks to the generosity of my parents and Williams College’s financial aid department, I moved to Japan without any debt.
Seeing friends struggling to pay off huge student loans or to make enough extra money to send home to their unemployed family members is a constant reminder of how lucky am.
2. I was living on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.
I came to Japan as part of the JET Program, which offers participants a fixed salary regardless of location. This means that I was making the same amount as teachers living in Tokyo and Osaka who often had to pay $1000/month for a tiny apartment, while I was paying under $100/month for this house. 
Island life is cheap.
3. The Japanese yen was at its strongest, almost ever, on the day I sent my money back to the U.S.
This one is crazy. When I sent my money to my American bank, the Japanese yen was just under 78 to the dollar, meaning that my 3,600,000 yen JET salary was over $46,000. One year later the yen was at 100 to a dollar, meaning that the JET salary had dropped to $36,000. For people saving money to send home, the difference was huge.
4. I was pretty miserable in Japan.
I’m planning to finally write a full post later this week about what went wrong for me in Japan, so for now I’ll just say that severe isolation combined with some pretty crazy events made for a fairly depressing two years. It’s not a situation I’d wish on anybody, but it did come with a silver lining.
This might not be totally rational, but because I had such a rough time living and working in Japan, I now only want to spend that money on things worth that pain. Is the pretty dress from H&M worth all those uncomfortable hours spent at my desk at school? No. What about an ice cream sundae at one of Chiang Mai’s trendy cafés? Maybe Probably not. But a horse trek through the Kyrgyz mountains? Yes!
It’s a bit of an extreme way to make decisions, and I expect that when I’m making money from I job I enjoy my priorities will shift. But for now, it’s been a good way for me to feel better about two years that might otherwise have felt ill-spent.
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Now, nearly 28 months after leaving Japan, I’ve spent almost 2/3 of my savings. My expenses vary a lot depending on where I’m traveling or living, but I typically spend under $500 a month while based in Chiang Mai, and anywhere from $700 to $1200 a month while on the road.
I’m not quite ready to get a full-time job yet, but I have started making some money writing freelance travel articles as well as a small amount from ads and links on this blog (I usually get anywhere from 2 cents to 2 dollars when someone clicks on one of the ads on my blog). This income covers about half of my monthly expenses.
1. Simplify your life (or at least try!).
I moved to Japan straight out of university, and instead of upgrading my living standards to match my new grownup salary I continued to live like a student. During my first year I wasn’t at all focused on saving money, but even with several trips around Japan and abroad I only spent half of my salary.
I cooked almost all of my meals at home, usually making large batches of a dish to eat for lunch and dinner for several days (I know I’m in the minority here, but I actually really enjoy eating the same meal a bunch of times in a row – usually once just has me craving more!).
Even while living in inexpensive Chiang Mai, I mostly stick to $1 Thai meals and do most of my work at home to save the $2-3 I would spend working from a coffee shop. While small choices to live more simply, these things do add up in the long run.
Update: Now that I’m living in Norway – considered one of the most expensive countries in the world – I still haven’t spent more than $150/month on food here. Cooking at home is key!
2. Be clear about your priorities.
I started working when I was fifteen, and instead of going to the movies, out to eat, or shopping every weekend, I saved for a year in order to go to Australia for two weeks with my older sister. Travel has always been a priority for me.
Of course, priorities are naturally going to be different for everyone. I’ve always been happy to miss out on a lot of things in order to save money to travel, but for many people those sacrifices wouldn’t have been worth it. I tend not to enjoy spending money on fancy drinks or Western meals, but if I loved those daily pleasures and always forced myself to give them up for months on end just to finance a week’s holiday I would probably end up frustrated and disappointed.
But if you do decide that travel is a priority, don’t lose sight of that! Sometimes when I’m not traveling I’m tempted to up my living standards a bit, but then when I think about what that would mean for my long-term plans I always decide against it. I’m sure this will eventually change, but for now travel is at the top of my list.
3. Travel/move somewhere cheap. Duh.
All travel destinations are not created equally, especially where budgets are concerned. Southeast Asia and South America are popular backpacker spots for a reason, though I found Western China, Central Asia, and the Balkans to be even cheaper, and far more exciting! Seriously, I don’t understand why backpackers flock to Thailand and Vietnam when they haven’t yet explored Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
However, if you’re looking for a cheap base while working online or writing, Chiang Mai can’t be beat. Here I spend $150/month for a studio apartment in the heart of the city, and rarely over $2 for a meal. There’s excellent Wifi access, plenty of likeminded expats to network with, and it’s really pretty!
How about you? I would love to hear how you save and budget for travel!
The post How I Saved $44,000 to Travel the World appeared first on Heart My Backpack.