Quick Guide To Travel Full Time Without Savings:
♥ Book accommodation on Booking.com or Hostelworld.com. It’s often cheaper to book online than to show up at the front desk.
♥ Do a Work Exchange. Volunteer work for your accommodation is a great way to start your travel adventure, and often even lands you a job. Use platforms like Workaway.info or Worldpackers
♥ Work seasonally or make some money as a slow digital nomad
♥ Get Travel Insurance. I’ve traveled the world with Travel Insurance only for accidents, which is much cheaper than a full package. My tips are SafetyWing or Genki or HeyMondo. I have used them all, and as a kitesurfer that practices multiple extreme sports, I found Genki the best value.
♥ Buy a global eSIM from Airalo before you start traveling. This helps me a lot when I arrive at the airport to get Ubers, find hotels or use Google Maps. It saves a lot of hassle of needing to buy a sim card when you arrive.
♥ Facebook is still the best place to find out about things to do and to connect with others. Pick your country and search for ‘Backpackers in ….’ or go to the Event tab to attend events in your area. MeetUp is also a great platform to meet people.
♥ Get an international bank account with cheap international transfers from Revolut, N26 or Wise. All of these companies give you a physical card which you can use in the local ATMs.
Find things to do on your trip:
I am 36 years old, have almost no savings, and live abroad in the 45th country I have visited (Mexico). In the past six years, I have had more days off than I worked. I have seen more countries in the last 10 years than most people do in their lifetimes. I have no car, no house, almost no possessions, and barely any worries.
How did I change my life to travel full time without savings? Here’s what you need to know if you want to travel long-term.
1. You don’t need most of the stuff in your life right now.
The average American household earns about $67,000 yearly. Most of it goes to housing ($20,000), transportation ($10,000), and goods & services ($11,000). I only have a backpack with clothes for different seasons, and my most valuable possession is my MacBook.
I spend $1,000 - $1,200 per month traveling in cheap countries. This covers accommodation, food, and transportation. That’s about $15,000 per year—less than what the average American spends on housing alone. My emergency health insurance costs $600 per year. I pay extra medical expenses as I go, which is cheaper in the countries I visit than in most developed ones. I don’t pay for a pension or life insurance, which some might find risky, but traveling full time without savings comes with risks many people won’t take.
Besides that, I don’t pay rent or a mortgage. I don’t need a full kitchen, furniture, or a closet full of clothes. Also, I don’t have car expenses. My leisure time is part of my lifestyle, so I don’t spend hundreds on nights out or fancy dinners. I don’t need gadgets to make life easier or expensive vacations to escape.
If you give up half of what you own and do now, you can afford to travel to cheaper countries for years. When you work hard for a few months each year to earn $15,000, you can travel full time without savings and leave your ‘normal’ life behind.
2. Change how you think about money.
We are taught that time is money. Every lost workday could have earned you more. But most people don’t realize that money is time. Think about the hours you work to afford something you use in your free time. You are working to buy yourself leisure time while covering daily expenses in a Western country.
Now, imagine working a fraction of those hours and having the time to live as you want. This reverses the concept. What you once worked for (a happy life) now becomes your life. The best part? You don’t need as much money as you thought. You buy your own time with less money instead of spending your time to earn more.
This mindset shift is key if you want to travel full time without savings without stressing over income.
3. You will need to change your career.
Me in Bagan, Myanmar
Society values high earners. Companies want them to spend money, and governments want to collect taxes. Many people will push you to build a career to be ‘successful.’
From birth, we are conditioned to live the ‘perfect’ life: grow up in a loving family, choose a career, marry, start a family, and buy a house and car. This makes you valuable to society—you pay taxes, spend in the economy, and raise children who will follow the same path.
Our lives revolve around jobs. To live the life society expects, you must work for 50 years. But you don’t need a high-paying career. You need experiences that make you rich in mind. Giving up the luxuries and security of a career gives you something more valuable—time. Let go of the idea that success means committing to a career.
There are many jobs for full-time travelers. They may not be ‘valuable’ in a traditional sense, but they provide the money you need for budget travel. I’ve picked fruit in Australia, herded cows in the Outback, taken customer calls in New Zealand, worked as a commission-based travel agent, washed dishes, cleaned hotel rooms, and done boring data entry jobs.
These jobs may not be ambitious, but they can make you $15,000 in about six months. If you live on a budget and work long hours, you can travel full time without savings for the rest of the year in freedom.
4. Be ready to step out of your comfort zone.
To travel full time without savings without working full-time, you must give up many comforts. You may share rooms with backpackers, eat cheap street food, and take crowded local buses to your next destination.
Avoid unnecessary spending on alcohol, drugs, and trendy travel gadgets. Choose the cheapest food stands and dorm rooms outside the city center to save money. Traveling full time without savings won’t be as comfortable as home. You may have to walk extra miles, but these sacrifices help you travel longer. And trust me, it’s worth it!
Book accommodations and trips yourself instead of using agencies. Take local buses instead of tourist transport. Skip some overpriced attractions. Being a long-term nomad means stepping out of your comfort zone, but that’s where you grow the most.
5. It won’t be an eternal vacation.
Me housesitting on a small farm in New Zealand
Even though I’ve had more days off than I worked, full-time travel is not an endless holiday. You must make money to sustain it. Often, that means taking boring or tough jobs. You may need to start your own business, which takes time and determination.
In many countries, work visas are hard to get, so you may be underpaid. A great alternative is volunteer work in exchange for accommodation and food. It reduces expenses and still leaves time to earn money on the side.
Look for work in touristy areas, where tips can boost your earnings. Or start an online business as a digital nomad. You can do data entry, teach online, write, create content, build websites, do affiliate marketing, work in customer service, or translate. The opportunities are endless if you put in the effort.
You can do it too!
If you live paycheck to paycheck, paying bills and dreaming of escape, be ready to make sacrifices.
But the benefits of exploring the world will make you forget those sacrifices fast! You don’t need luck or a huge savings account—just smart choices. Spend your time and money wisely, and your life as a full time traveler without savings can start tomorrow.
My personal tips to travel full time without savings
♦ Book a place to stay for one night on Booking.com first, then pay directly to the accommodation for additional nights. This is often cheaper and will also help the owners to not have to pay commission. Try to find places that are owned by locals and be a responsible traveler.
♦ Travel slow and don’t try to visit as many places as possible in a short timeframe. This is much more sustainable, for yourself, for the locals and for the environment.
♦ Cover yourself with travel Insurance by SafetyWing or Genki
About Sustaying
Sustaying helps people become a slow digital nomad. We give tips on how to break free from your current job and inspire you with sustainable and slow colivings to stay at. We blog about our travels around the world in search of community.
About the author
Yvette van den Brand
Yvette is the founder of Sustaying. She has lived abroad for seven years of her life, while travelling and working in 45 different countries. Originally from The Netherlands but now residing in Mexico, where she manages Sustaying and enjoys a kiteboarding lifestyle.
