"A Budget Traveler's Bible"

Hello! I feel like it's been quite some time since I wrote a post. But here we are now!

On Friday, I went to this cute little bookshop in Houston to attend a book signing/talk for Matt Kepnes's (Nomadic Matt) book, "How To Travel The World On $50 A Day", and it was pretty awesome.

I've been a reader of Matt's for a few months now. Once I found his site, I literally spent weeks reading every post on there. Anything that I had questions about, or was concerned about when it came to traveling, was all in his posts. When I needed to decided which travel credit card to get, the first place I went was to Matt's post on credit cards. When I was trying to pick out a backpack to travel with, the post on how to pick a good one helped lead me to my perfect match.

Also, when I was very much doubting myself and considering not taking the year off to travel, because no one was supporting my decision, I emailed Matt and he very quickly responded and calmed my nerves. He probably doesn't know this, but he gave me that little push and boost of confidence to follow through with what my heart was set on, even if no one was supporting my decision at the time. (Now my family thinks that it is the best idea ever and are behind me 100%!)

So, as you could imagine, I was pretty excited to go to this book signing. I met some cool people there who are all on different travel journeys of their own. Some where very seasoned travelers, while others, were just about to start their journey, like me. Oh, and there was free wine!

Before signing everyone's books (there was quite a large turn out!), Matt gave about an hour talk on the book and just traveling in general, and then let us asks questions. I really enjoyed this, because it was much more personal. He told us some awesome stories about some of his early adventures as a traveler, and the mistakes that he has learned from. Hearing Matt's stories and knowing that he started out just as some of us have, made me really feel like I can do this.

Oh, and we also talked about our favorite places in New York to get pizza! No one can top NY's pizza! (And bagels, but that's another story..)

The whole event was great. I left there feeling more inspired and confident in my decision to travel then ever before. And when I got home that night, I nearly finished the book.

One of the praises for the book says "The bible for budget travellers.", from BBC Travel, and they could not have summed this book up any better. If you are trying to travel on a budget, whether it be for 2 weeks, or a year, this book is your go to for everything you need. It is broken down into 3 parts; Part One: Planning Your Trip, Part Two: On-The-Road Expenses, and Part Three: Breaking It Down By Region. And it also has appendix's for travel companies, a suggested packing list, and vaccinations. The book shows that even if you are not rich and don't have a lot of money, you can still travel! It all comes down to budgeting, saving, and learning how to find everything at a price you can afford, while still being comfortable.

All in all, this book is amazing. If you need tips or suggestions on almost anything while planning a trip, I highly recommend getting Matt's book AND reading his blog. It's pretty cool how someone can run a successful blog and write multiple books just by living out his dream.

To any traveler out there who hasn't read any of Matt's stuff, you're missing out on some of the most helpful tips you can get! Thanks for all the inspiration and help, Matt! See you on the road!

xx

Budgeting .....

Oh, the dreaded, dreaded, B-word. BUDGETING.
No one likes to have to cut back on their favorite spendings, but in order to save the money I need to travel in October, I've been cutting back like crazy.

Since I first started saving for my journey later this year, I've been researching and practicing little ways to cut back and budget my money. And let me just say from the get-go, it can be hard. But let me also say, it makes it so much easier knowing it will all be worth it.

Here are some ways in which I've been cutting back these past few months

Cutting out the Starbucks                                                                I used to get Starbucks probably about 4 times a week. Or just get a coffee anywhere I could. I was spending a lot of money on coffee in a week. Cutting out Starbucks/any other bought coffee from your budget will do wonders. Instead of buying your coffee everyday, it's a whole lot cheaper to just make your own at home! I have actually started to decrease my coffee intake all together to cut my spending even more!


Bring your lunch to work                                      Instead of going out for lunch everyday at work, I started bringing my own lunch from home! This help me save at least $50 a week. This also helps you eat a lot healthier!


You only need the essentials                                        If it is not absolutely essential to your life, let it go! Things like your gym membership, Netflix (I know, that's a hard one), and going out every weekend are not necessary to your life. Only pay for what you need to survive day to day. Everything else is just an object standing in the way of you and your dreams!!


Avoid the Mall                                                             And Sephora... Buying that bag, or that coat, or those jeans, is not getting you any closer to your budget goals. The day I stopped wasting money on pointless material items, I started saving so much more money. I used to be in Sephora at least twice a week buying some new makeup that I saw someone else wearing and thought was the best thing on Earth. I spent so much time (and money) in there that the employee's knew me by name. That's not good!! I now learned that none of that will make me as happy as traveling.


It also helps to make sure you are aware of where every penny of your money is going. Don't spend it if you don't have too! And honestly, I am still having to tell myself this! Everyday!!

Budgeting your money and making a game plan can be difficult. But you can make it fun if you just keep telling yourself that every dollar saved is going towards another day of discovering the unknown, living the adventure, traveling.
xx