One of the biggest questions we get as Americans traveling, specifically from our fellow countrymen, is how? How are we able to travel so often? How can we possibly afford to travel the world? How can we just pick up and go?

And to these oddities we answer with genuine delight that we would love to uncover how we’ve given in to travel. We believe that although some moments while traveling are difficult, the choice and figuring out how to travel is actually quite easy. We know it’s not for everyone, we’ve slowly learned that over time, but for the curious backpacker’s out there let’s break down some of the anxieties that we faced when first taking travel into our own hands. 

Over the years we’ve been lucky to continually find the next big adventure. We’ve had the pleasure of visiting 31 countries in Europe, exploring for four months in South America, one year in South East Asia and found ourselves assimilating to jobs in New Zealand, because of our extravagant dreams to travel. But we’ve made these dreams very tangible realities on a modest life style of working in the states. We’ve found a system that works for us every time we get an itch to travel and breaking it into ten steps will help us explain.

We would like to rewind and use a trip we took in May of 2015 as an example of planning. The planning we went through was with our dear friend Dillon who had never left North America and he came to us with big plans. His appetite for travel was really inspiring and although we were saving for our year long dash across the world, we couldn’t say no to a first time backpacker and new adventure. 

So How Did We Start Planning?

Step 1: Figure Out What Vacation Means To You?

This is the creative stage, where all your daydreams at work are collected for consideration. Nothing is too off the grid in this first step. Whatever gives you goose bumps or causes your face to freeze with joy is what’s going to make all your hard work of saving and planning worth it. Looking at all your creative destinations, pinpoint some key elements that all your ideal places have in common. Maybe you can’t image vacation without a beach or you want to spend your time trekking through ancient trails in South America.

We spent several days discussing our ideal adventures together. Our friend Dillon had never been on a backpacking trip so we knew we wanted to travel somewhere that was not too far from home, but somewhere that was drastically different from the world we’re accustomed to in Colorado. We were fixated on Cuba for awhile, but because of the travel restrictions we ran into quite a few obstacles as American tourists (2015). Even as the sanctions had been limited, the regulations were fairly strict and uncertain. We picked apart the qualities that we all found appealing about Cuba in order to search through other destinations. We wanted to travel somewhere that had a rich history we could learn about; somewhere that had grand architecture and cobble stone streets; somewhere that had beautiful beaches; and somewhere with lively locals, good beer and unique food.

Step 2: Get 'Em To The Guides

Figuring out how to check off all your credentials in one trip may seem like a task, but it’s really fun to begin uncovering those unexpected locations that diversify your image of a specific destination. Some of our beginning research for this trip included destinations that we had already heard of, some bucket list trips, and exploring the internet using keywords from our list. We used these sites to begin filtering out destinations:

Lonely Planet—this is the king of travel resources. This resource, both online and in print, is a massive collection of entertaining guides for an expensive list of destinations. Common items they cover for each city include best places to stay, historical sites, top things to do and see, as well as how to get there. The only down side is their audience has shifted since its first establishment in 1972. Because every type of traveler from retired vacationers to camp ridden backpackers uses Lonely Planet, their recommendations aren’t necessarily shoe string prices. Lonely Planet has the best advice and a wide range of resources, but its easy to get lost in the vast amount of bite size segments of information. We use it as a tool rather than a strict planning guide. 

Google Images— we find ourselves very visual people and whether that’s subject of Tom being a photographer or us just being human, it does mean that we give a lot of thought to places that have vibrant google images. Although some of the pictures cluttered under the image tab on google maybe over saturated or places we’ll never get to reach, it does however give us a feel for what we might be able to expect.

Blogs— We are big proponents of personal experience and first person perspective. We really enjoy following other blogs and reading the amazing stories they have to tell. We know that everyone’s experience is different and we can’t recreate their moments, nor would we want to, but reading other blogs gives us a good sense of the culture. It gives an epilogue that google images can’t. We really like Nomadic Matt, Thrifty Nomads, and Along Dusty Roads.

