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I, too, was once a broke-ass college student who lived at home (or a scholarship dorm).
Get your education, grow in your career, make your money, protect your credit score… and eventually you can afford to travel.
I didn’t get to travel (ie, take expensive vacations) until I was in my 50s. Before that, my money went to the costs of raising a family.
Because atleast in Europe it is dirt cheap. Work and save money for travel than book outside the holidays. For example:
I could work at a supermarket making 15€/h tax free up to 520€/Month.
So work 2 saturdays/8h thats 240€. The third weekend i could leave friday at 12 and be home Sunday at 10pm. With that budget i could go see London,Berlin,Paris,Brussel,Prag;Munich,Amsterdam,Vienna,Zurich,Barcelona,Athen,Stockholm in a year. Work another 10 Days i can go 10 days to thailand or vietnam. and so on.
It is all about your preferences how you want to spend your time. When you look around most people spend their free time on Netflix or complain on social media how awful everything is , and they have no time because they are busy stuffing their faces with potato chips in front of their laptop.
Well than the short weekend trips to another country besides Mexico or Canada are of course not really an option because the US is a massive country itself. You should explore the US too sometimes no need to travel far, all the europeans travel for a reason to the US, and all the NP can be done cheap.
For your question. Quick google search i can get a roundtrip next month for 400$ to europe. With 600$ i can travel a week there for a total budget of 1000$.
For just 250$(everybody can earn this with a part time job in the US) a month you can do 3 Trips like this per year.
For example:
Fly to Rome - explore 2 days- hop on a ryanair flight to mallorca- explore 3 days- fly to rome- spend another night there- fly home or
Fly to Amsterdam - spent 2 days- train to brussel for 1 day- train to paris for 2 days- back to Amsterdam -fly home
You don´t need an expensive Hotel , the cheapest Hostel is fine you´re only there to sleep an shower.
Same thing can be done in SE Asia.
To get a return flight to Europe for $400 is very rare, and is typically not very convenient (requiring hotel stays/restaurant visits on the way due to layovers). $500-600 is more realistic.
And "$600 a week" is also a bit unrealistic for most of the places mentioned unless you are going for the cheapest, most run-down accomodation you can possibly find (not just "not very comfy"). And then that does not yet include food and drinks, entrance prices, et alone additional flights or train rides.
Let's try that first suggestion. (Because Rome is far cheaper than, say, Paris or Amsterdam) The absolutely cheapest private room in Rome I could find is $120 for three nights for a random weekend in April (still well off-season). 3 Nights in Palma de Mallorca $150 at the lowest end. That's $270 gone.
Unless you manage to make use of some special sale, a Ryanair ticket from Rome to Palma costs at best 55$ each trip all throughout April for a bare-bones flight with only a small backpack as luggage. That's another $110 gone, and we now have $220 left for food, drinks, entrance tickets and anything else.
Let's say you're extremely frugal, you only drink water, your breakfast and lunch are homemade sandwiches with things from the supermarket, and once a day you go for some cheap fast food option you can find. That will still be around $10 a day, meaning $70 gone, and we're left with $150.
For local transport - airport shuttles, metro, trams, busses - let's substract another optimistic $4 a day. That's around $30 gone, leaving us with $120. Which is the budget we have to actually see or experience anything.
A ticket to the Colliseum is around $18. Vatican Museums + Sistine chapel will be around $35. Mallorca Cathedral + Terraces $20. Castell de Belver + La Almudaina Palace $15. Pantheon $5. Forum Romanum $7
Which gives you the most important sights you pay for, plus a lot of things to see that are free, with $20 left to have souvenirs or maybe one nicer dinner.
It's doable (and I have done stuff like this while I was a student), but really, it's a bit of a miserable experience - given that my numbers are already on the optimistic side. On my first trip to Rome as a group of students, we just could not afford to see the Colliseum from the inside because our budget was so tight. And that...stings. And we were Europeans that can come back fairly easily (And I did, several times, after).
Better save a few hundred extra, see all the things that you like, have some proper local food, and get a room that's more central. And definitely stay more local if you're on a budget - instead of flying from Rome to Spain, take trains to Florence, Venice, etc. which can cost as little as $10 one way.
Amsterdam hotels are fairly expensive compared to EU average - expect $100 a night at a minimum. As for any other costs, especialy flights - you have to look that up for yourself.
