How we travel so much when we work full time

Selling expensive stuff

The biggest thing we had going for us this year was I sold my Audi TT in favour of paying for trips and travels. Obviously, this isn’t doable for everyone but if you don’t mind scaling back or switching things then that’s always an option! Steffan has changed his car as well and we have cut back on expenses we don’t need.

Booking waaayy in advance!

We book things way in advance! We have all of our trips for next year booked already and so we know 12 months before, what we need to save and pay for. This gives us more options in regards to accommodation, more time to pay it off and more time to save up! Also once we book we have to afford it, we give ourselves no choice whether we are broke or not and we rarely cancel trips.

Changing currency up early

We change currency up early! Sometimes we have currency months in advance and just keep it safe in a drawer somewhere. Sounds crazy?

The reason being is we can’t pay for a take out or an extra bottle of wine with Cambodian Riel, although we might try. It’s kind of a way of saving and not having access to it until we go away!

Using Air B and B or booking.com or an independent travel agent where you can pay a deposit

We use Air b and b loads or booking.com. This may sound obvious but the reason we have used them in terms of managing our paying out and holiday funds is that sometimes you can book through booking.com and choose to pay on arrival and with Air B and B you have the option of paying half upfront and half a few months before or when you have it so its ideal for getting things in the calendar and being affordable. I have also recently qualified as an Independent Travel Agent which I work around my full-time job and so I get discounted rates on travel and earn commission back on our own bookings! If you want to know more about how you can do the same you can pop us a message.

Making the most of bank holidays

We make the most of bank holidays trying to book annual leave around these to maximise our time away and save our annual leave. So we usually book a short-haul trip away for two or three nights over a bank holiday weekend or book somewhere in the UK. The downside to this is that prices are usually higher over bank holidays so it’s key to look at places that are perhaps less travelled to get the most competitive rates.

Taking short breaks to experience more countries in a year

We have done a lot of shorter breaks and plan to have one large trip per year where we will see two or three countries. This way we get to see and experience more of the world. It’s a trade-off in terms of the time we get to spend in those countries and it means it’s sometimes a real rush but we can always return to certain places later in life!

We research and plan as best as we can!

With limited time in each place, it is hard to see everything without exhausting ourselves so we do research a little and plan what we can before we go. This includes prioritising what we want to do and to be honest this is a formula that takes some learning. It’s very easy to try and pack everything in within three days and leave feeling exhausted. We are slowly learning that it’s just not possible and we need to choose what we want to see and do the most.

Living in a house share

We live in a house share to keep our bills low and to save as much money as we can for our trips! And we have no intention of getting our own place! Whilst we appreciate this may not be possible for everyone but if it is, it can save you a ton of money.