“Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.” ~ Matthew Karsten

Money Issues?

I love traveling and travel abroad at least once a year. Every time I say this the response I get is “Yeah, me too, but it’s too expensive.” Or the most common response is, “I can’t afford it.”

Huh! That’s exactly what I thought. I would not settle for that though. “Money can never be an issue for your travels,” I said to myself and it wasn’t! I understand why some are skeptical and doubt the ease of being rewarded with such a wonderful opportunity. The reality is we need to book a hotel and they can be expensive. We should have enough for meals and activities abroad. Emergencies can happen so we have to make sure we’re financially secure just in case. And the biggest expense of all? Book a flight! Well, there goes our measly budget.

It doesn’t have to be that way!

The more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. Therefore, I researched ways to travel abroad without breaking the bank. You don’t always have to prepay the entire trip when booking. If you have the funds, by all means, prepay it. But if not, just do what I did. With a little research, I found a few agencies and airlines which offer vacation packages within our budget. We can book them with little money down and pay within a certain amount of time–kind of like a layaway plan. And if you use this plan, you won’t pay any interest fees! Well, that’s if you don’t use a credit card for the deposit. So, when you decide on your destination, hotels, and airlines it is time to book it.

You say you don’t have the extra cash to spend on a trip even using a lay-a-way plan and that you’ll probably need a part-time job to afford it? No, you need not add on a part-time job to your already hectic schedule. At least I would not overwork myself on a second job just to get a week’s vacation abroad. A savings account? Well, if you’re lucky to have one, great! Many people do not, but that doesn’t mean they can not take a vacation.

Ways to Find Money within Your Finances

Trust me, if you look you will find a way. Research within your own finances. Most likely, you’ll find a recurring expense—like an ancient subscription—which you never use. I recently had a conversation with a person who found three recurring monthly subscriptions amounting to $40.97 that he didn’t even remember!

Back when I began researching, I set a challenge for myself. I used to spend an average of $5.00 per day on a cup of coffee from a famous coffee-house. Not that I needed it. I just liked the coffee. So my challenge was that every time I forewent my coffee, I’d put those $5.00 in my traveling fund. And it worked! Let’s do the math–$5.00 per day was $25.00 per week. In a month I saved $100 towards my trip! Seeing my traveling account grow weekly encouraged me to look closely at my finances. This allowed me to readjust my budget, which helped me to fund my travels. And as an extra bonus, I kicked the coffee habit.

Believe and You Shall Receive

I don’t attribute it all to my financial outcome. I am a big believer in manifesting—what you put out to the universe you get back. Therefore, I made sure that I had chosen a great destination for my travels. I used all the right words, positive affirmations and reprogrammed my subconscious mind to think positively. And most important of all, I never doubted myself. So when you choose your destination, don’t doubt for one second that you, too, will accomplish your dream.

I had all the tools necessary to dream away about where I wanted to travel and what I wanted to do. No one would stop me now. So tell me, where do you want to go?

---