Don’t let being young and broke prevent you from traveling abroad

When I tell people I meet that I love to travel, they all say more or less the same thing. They all make up excuses about why they can’t. I once fell into this negative pit of creating reasons for why I couldn’t do things too, but then I woke up. Life is much too short and I want to live it for myself, doing things that make me happy. Most importantly, if there’s a will, there’s a way. There will always be excuses to not live the life you’ve dreamed of for yourself; but does that mean you must succumb to them and live a miserable existence? Fuck that.

I went swimming on the island of Capri this summer and spent a week roaming the streets of Rome with my best friend at 18. I did it not because I’m rich or because someone else paid for it – I did it because I stopped making excuses, stopped feeling sorry for myself and became proactive about making my dreams come true. Or, in the words of Lizzie McGuire: “This is what dreams are made of.”

A smug girl sipping prossecco in front of the Pantheon

How I made the money

I’m a college student in her second year who’s already swimming in debt, and that’s okay. I’ll take my time to pay it off, just like everyone else. If I put the money that I spent on my Italian vacation towards one of my college loans, would that make me happier than living it up on vacation? That’s a resounding NO, and that money would hardly even make a dent in what I owe anyway. So, I took a job at a deli on campus making sandwiches for $8.38 an hour and did it for a full semester. By the end of that, I already had enough money for the vacation and in the process, I made some really close friends. It was a job that was far from glamorous, but my amazing coworkers helped to see me through my long shifts and the payoff at the end was the most glamorous thing in the world: a whirlwind vacation to some of the most fabulous places in the world.

How I got my cheap flights

It’s insane how cheap some flights are. Do your research and you’ll be astounded by how you can pay $1,000 less for the same route depending on what company you fly with. Low-cost airline carriers like WOW Air and Norwegian have flight deals on their website right now where you can fly from New York City to Paris for less than $400 round trip during winter break. Yeah, you read that right. Less than $400 round trip to a world class city like Paris. Are you checking your bank account balance as you read this? Because same.

Obligatory boarding pass/ passport photo

Where I slept for really cheap

The accommodations can also be insanely cheap. My best friend and I booked an AirBnB in a lovely neighborhood in Rome that was a 15 minute walk from the Colosseum for $37/night. When we split the cost, it was less than $19 per night each. Not only is that cheaper than a hostel but it was much more comfortable since we had a private room to ourselves. The fact that we were living in an apartment during our stay amongst real Romans made us feel like laid-back locals and not silly tourists, which was something we especially loved. Just make sure to check the reviews thoroughly as incredibly cheap accommodations may come with a catch.

For people who are really feeling risky but hope to reap some serious rewards, you can actually stay for free in the most sought-after tourist destinations by signing up for couchsurfing.com. Locals in big cities that love to meet new people and make friends put up their couches or spare bedrooms for wandering tourists to crash in at no cost at all. Again, do your research to make sure these people are legit and you could potentially make new friends and not pay a single penny for your stay abroad. Though, it would be a good idea to come with a courtesy bottle of wine or beers to win over their affections, and leave them a generous tip for being so gracious as to allow their humble abode to be infiltrated with sweaty strangers (a.k.a you).

Our Airbnb

How to plan the trip

This should by far be the most fun part of the preparations since money is not really an object or an obstacle here. Think about why you want to go to the particular city in the first place. What is the climate like so you can pack accordingly, what art museums do you want to see, what historical sights are there, what food or drink is the place most famous for, what is the shopping like, is there a good nightlife scene, or is there wildlife that’s unique to this place? What do most people do when they go to the place you want to visit? Ask around to see if anyone has any personal recommendations, read blogs and magazines and watch videos about people’s visits to certain sights, compile a list of things you want to see most and make tentative daily itineraries based on how close in proximity those sights on your list are to one another. But for the love of travel, please don’t wing it. If you’re going to shell out hundreds of dollars on a flight and take off from work to enjoy yourself, do some research and do it right. Plus, you can save money by buying tickets for certain attractions ahead of time and make the most of your time when you’re already there by not having to wait in long ticket queues.

Don’t you dare get an international data or texting plan

Put your phone on Airplane Mode upon boarding your first plane and don’t take it off Airplane Mode until you’ve landed back in your home country. Congrats, you just saved yourself anywhere from $100 to $1,000. Roaming data plans are the biggest ripoff of your entire life and for the cost you would spend on a data plan you could’ve spent on a second vacation. And considering you will be in a different time zone and spend all your time galavanting through exotic locales, you’ll barely have time to use your phone aside from snapping photos. You’re on vacation: the petty subtweets and drama from back home can wait. Instead, download texting apps like Whatsapp or even Facebook Messenger to interact with your friends and family from back home. Unless you’re traveling to an incredibly impoverished place, you won’t have a problem finding wifi in cafes, restaurants and your AirBnB room.

When shit hits the fan, keep cool

Traveling is a beautiful thing because you learn so much about yourself and your travel companions while abroad. For example, when the entire subway system in Rome goes on strike the day you need to go to an art gallery that can only be visited by making a reservation months in advance which only has timed tickets and no one tells you that the subway system is on strike because you don’t speak Italian, and when none of the taxis are stopping for you and the bus hasn’t come in 40 minutes, don’t give up all hope and have a panic attack like a deranged maniac on the street. Don’t panic when your first flight is delayed and you have a decent chance of missing your second flight because even though you will have to sprint through the airport, you will probably make it with time to spare. When you don’t speak the same language as everyone else in the country you are visiting, accept the fact that at times you will be either misunderstood or ignored entirely. Come to terms with the fact that shit will hit the fan at least once during your trip and play it by ear. And after you’ve had enough time to psychologically heal from the drama, you will laugh about it. What’s left will be the fondest memories and best times of your life, and with enough hustle, those dreams of yours will be plans set in motion.