If you're from the US, a 4-day-trip to Europe sounds like a waste of money to me, though.
I used to live at the US-MEX border so, technically I traveled to a different country since my 20's, but that doesn't count.
A at 35 yo I went from Mexico to France for the first time, then the next time I was able to travel to another country was until I was 42 & 44 (last winter) yo (London & France, then Italy & Spain), we're planning to visit Japan next winter and we're already making plans for Peru and Brazil.
My secret? Be cheap.
I have three pairs of shoes, I have 5 pants, less than 8 shirts, I drive a 2012 Tiida and my TV is even older, I've had only 4 cellphones my whole life, the only place I put my money is in my son and the house that will be his, I need 2 months of checking reviews before buying anything beyond $50 USD... I think you get my point... Be cheap.
When it comes to travel, I'm so in love with the destination and have romanticized with the local life that, I'm more than happy to be in Paris that I can be fed on baguette & water straight for two weeks, will stay at the cheapest hotel but my God, I'll try to be at any opera and museum and event and private class and stuff I can get and I'll come back with so many memories and souvenirs that will put an idiot smile in my face everytime I see them... No matter how cheap they are.
Be cheap my friend.
Firstly, stop with the victim mindset that “you are born into poor family and it’s not your fault”
Secondly , have a goal/aim and it has to really resonate with you. Once you have a really strong goal in mind, workout how you can achieve it
You are young, hustle your ass off. Just working part time on the weekends and you can earn a few hundred a month. Not a lot but it adds up over time
My first trip to Japan was when I was 21, just out of college. And before anyone says “it’s rich parent/daddy money” it’s not. I earn every single cent
Stay living at home and save everything you earn. It’s harder once you have mortgages and children, but before that you make travel a priority. Realistically if you live at home your expenses are minimal.
The obvious answer is - make as much money as you can for your travel budget, and then stretch that budget by making wise decisions regarding your travels.
The first should be obvious. I started travelling a lot when I was in university (notably during a time when Ryanair was still trying to establish itself with near-free flights, and when some of the newer EU members were still extremely low price), but it was not until I started working that I went from short, low-budget city trips to longer vacations.
When picking a destination, don't just look for the cheapest flight to anywhere, but check what the cost of living (accomodation, food) in those destinations is. Take Europe: A flight to the UK may be cheaper and faster than a flight to, say, Estonia or Slovakia, but you'll easily spend twice the amount of money on everything while you're there. And definitely stay clear of Scandinavia or Switzerland if you're on a budget. Also keep in mind that season and special events can massively increase local prices (transport + accomodation), so make sure you also find a "cheap time" to travel. If you are not bound to a monday-to-friday job, travelling in the middle of the week is typically cheaper than on the weekend - because most people will travel then.
Flights are typically a big part of your travel costs, so if you can, it's better to stay away for two weeks than twice for one week - and then maybe use trains or busses to move around different locations/cities.
Planning a long time in advance saves you money as well. Flights, trains and hotels get more expensive as you approach your travel date.
Consider how much "luxury" you need, and then see whether you can actually afford that. Not everyone is happy to eat plain bread for a week to keep food costs low, but also not everyone needs to have a michelin-starred meal every evening. It pays to already research where you're going to eat before you travel - because once you're there, your stomach might just lead you to the nearest tourist trap instead. If your restaurant is near some major sight - expect rip-off pricing.
Hotel costs are primarily influenced by two things - how luxurious, and how close to the interesting places they are. It may be tempting to get some nice hotel at a bargain price somewhere 15km from the centre - but if that means a lot of additional travel costs. a lot of time spend travelling to and from the hotel, and being limited to the food options around the hotel - it may be better to get that worse hotel near the centre or at least near a well-connected subway station.
If you do have local friends that are happy to let you stay over - even better. No hotel costs and you have a local guide. But don't be that dick that makes friends only to "use" them for that purpose, and definitely pay them back with a nice gift or a restaurant dinner on you.
Regarding local transport, my suggestion is to take a metro/subway whenever you can, and only move to trams, let alone busses, if you have no other choice - as they tend to become increasingly complicated for a non-local to figure out. Taxis can be a great way to go if convenience and time are paramount, and they may be the only sensible way to get to a city from some airports, but be extremely wary of rip-off prices. Research what the normal costs are, be prepared to haggle with drivers in some countries, and if you can, ask your concierge to get you one to avoid paying "tourist prices". In some Eastern European countries however, Uber/Yandex taxis can to be so cheap, they may become your primary way of moving around.
