Are you afraid of running out of money while traveling? Are you nervous your daily budget is not enough? Do you dread the idea of calling home (mom or dad) to ask for extra money?
Travel costs are unexpected, and predicting how much you are going to spend every day is virtually impossible. When I went to Southeast Asia, I had a set budget of $35/day. After arriving, I realized I could spend less, so I readjusted my budget to $25/day and pushed my flight back so that I could stay longer. Big mistake. While living on $25/day was possible in theory, actually doing it was much harder. Things kept popping up, and maintaining my $25/day budget became impossible. I fell for scams (there are tons of scams to fall for). I spent money I didn’t need because I didn’t know any better. I made an innocent mistake with my visa that cost me over $150. The list just goes on, but that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was realizing I wasted over $300 before I even got on a plane.
It should be noted that I was not throwing money around left and right. I amvery frugal, to the point that I slept on a concrete bus station floor to save $7; twice. I also did extensive research regarding my visas, immunizations, preparation for the weather, etc. Unfortunately, some of the advice I got from travel blogs and government websites did more damage than good.
As anyone who has traveled knows, making mistakes and wasting money is part of the process. It is unavoidable. I know this better than anyone, as this was my first extended trip overseas and I wasted hundreds of dollars preparing for it. And I’m not talking about paying too much for my flight or my…
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