Continuing with the Travel Myth Buster Series, and going along with the theme of “money issues” as in the two previous common excuses for not traveling: “I can’t afford to travel”“I have too many expenses, I can’t save money for travel”, is the excuse:

So, you’re in debt, meaning that you have credit cards, student loans, car loans, or some other expense to pay off. Well, your first priority should be coming up with a plan to eliminate debt, or at least getting it down to a manageable level (this all depends on the interest rates you pay and any other counteracting investments you may have). There are literally thousands of resources on the web giving advice and tips on how to get out of debt so I recommend looking over some of the following links to develop your “plan for eliminating debt”.

• 9 Ways to Pay off Debt
• How to Get Out of Debt
• What Debt to Pay off First
• Using 0% Balance Transfers to Pay Off Debt
• How Much Interest are you Paying

After you have a plan for eliminating debt, you can reevaluate your situation, and basically have two options for planning travel into your life.

Pay off all debt, then start saving for travel
If your debt is not too high (under $10,000), and/or you have a lot of high interest rate debt (credit cards) this is probably the best option. Live frugally, make sacrifices, and get your debt back down to a manageable level, or eliminate it entirely. If you cut unnecessary expenses out of your life as I outlined in the previous installment ”I can’t save money for travel”, it shouldn’t take too long to take control of your debt. Once you are debt free you will feel a huge burden lifted from your shoulders, will already have developed some great experience in cutting unnecessary expenses from your life, and will be in the perfect position to start saving for travel. As I have said before, if you truly value travel as an end, you will find that the sacrifices you make in saving will be paid back 100 times by the experience you will get standing in front of the pyramids in Egypt or snorkeling with sea lions on the Galapagos Islands!

Stick to your plan, and save for travel on the side
So what if you owe a lot more? What if you owe $50,000 or $100,000 in student loans? This is a common problem among my generation, as college and especially graduate school have become so outrageously expensive. It seems that half of my friends are now locked in 30 year loan repayment plans to pay off law or medical school. However, due to the nature of these loans, my friends can still afford to travel relatively easily.

The most important thing about paying off a high, low-interest loan, is to have a plan and to stick to it. Because interest rates are low, and the payment schedule spaced out over 15-30 years, it is not necessary to pump every penny you make back into the repayment of these loans. In other words, make your payments, and keep yourself sane! It is not wise, nor responsible to live an extravagant lifestyle while tens of thousands of dollars in debt, but as I have outlined before you can definitely afford to add budget travel into your lifestyle on occasion. Just save a little money on the side by living frugally, and after a few months of saving you will be able to afford that big trip!

*Again, it’s all about recognizing travel as something you want in your life, and making simple, conscious decisions to incorporate it into your routine.

Return to the “Travel Myth Buster” series

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