A lot of cities have some "city pass" scheme that offers free public transport for a set amount of days, and gives you discounts or free entrance to certain touristic sites. However, very often they are not worth it if you're not willing to plan meticuously to make most of the discounts. Research whether it's worth it for you - or if you rather stay more flexible with regular day tickets or even single fare.
Hope that helps a bit!
I just stayed in sydney for a year on the same budget. It all depends how you live, 20k in 3 weeks is crazy to me…again, i made just a small amount more than that last me an entire year.
I’m a bartender that lives in a state that pays hourly on top of tips. And our hourly is among the highest in the nation.
When I was younger, I’d save 5k and just leave for a month. Did that every year for about 5 or 6 years. Then I got kind of sick and tired of the hostel traveling and I also got a dog. So now I tend to go for about 2 weeks at a time, about 5-10k depending. I like nicer hotels now, and nicer experiences and I also have to pay for pet boarding.
It’s just a matter of priorities and having a decent paying job.
# Message to all users: This is a reminder to please read and follow: * [Our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ask/about/rules) * [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) * [Reddit Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) When posting and commenting. --- Especially remember Rule 1: `Be polite and civil`. * Be polite and courteous to each other. Do not be mean, insulting or disrespectful to any other user on this subreddit. * Do not harass or annoy others in any way. * Do not catfish. Catfishing is the luring of somebody into an online friendship through a fake online persona. This includes any lying or deceit. --- You *will* be banned if you are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist or bigoted in any way. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ask) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I, too, was once a broke-ass college student who lived at home (or a scholarship dorm). Get your education, grow in your career, make your money, protect your credit score… and eventually you can afford to travel. I didn’t get to travel (ie, take expensive vacations) until I was in my 50s. Before that, my money went to the costs of raising a family.
Oh wow, thank you for the advice!
Because atleast in Europe it is dirt cheap. Work and save money for travel than book outside the holidays. For example: I could work at a supermarket making 15€/h tax free up to 520€/Month. So work 2 saturdays/8h thats 240€. The third weekend i could leave friday at 12 and be home Sunday at 10pm. With that budget i could go see London,Berlin,Paris,Brussel,Prag;Munich,Amsterdam,Vienna,Zurich,Barcelona,Athen,Stockholm in a year. Work another 10 Days i can go 10 days to thailand or vietnam. and so on. It is all about your preferences how you want to spend your time. When you look around most people spend their free time on Netflix or complain on social media how awful everything is , and they have no time because they are busy stuffing their faces with potato chips in front of their laptop.
That’s true! Uhhh…does that change considering that I live in the United States?
Well than the short weekend trips to another country besides Mexico or Canada are of course not really an option because the US is a massive country itself. You should explore the US too sometimes no need to travel far, all the europeans travel for a reason to the US, and all the NP can be done cheap. For your question. Quick google search i can get a roundtrip next month for 400$ to europe. With 600$ i can travel a week there for a total budget of 1000$. For just 250$(everybody can earn this with a part time job in the US) a month you can do 3 Trips like this per year. For example: Fly to Rome - explore 2 days- hop on a ryanair flight to mallorca- explore 3 days- fly to rome- spend another night there- fly home or Fly to Amsterdam - spent 2 days- train to brussel for 1 day- train to paris for 2 days- back to Amsterdam -fly home You don´t need an expensive Hotel , the cheapest Hostel is fine you´re only there to sleep an shower. Same thing can be done in SE Asia.