Step 3: What’s In Your Pocket?

Now that you’ve fueled your excitement for adventure, it’s time to apply a little reality to the situation—how much do you want to spend?  Not how much do you have, but how much do you want to spend. Figure out what price will allow you to enjoy your journey comfortably without having to stress about every penny spent. This isn’t meant to be a stressful pursuit.  Let us assure you that there is an exciting vacation out there for all types of budgets.

As we discussed among the three of us, $1,000 was the most we wanted to spend—worst case. That sounds like a large sum all at once, but this was to include flights to another continent, accommodation, food and fun. This was the price that we all felt comfortable with and luckily going as a group we kept each other accountable for our budget. 

Step 4: Realistic $$$ 

In having a realistic spending amount, take to the search engines again, but this time start by researching what will take the most amount of your budget—plane tickets. Our final destinations usually depend heavily on the cheapest places to fly into. The good news in that is the market is always fluctuating and the cheapest destinations are often changing. We have a specific recipe for finding cheap flights. We start with Skyscanner. We’ve been fortunate enough to have fairly open-ended travel dates when planning and skyscanner.com allows us to research destinations by price.

Based on Skyscanner’s deal of the day we narrowed down our options to several countries in South America. With each country or city on the deal of day (located on the lower right-hand corner of their homepage and based off of your departing city) we researched photos, city life, people, culture, and nature. Colombia ended up having the beaches we were seeking in Cartagena, the lush scenic hikes in Guatapé, and the city excitement in Medellin. 

Step 5: Setting A Goal 

Budget can be a tedious and unnerving idea for some, but if built and executed according to your own needs than it should be no problem. How did we budget and what do we mean by that?

A budget to us means two things. First, it’s a pre-departure goal and second it’s a reliable measure of what you can and can’t afford once you’ve begun a trip. When you are planning on traveling somewhere, take into account a few important and crucial items that have to be purchased. We consider these items when creating a pre-departure budget:

       1) Plane tickets and any other transportation costs you may incur on your trip (taxi rides from the airport, ferries, train rides, etc.)

       2) The cost of daily accommodations (couchsurf, air b&b, housesitting, hostels, etc.)

       3) The daily cost of food (will you shop at the store? Is breakfast included in your accommodation? Will you eat mostly street food?)

       4) Emergency Funds (unexpected flight home, last minute booking, medical complications etc.)

This was our outlined pre-departure budget for Colombia after we calculated those four items. We were able to bring the base price for this trip to $800 rather than $1,000.

         -$450 (For all plane tickets, possible taxi/city transit fare)

       -$50 Emergency Fund

       -$150 for lodging (staying in hostels for the majority of the trip)

       -$150 for all food and of course beer

            *After step 6 consider adding in the price of activities*

For a ten day trip that may not seem like a lot of money for lodging or food, but considering the exchange rate from USD to COP, our funds would stretch farther and our plane ticket was cheaper than most flights anywhere in the US. We used the exchange rate at the time (xe.com is always up to date and accurate) and we calculated some everyday items to create our pre-departure budget.   

1USD= 2485 Colombian Pesos (COP)

Average hostel cost: 37282 COP = roughly $15 USD

Average cost for a meal and beer at an inexpensive restaurant: 11000 COP = $4.5 USD

Average cost for a simple beer: 2500 COP = $0.83 USD

Average cost for a cup of coffee: 2000 COP = $0.67

Step 6: Adventure Time

You’ve finalized what region of the world you’re going to, how much you’re willing to spend and narrowed down your base budget. Now it’s time to gather some ideas of what you’ll do once you get there. We mean do in a loose sense of the word. Some trips might be just laying on a beach in pure relaxation not doing anything. This part of the research requires sifting through adventure tours (Lonely Planet), free walking tours (New Europe Tours) and endless guides on the cultural niches of your destination. Are there art galleries? Is there an industry like coffee or wine that is specific to the area? Without this step we wouldn’t have uncovered how we could climb 740 steps to the top of a historic mountain for only $10 or that taking an epic boat trip through the Carribean to the best Colombian beaches would only be $30. After uncovering some exciting activities we added a little extra play money to our base budget for once-in-a-lifetime activities like ziplinning through the forests of Colombia. We added $100 extra to our base budget for activities which turned out to be more than enough to have a good time. 

