On A Shoestring

Travel need not be expensive. 

A couple I met have travelled to 20+ countries on a shoestring budget over the past few years. It helps that they don’t have kids (yet) because those tend to complicate things (haha!). They are not wealthy by Wall Street standards but they earn a decent living. She’s a nurse and he’s a mechanic. His salary pays the bills and hers pays for their trips; and their arrangement works because last year they did a two-week tour of Europe, a visit to Singapore, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

Traveling in style (i.e., luxury hotels, chauffeured limos, and Michelin 3-star restaurants) is nice but not necessary. There’s as much fun to be had in having street food for dinner as there is in getting dolled up for a sit down at Per Se. The chance to immerse yourself in another culture, linger in the wild, chase sunsets, expose your tastebuds to different cuisines, or saturate your senses with the art of life is more than enough.

Travel should be more than just going places, checking cities off a bucket list, or collecting photos for IG. It should aim to broaden the way we look at the world and check our responses to regional quirks. It should give us insight on how we react to situations outside of our comfort zones or interact with strangers. And for these, you only need enough money to get by, a map, a camera, a playlist, and people who don’t care where you go as long as you go. 

Look to the sky and see if you can find the limit.