How to Quit your 9-5 and travel full-time

The most frequently asked question I received over the past 6 months is, "How do you afford to travel so often?" I definitely don't have the magical answer to this question, but I can share my experiences and what I've learned over the last 6 months.

In June of last year, my boyfriend and I decided to quit our jobs and pursue our passion for travel. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. Yeah, quitting my job scared me a little... but you're only young once and I figured there would always be a job back home waiting for me.

Going into our travels we really had no idea what to expect or how long we'd be able to last. We didn't do much initial planning just figured we'd figure it all out as we went, and that worked pretty well for us. No longer having a steady paycheck but happier than I’ve ever been. Doing and seeing so many amazing things, like cruising around Havana in a pink convertible and staying on private island resorts in Belize.

Preparations:

• Save as much money as you can prior to quitting your job. A desired budget would be at least $1,000 for each month you plan to travel. More if you plan to travel luxuriously.
• Pay off all bills (credit cards, car payment ext.) It's ideal if you can have no monthly bills while traveling.
• Suspend cell phone- you’ll be able to find WiFi almost everywhere.
• Cancel little things like Spotify premium. Saving even $4 a month can go a long way in Latin America. 
• Selling some possessions on Craigslist/ OfferUp is also a great way to earn a little extra cash for your travels. 

Work/ Collaborations:
Before we left for our trip our goal was to be able to work with resorts, hotels, and tour companies. When we got our first job filming for a tour company in Mexico I couldn't believe it was actually working. Neither of us had a huge following on Instagram but that didn't seem to be too big of an issue for us. Once we got our first job more jobs started coming in. We created a portfolio of our work (videos/ photos/ blog) and included that in our email to companies with a brief summary of what we were offering and what we wanted in return. Not every company is looking for social media collaborations, so don't get discouraged when people say no. Just keep trying, the more companies you reach out to the better chance you have that one will say yes!

Figure out your skills and what you can offer while traveling. For us it was videography work, filming for resorts and tour companies, promoting and sharing content on our social medias. Which allowed us the opportunity to do so many amazing things like countless tours and excursions. As well as stay in beautiful 5-star resorts we’d never be able to afford otherwise. These were some of our favorite moments from our trip and they were considered "work".

Here are a few good websites for work and saving money while traveling:

• Workaway.com- is great if you want to travel but don't have much money. You can work in exchange for a free place to stay, but expect to work 4-8 hours a day, 5 days a week. They have jobs like: helping in a hostel, farming, or paint murals.
• Upwork.com- a website that has tons of freelance jobs you can do online.
• Freetour.com- Tons of free tours offered in almost every city worldwide. Great way to explore and learn a lot about the culture and history and only costs a tip to the tour guide!

Expenses while traveling:

Your main expenses while traveling will be your accommodations, transportation, food/drinks, and excursions and tours. Here are some tips and tricks I have for budget traveling in regards to these things...

Accommodations: Aside from a couple splurges, we were able to find accommodations under $30 a night, usually closer to $20 (split between the 2 of us). For the most part, we stayed in Airbnb's, we found it to be cheaper than getting a hostel for 2 people and more comfortable. We like having our own space and kitchen to cook, but when we felt like being more social, we'd get a hostel for a few nights. Airbnb also offers a discount if you are booking for a week at a time, which can save you quite a bit of money! I also would check between Airbnb, Hostel World, and Booking.com to find the best deal!

If you've never used Airbnb before sign up with my promo code for $40 off your first booking HERE.

Transportation: Transportation will for sure get you, especially when you aren't planning too far ahead. Booking flights last minute is always a gamble. Sometimes we were able to find good deals other times we were stuck taking the bus for 24 hours. My advice is to always check between flights and buses. Usually, we would pick the cheapest option but sometimes the extra money is worth it in comparison to spending 10-30 hours on a bus.

In Central America, we were able to take the bus everywhere for an affordable price. South America was much more expensive and time-consuming since it's so huge! We were often faced with the option to pay $60-100 + $20 for a checked bag for a two-hour flight or spend 15 hours on the bus. Our most expensive bus was from the Argentina border to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for $91 each, and took almost 30 hours but it was still a better option than the $200+ flight.

Uber everywhere! Uber is always the best option if it's offered, much cheaper and safer than taxi cabs. Also, the app Bla Bla Car is popular in Central and South America for finding ride shares with other travelers. If there are tuk tuk's that's always a fun cheap option too.

Food and drinks: We did a lot of grocery shopping and cooking, much cheaper and healthier than eating out all the time. Stick to the local restaurants, the food is good and affordable, both of us could eat for under $10. It's when you go to the cute trendy places that meals start adding up and you are back paying U.S. prices.

Excursions/tours- There are some tours and experiences you just can’t pass up (like swimming with whale sharks). But a lot of times there are other options than taking expensive tours, like getting to locations on your own and just paying the entrance fee. When there was a tour we wanted to do we would reach out to companies and offer them a promotional video in exchange for us getting to do the tour for free. Of course, there's also a ton of free options like walking around site seeing and petting adorable animals!

Travel insurance... we didn’t have it. Thankfully we had no incidents. But accidents happen so always a good idea to get it! It is expensive from what I’ve gathered around $100 a month.

PACK LIGHT! Packing and unpacking is a pain, the less you bring the easier it is! If you can get all your stuff into a carry-on bag even better. Most of the time checking a bag for flights is an extra $20 which adds up!

Probably don’t bring a rolling suitcase for long term travel like I did. I was rolling my bag on 2 wheels (after the other 2 broke off) for the last month and a half. Turns out they don’t do really well on rough terrain.

Safety: Always be aware of your surroundings! During our 6 months of travel, we were very lucky and experienced no mishaps, but we also weren't out walking around alone at night. Brazil felt most sketchy but I think that's because we heard so many horror stories beforehand that we were always looking over our shoulders. Glad we didn't let the horror stories influence us because it turned out to be one of our favorite countries!

Also, language barriers can be super tough. Thankfully I had Alberto who speaks fluent Spanish, I would have never been able to survive without him. Google translate app is also a lifesaver and you can use it offline.

Deciding to quit our jobs and travel fulltime turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences! Not working 40 hours a week gave us the freedom to explore so many beautiful countries that two weeks vacation just won't allow. So, for all the people who have messaged me asking how I'm able to travel so much... You just have to go for it! If we can do it, you can do it. Honestly, budget traveling can be cheaper than living in Los Angeles.

We accomplished our goal of collaborating with companies, and had the time of our lives along the way! We lasted six months when we didn't even know if we'd be able to last two. I'm so grateful for all the experiences we had and wouldn't change it for the world! Cheers to many more travels in 2019!

Hope this blog post helps, DM me or comment below if you have any further questions!

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Check out our latest video Alberto created for Vertical Rio in Brazil.