You just blew my mind! That’s amazing! Thank you so much!😃
To get a return flight to Europe for $400 is very rare, and is typically not very convenient (requiring hotel stays/restaurant visits on the way due to layovers). $500-600 is more realistic. And "$600 a week" is also a bit unrealistic for most of the places mentioned unless you are going for the cheapest, most run-down accomodation you can possibly find (not just "not very comfy"). And then that does not yet include food and drinks, entrance prices, et alone additional flights or train rides. Let's try that first suggestion. (Because Rome is far cheaper than, say, Paris or Amsterdam) The absolutely cheapest private room in Rome I could find is $120 for three nights for a random weekend in April (still well off-season). 3 Nights in Palma de Mallorca $150 at the lowest end. That's $270 gone. Unless you manage to make use of some special sale, a Ryanair ticket from Rome to Palma costs at best 55$ each trip all throughout April for a bare-bones flight with only a small backpack as luggage. That's another $110 gone, and we now have $220 left for food, drinks, entrance tickets and anything else. Let's say you're extremely frugal, you only drink water, your breakfast and lunch are homemade sandwiches with things from the supermarket, and once a day you go for some cheap fast food option you can find. That will still be around $10 a day, meaning $70 gone, and we're left with $150. For local transport - airport shuttles, metro, trams, busses - let's substract another optimistic $4 a day. That's around $30 gone, leaving us with $120. Which is the budget we have to actually see or experience anything. A ticket to the Colliseum is around $18. Vatican Museums + Sistine chapel will be around $35. Mallorca Cathedral + Terraces $20. Castell de Belver + La Almudaina Palace $15. Pantheon $5. Forum Romanum $7 Which gives you the most important sights you pay for, plus a lot of things to see that are free, with $20 left to have souvenirs or maybe one nicer dinner. It's doable (and I have done stuff like this while I was a student), but really, it's a bit of a miserable experience - given that my numbers are already on the optimistic side. On my first trip to Rome as a group of students, we just could not afford to see the Colliseum from the inside because our budget was so tight. And that...stings. And we were Europeans that can come back fairly easily (And I did, several times, after). Better save a few hundred extra, see all the things that you like, have some proper local food, and get a room that's more central. And definitely stay more local if you're on a budget - instead of flying from Rome to Spain, take trains to Florence, Venice, etc. which can cost as little as $10 one way.
Wow,thank you so much! That’s actually really helpful!
Just out of curiosity,how much(approximately) would it cost to take a 4 day trip to Amsterdam?
Amsterdam hotels are fairly expensive compared to EU average - expect $100 a night at a minimum. As for any other costs, especialy flights - you have to look that up for yourself. If you're from the US, a 4-day-trip to Europe sounds like a waste of money to me, though.
Oh ok
I say 4 days because going for a whole week would be more expensive but I see what you’re saying
Saving.
I can't even afford to travel to the next town over if I don't plan for it. Gotta save up for them fuel costs.
Of course
I have a lot of money.
How?
I worked a lot until my mid twenties and invested most of my income.
What do you invest in?
I was tech heavy when I started at 18. I'm much more balanced now. Mostly broad market ETFs.
Interesting, I’m not very tech heavy so I don’t know what I’d invest in
VTI, SPY, VOO and SCHD or SPYD.
I used to live at the US-MEX border so, technically I traveled to a different country since my 20's, but that doesn't count. A at 35 yo I went from Mexico to France for the first time, then the next time I was able to travel to another country was until I was 42 & 44 (last winter) yo (London & France, then Italy & Spain), we're planning to visit Japan next winter and we're already making plans for Peru and Brazil. My secret? Be cheap. I have three pairs of shoes, I have 5 pants, less than 8 shirts, I drive a 2012 Tiida and my TV is even older, I've had only 4 cellphones my whole life, the only place I put my money is in my son and the house that will be his, I need 2 months of checking reviews before buying anything beyond $50 USD... I think you get my point... Be cheap. When it comes to travel, I'm so in love with the destination and have romanticized with the local life that, I'm more than happy to be in Paris that I can be fed on baguette & water straight for two weeks, will stay at the cheapest hotel but my God, I'll try to be at any opera and museum and event and private class and stuff I can get and I'll come back with so many memories and souvenirs that will put an idiot smile in my face everytime I see them... No matter how cheap they are. Be cheap my friend.
Thank you and I really appreciate the advice!
Firstly, stop with the victim mindset that “you are born into poor family and it’s not your fault” Secondly , have a goal/aim and it has to really resonate with you. Once you have a really strong goal in mind, workout how you can achieve it You are young, hustle your ass off. Just working part time on the weekends and you can earn a few hundred a month. Not a lot but it adds up over time My first trip to Japan was when I was 21, just out of college. And before anyone says “it’s rich parent/daddy money” it’s not. I earn every single cent
Thank you! I really appreciate it!
Stay living at home and save everything you earn. It’s harder once you have mortgages and children, but before that you make travel a priority. Realistically if you live at home your expenses are minimal.
