Debunking The Myth: You Don’t Need To Be Rich To Travel The World
"You must have a lot of money!" You won't believe how often I hear variations of that 😂
Today, I want to debunk the myth that you need to be wealthy to travel the world because, in reality, it's often quite the opposite!
Frequently, when we meet people and share that we've been traveling for months/years with no set return date, they automatically assume we're financially well-off, gallivanting around the globe with a bottomless wallet 🤑 Just recently, someone suggested we were globe-trotting on our parents' bank accounts! Madam, we're both 36 years old; we're not relying on our parents anymore 😅 Though maybe we still look 20!
We're backpackers 🎒, and we travel on a budget. No fancy hotels, no extravagant restaurants, and the like. We opt for basic, affordable accommodations (averaging around 20€ a night), and we often enjoy street food or dine where the locals do (averaging about 2.5€ per meal per person). To be transparent, after each country, we create a YouTube video (my wife Rosie diligently documents all our travels on her channel) that provides a detailed breakdown of our expenses. Feel free to check it out for all the nitty-gritty details.
We do have savings, serving as a safety net in case of unforeseen events, but we aim not to rely on them to fund our travels. We live within our means and spend what we earn each month. At the moment, we're pretty much breaking even on average.
⚠️ But here's the key point I want to emphasize: one of the primary reasons we travel is that it's actually more cost-effective than living in Europe for us. Currently, we're spending an average of 1500€ per month. In Europe, that would translate into an extremely frugal lifestyle. Instead, we've chosen to go where our money stretches the furthest: South East Asia. Here, with 1500€ a month, we dine out every day, explore amazing places weekly, and have the freedom to move to another fantastic location whenever we desire.
Additionally, since neither of us has a stable job with a fixed contract, it would be challenging to secure rental accommodations or impossible to obtain a mortgage. To pursue our dreams, a nomadic lifestyle is the ideal choice for us until our businesses grow to provide greater financial stability, making us more socially acceptable in society's eyes.