Step 7: Don’t Hesitate

You’ve put in your time scouring plane tickets incognito via multiple sites and now it’s time to just give into your deep desire to travel. Your research shows the most expensive possible tickets and the least expensive tickets, so when you’ve located that perfect price, don’t hesitate. Double check ticket information (correct spelling, dates, and times) and then click—make it a reality!

After purchasing, realize what you’ve done, take a deep breath and celebrate. You’ve dedicated your time to finding the best destination, route, and activities and now all that’s left is making it possible. Let the countdown until you depart begin. 

Step 8: Count The Change

In step five you created a budget, but in knowing that money isn’t going to magically manifest itself, create a plan of how to reach your goals. Our greatest advice is breaking it down by day. It makes the end-game more plausible and manageable. Divide your base budget by how many days stand between the present and when you depart. Ours was $900/120 which breaks down to $7.50 a day. To make it easier we rounded up and knew that $10/day would bring us to our end goal. It also made up for potential days that $10 couldn’t be collected for whatever reason. When sticking to a plan it’s crucial to figure out where your money is being spent, and then consider what you could live without. Can you sacrifice Starbucks? Is eating out helping you reach your goals? Would cooking at home save you money? Could you ride a bike and save on gas or maybe even carpool? Dissecting your everyday comforts may help you squeeze money out of places you didn’t expect. Remember to stick with your plan, because the only person you’re cheating is yourself if you don’t. That’s just silly.

Step 9: Spell It Out 

In the days leading up to your departure it’s beneficial to break down your trip into greater specifics—build an itinerary. This is to not only for conceptualizing your time and detailing the fun, but we think it’s important to have an itinerary to leave with your emergency contact. An itinerary will add in other aspects of your trip such as scheduling check-ins, adding in day trips, meeting up with hosts or planning travel routes. Building an itinerary doesn’t have to restrict the whimsical nature of your journey. We see it as the barebones of getting there and being prepared for anything. We know whole-heartedly that things change on the road, but having potential plans will make the adventure of change more exciting.

Day 7—May 2

Take 2hr bus ride to El Penol day in Guatapé

Day 8—May 3

Day in Guatapé

Day 9—May 4

Day in Guatapé

Day 10—May 5

Day in Guatapé

Day 11—May 6

Take 2hr bus back to Medellin in early morning. Arrive at airport by 11:00 for 14:06 flight home Take 9.5hr flight home to Denver with a layover in Fort Lauderdale for 1.5hrs. Arrive in Denver at 22.30 local time.

Day 1—April 26

Leave Denver for Medellin, Colombia. 12.5hr flight with a layover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for 5.5hrs

Day 2—April 27

Arrive in Medellin, Colombia at 13:07 local time. Take 15:40 flight to Cartagena, Colombia. Land at 16:50 evening in Cartagena

Day 3—April 28

Day in Cartagena

Day 4—April 29

Day in Cartagena

Day 5—April 30

Day in Cartagena

Day 6—May 1

Take 10:45 flight back to Medellin, land at 11:45 day in Medellin

Knowing when we’re on the move allows us to roughly figure out when we have time for adventure activities, walking tours and relaxation. 

Step 10: Pack Your Bags and Get Moving

You’ve checked everything twice, turned on your auto-response for work, packed thoroughly, checked-in and printed your boarding pass. You’ve earned a grand adventure tailored specifically to your hopes and desires so go enjoy it. Challenge yourself to live in the moment and appreciate all the hard work you’ve put in towards making those plans a reality. Give in to the excitement and get on that plane. Set out into the relative unknown and make a difference in your well being. You’ve earned it.  

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