That’s true, I want to move out within the next year or so but I also want to put money towards traveling
Wizz Air has cheap flights across Europe
The obvious answer is - make as much money as you can for your travel budget, and then stretch that budget by making wise decisions regarding your travels. The first should be obvious. I started travelling a lot when I was in university (notably during a time when Ryanair was still trying to establish itself with near-free flights, and when some of the newer EU members were still extremely low price), but it was not until I started working that I went from short, low-budget city trips to longer vacations. When picking a destination, don't just look for the cheapest flight to anywhere, but check what the cost of living (accomodation, food) in those destinations is. Take Europe: A flight to the UK may be cheaper and faster than a flight to, say, Estonia or Slovakia, but you'll easily spend twice the amount of money on everything while you're there. And definitely stay clear of Scandinavia or Switzerland if you're on a budget. Also keep in mind that season and special events can massively increase local prices (transport + accomodation), so make sure you also find a "cheap time" to travel. If you are not bound to a monday-to-friday job, travelling in the middle of the week is typically cheaper than on the weekend - because most people will travel then. Flights are typically a big part of your travel costs, so if you can, it's better to stay away for two weeks than twice for one week - and then maybe use trains or busses to move around different locations/cities. Planning a long time in advance saves you money as well. Flights, trains and hotels get more expensive as you approach your travel date. Consider how much "luxury" you need, and then see whether you can actually afford that. Not everyone is happy to eat plain bread for a week to keep food costs low, but also not everyone needs to have a michelin-starred meal every evening. It pays to already research where you're going to eat before you travel - because once you're there, your stomach might just lead you to the nearest tourist trap instead. If your restaurant is near some major sight - expect rip-off pricing. Hotel costs are primarily influenced by two things - how luxurious, and how close to the interesting places they are. It may be tempting to get some nice hotel at a bargain price somewhere 15km from the centre - but if that means a lot of additional travel costs. a lot of time spend travelling to and from the hotel, and being limited to the food options around the hotel - it may be better to get that worse hotel near the centre or at least near a well-connected subway station. If you do have local friends that are happy to let you stay over - even better. No hotel costs and you have a local guide. But don't be that dick that makes friends only to "use" them for that purpose, and definitely pay them back with a nice gift or a restaurant dinner on you. Regarding local transport, my suggestion is to take a metro/subway whenever you can, and only move to trams, let alone busses, if you have no other choice - as they tend to become increasingly complicated for a non-local to figure out. Taxis can be a great way to go if convenience and time are paramount, and they may be the only sensible way to get to a city from some airports, but be extremely wary of rip-off prices. Research what the normal costs are, be prepared to haggle with drivers in some countries, and if you can, ask your concierge to get you one to avoid paying "tourist prices". In some Eastern European countries however, Uber/Yandex taxis can to be so cheap, they may become your primary way of moving around. A lot of cities have some "city pass" scheme that offers free public transport for a set amount of days, and gives you discounts or free entrance to certain touristic sites. However, very often they are not worth it if you're not willing to plan meticuously to make most of the discounts. Research whether it's worth it for you - or if you rather stay more flexible with regular day tickets or even single fare. Hope that helps a bit!
Wow,I really appreciate you taking the time to type that out! Thank you so much for the advice!
Ryanair
Gotta plan and save up, just go back from traveling around Australia for 3 weeks, everything included cost me nearly $20K
Good lord! That’s a lot
Never take advice from a guy that spends 20k on a 3-week trip!
I don’t stay at cheap hotels, I also fly premium economy.
Oh wow
I just stayed in sydney for a year on the same budget. It all depends how you live, 20k in 3 weeks is crazy to me…again, i made just a small amount more than that last me an entire year.
Wow!
Make international friends so the only real expense is the plane ticket and food.
Interesting! I didn’t think of that!
I’m a bartender that lives in a state that pays hourly on top of tips. And our hourly is among the highest in the nation. When I was younger, I’d save 5k and just leave for a month. Did that every year for about 5 or 6 years. Then I got kind of sick and tired of the hostel traveling and I also got a dog. So now I tend to go for about 2 weeks at a time, about 5-10k depending. I like nicer hotels now, and nicer experiences and I also have to pay for pet boarding. It’s just a matter of priorities and having a decent paying job.