People who just manage to travel frequently are often suspected of having a secret stash of money somewhere which they perhaps obtained via some major windfall like winning the lottery, and while there are very few cases of this, it’s the exception rather than the rule. It’s a freak exception in fact for frequent travellers often assume the characteristics of typical budget travellers through and through.
This brings into view the budget travel culture, which is something I’d personally recommend for any youngster who still has their whole life ahead of them. And by “youngster” of course I’m not referring to anyone who falls within a specific age-range. If you feel young at heart then by all means, embrace and fully immerse yourself in the budget travel culture. You’ll learn a whole lot along the way and you’ll really get your eyes opened up to what is a much more interesting world view on everything.
Even if you have kids – I personally know of a few proper digital nomad married couples who travel with their families of 4-6, with 2-4 kids and sometimes even a toddler or infant. It’s ten times more challenging than travelling alone, I’ll admit, which in itself is a mega challenge, but if you apply the principles of the budget travel culture then things like the money you need to travel become nothing more than logistical technicalities.
At the risk of sounding overly motivational instead of being informative (as is the aim of this blog), you just need to want it badly enough. That’s true of budget travellers and the budget travel culture – all that these individuals want is to feed their wanderlust and sometimes it’s not even a want, but a need.
So as far as the elements of budget travel go, you need to be okay with not living out your life in luxury, which means there will be times when you have to run down to the drug store for some topical cream to perhaps take care of that itch you picked up sleeping in a dodgy 2-star joint. Not to say that you should be okay with that whole scene, but getting the short end of a deal in this way is just part and parcel of the journey. For instance you might have a great story to tell about having slept in a bed that was clearly tilted to the one side for just one night, while you were riding out a storm or waiting for some money sent to you to clear in your account!
That doesn’t mean this is how it will always be, because the essence of budget travel resides in developing a knack for uncovering and in some instances creating deals that will see you travelling further, for longer.
Using an online budget booking platform for your airfare is an example of what budget travellers dedicate their organisational time to, so too something like organising meet-ups with other budget travellers so that they can share costs for something like a joint accommodation, tours, etc.
It’s all about making the means with which to take your next trip!
