Everyone dreams of traveling to see the world, or at least some famous places around the country. Student years are the best time to travel since you are adult enough to do it on your own but still not overwhelmed with adult problems.
Still, you may face one issue that can hold you from traveling, which is your student loan. But it all depends on your attitude to the situation and the way you organize yourself. Realize that you have more possibilities than you think and take measures to make your traveling dream come true.
Change Your Lifestyle
The primary step is to lead life slightly differently to be able to cover expenses, save for traveling and pay off the loan hassle-free. Sounds fantastic? It is possible to implement if you follow some good strategies and apply decent efforts.
- Save every day – become more reserved in everyday desires and expenses and you will discover how much money you are able to save. Give up everyday coffee, eat at home, go shopping with smaller appetites, stay in for a weekend or two. And you will earn a big sum on yourself at the end of the month. Add recalculating your budget and tracking your expenses and you will benefit even more.
- Pay more to your student loan – while saving on routine habits, you can pay more to your student loan monthly. If you add at least some peanuts you can reduce the interest rates and payment period in general. It may seem nonsense to you and won’t affect your routine budget, but it will pay off greatly in the end.
- Refinance the loan – consider replanning your loan. Look for beneficial opportunities and discounts, which will leave space for saving for traveling. Yet, it doesn’t mean you need to prolong or postpone your loan payments.
As you see small things may lead to great profits, so, do your best to save for traveling and implement your desires.
Work with Benefits
Combine work and traveling to be able to afford more. There are many options to earn money while traveling. Select the most appropriate one and pack your suitcase.
- Work while traveling – open work visa and consider season work abroad. You may work at hotels, restaurants, resorts, or join the crew of a cruise liner and take a global tour. Depending on your skills, possibilities and desires, you may work and travel to any spot on the globe. If you are hard-working enough, you will be able to earn some good money to cover your loan, travel and live with delight on top.
- Teach abroad – have you got some teaching talent sleeping deep inside you? It is time to wake it up and benefit from it. There are multiple international programs for students where you have to teach English in distant places of the world. Participate in any you like, and you will discover some unknown corner of the planet, traveling and making money at the same time.
- Work remotely – you don’t need to get stuck in the office chair or waiter’s apron to cover your student loan. You can work anytime and anywhere if you are doing it remotely. There are many options for remote workers to travel and earn a living without restrictions. You can join photographers, dissertation writers for hire [, bloggers, programmers, web designers, or any other profession which allows you to work only having a laptop and several free hours a day or night while traveling.
Plan Travel Properly
The golden rule of budget and beneficial traveling is proper planning. If you manage to pre-arrange some profitable deals but stay open to new possibilities at the same time, you are doomed for success.
- Select a great destination – don’t stick to top famous and beloved places only. They are too expensive and crowded. Search some travel blogs and websites to find less popular but still charming places with stunning nature and old architecture. You will manage to find your perfect destination if you take some time.
- Plan beforehand – if you want to travel you can’t just leave everything and set on the journey tomorrow. No, it’s great if you can do this, but still, it is advised to plan in advance. You will manage to book cheaper tickets, hotels, and tours if you do it a year ahead. You will save greatly if you find some places to eat, sleep, and fill up your tank, for example, long before your trip. Try to predict, plan, and reduce your travel expenses, so that your travel won’t affect your study loan payoff at all.
- Exploit credit card benefits – discover what benefits your credit card gives you. There are bonus offerings to save on flights and booking tours and accommodation. So, don’t skip your chance for a bargain.
- Travel together – someone likes to travel alone. But in most cases it’s a little boring, dangerous, and not cheap. Consider traveling with your partner, family, or friends. This way you will be able to share and reduce some expenses. By paying for food, accommodation and transportation together, you will save a good sum of money.
- Be flexible – if you plan everything to perfection beforehand, don’t hold to your plans too tightly, or you may skip a better possibility. So the main planning principle is to be flexible. There may be sudden ticket discounts to different destinations, hot tours for different times, off-season proposals, and so on. Don’t pass such offerings, since they will allow you to waste significantly less money on traveling.
Travel without Limits
Every student wants and needs to travel the world. It will add to his life experience and vital skills, help to make crucial decisions, and settle personal life views. A student loan is not the reason to deprive yourself of the perks and the joy of traveling.
So, you need to tailor your own plan on how to travel while paying off your student loan. Change your lifestyle by reducing daily expenses and paying more for the loan. Work on travel, doing seasonal jobs, teaching English abroad, or working remotely. Plan your travel properly, but choosing less popular destinations, booking in advance, exploiting credit card bonuses, and traveling with friends. Mind to be flexible in any case not to skip your chance for a great journey.
Put some decent efforts and work hard and never let your student loan keep you from seeing the world.