How to Go Traveling as a Broke College Student

Traveling has always been an interest to a lot of people and it most certainly is mine. A lot of people ask me how I am able to travel so much as a young adult and college student. Maybe you’re just like me. Or maybe you’ve never really gone traveling and want to try it out but don’t know how. There are always doubts, especially among college students who feel limited on their options. I know that feeling. I often found myself looking at all these pictures with picturesque sceneries from Tumblr and Instagram and always wished that I could go there someday. The desire started young for me and I’m telling you, it is possible to go there. It’s not about granting a wish on it, it’s about doing something about it and committing yourself to this. Take action. As my mother tells me, “If there’s a way, there’s a will.” Don’t let your financial situation hold you back because there are ways to make your dream trip more than a dream but reality.

Here are some important ways that will help you achieve going to that dream place of yours:

1. Make this place a long-term goal. Just like any goal in life, whether it’s trying to get into your dream school or getting a great job, you want to see traveling to a place as a goal too.You want to remind yourself to work hard towards it. Think of the result- being able to go traveling to a place you always wander-lusted over. You want to make sure this is something you will fully invest in and you won’t have doubts about it. Make this dream destination the wallpaper on your phone, hang a picture or poster of it on your wall, and get inspired. Remind yourself that this is like a dream you’re chasing next to the important goals in life.

2. And here’s why you need to make it long term: You’re going to have to save. It’s like buying anything you always wanted to get. You’re going to have to save. That means putting ‘x’ amount of money into your savings and living on a budget. Don’t impulsively spend a lot of your money when you plan to travel somewhere. You need to save for air flights and/or gas and toll fees, transportation within the destination, hotel or Airbnb rental rooms, food (!!!), and excursions. That’s a lot of things and it can add up- so be prepared to have saved enough money to use for traveling and to use for your own emergency funds and bills.

3. Find extra ways to make money. This might mean getting a second job (see if your college offers jobs on campus), selling your used (but still in good condition) posessions online (I love using online marketplaces– I made a couple hundreds from doing so!), and asking to help your parents or neighbors in exchange for getting paid.. there’s so many ways to do so! Just, of course, stay away from doing illegal things, please!

4. Go on a budget (it will help you do #2). If this means getting clothes from clearance or from thrift stores only, then why not? Choose the most inexpensive brands for foods (branded items don’t always mean better quality: here’s a fun video of how dollar tree store foods can compare to branded foods.) Limit the number of times you treat yourself and go out to eat. Discipline yourself to buying only essential things (remember the difference between wants and needs).

5. When buying books for your classes, you can instead be saving for your vacation. Don’t limit yourself to buying your college books from the bookstore or Barnes and Nobles. Think about renting before you buy them… because really, when are you going to take this class again besides this one semester? I always resort to these three websites and do a price match and get the better value of rentals (sometimes there won’t be rentals but the option to just buy: still price match that): Chegg.com, Bookbyte.com, and Amazon.com. You can also always make a social media post advertising that you’re looking for a specific book or go around asking your friends or friends of friends for the book you need. I highly believe they will give you the best price or will let you borrow.

And there you go! There’s definitely a lot more tips, but these are the most important and helpful ones that helped me with my trip.

Ahard-workingking college student, you deserve to go and escape the books for a little bit!

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