How Did I Afford My World Tour?

My number one question about traveling, answered.

Funny enough, I found myself asking this question to other solo travelers WHILE I was on my own world tour. The concept seems so impossible, even as it's happening. Each month felt like throwing a dart at the board and hoping I wasn’t over budget. And every time I wasn’t was akin to winning the lottery. For someone who was unemployed, it kind of was. 

There were so many factors that had to come together for this to be feasible, and I’ll list them in chronological order. Fan service, if you will. 

Mirror selfies that I sent Dani and Dan

Savings: I always knew I’d want a career break/swap/mid life crisis. Life is too long to do only one thing forever, and I assumed a pivot would be in my future, so I accommodated that with a dedicated savings fund. Mind you, I started this sometime around 2018 after reading The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner’s Guide to Getting Good with Money and getting laid off. My savings strategies were pretty simple, like following the 50/30/20 budget as closely as possible. I was also extremely lucky to live with roommates and my then partner for all of my 20s. I’ll even include the WFH era of COVID, which curbed my spending incredibly and gave me the chance to pay off my car and student loans. It was trickier to save when I lived alone for all of 29, but by this point, I was debt free. Which leads to…

Million Dollar Bills by Lorde

Timing: Deciding​​ to travel coincided with the loss of my cat Zuko, the ending of my lease, frustration with Los Angeles/the entertainment industry, and having very minimal bills to pay. If I had even one commitment like a car payment, I would have hesitated. In fact, travel wasn’t even at the forefront of my mind. I just knew I needed a break, wanted to apply to grad school, and thought “wells, for once I don’t owe anyone anything.” Also known as…

Clocks by Coldplay

Privilege: I am reeking of it! I would have not made this decision without my Filipino parents. I’m emphasising where we are from, because we have a place to stay in Manila, which became the jumping off point for all my SEA flights. They were also so emotionally supportive and encouraging from the start. My mom is the queen of “just book the flight!” That also meant if I was ever stuck somewhere (thank god nothing happened), I knew I could ask them for help. I also have to thank all the friends that let me crash in their spare room or couch; that hospitality is a luxury. And to continue, coming from California is a privilege! After living in such a HCOL place, everything else seems like a steal. What may seem like a little bit of savings to me really stretched in places where the USD had a high value. And for the things money couldn’t buy came…

Details from some of the places I’ve been hosted

Desperation: Your want has to be bigger than your fear. And more than anything, I feared taking an extended break and not taking advantage of it. Losing money and gaining time was a tradeoff I was willing to make. I was cutting corners wherever I could to make this happen. I’m talking flying eight hours to Sydney with no screen or Wifi, with only a backpack that I’m praying no one weighs, to stay in a packed hostel and only using public transportation. The entirety of London was doing math to see what attractions were worth the exorbitant pound, and when I had the flu in Chiang Mai, I had the thought of “at least my budget will stay low today,” as my temp shot to 38 degrees Celsius. That didn’t mean I deprived myself of any activities or food - I was just very strategic in a way my past trips *cough Peru* were not. My biggest regret about this was that I lost out on spontaneity in exchange for security. If I didn’t have a bus booked to Bangkok ahead of time, would I have followed my friends to Koh Rong? Probably! 

Delays, potential Halloween costume, midnight flight

The math: For each month, I aimed to spend around $1500-$2000. I’d consider that doable in every place except England, and on the tighter end in the EU/Japan. In comparison, my monthly base costs in Los Angeles (rent, utilities, etc.) were around $2700. I don’t think I’ll ever do a final total - I tried but none of this was in my bank at one time. The money I had for the trip included savings, but also crumbs sprinkled over the months: my apartment deposit returned, vacation payout from work, a neglected SoFi account, my credit card points, and my tax return. If I had to put a number on it, I would say $12k max. If I had to do this again, I would save around $15k-$20k in cash. 

So much math and currencies

Other notes: I am so incredibly debt adverse, so I would not recommend going into credit card or not liquidating your retirement for this. I stopped once I A. got a summer job and B. still had some money left in my savings. I also met a ton of people who were taking time off for this and would come back to their job (no Americans, but one can dream), so having an idea of what your financial situation is upon your return is important. 

Meanwhile IRL… 

A big perk of the town camp is next to: Mayor Max

An interlude for the world tour itself:

It’s soon to be a month since it ended, and in some ways, it doesn’t feel like it stopped. My current job as a camp counselor has had a similar momentum as traveling - an unknowingness to the day, a physicality that wears through my bones, and a joy that I have a hard time replicating in actuality. And now my new fear is “how do I keep that going once this part ends?” I don’t know how to explain the aftermath of my travels but I’m documenting it here for my own cognizance. It’s a savouring of the twilight heat that sits in the valley. Only being able to process it all in the shower or the car or transitional states, like you are water evaporating into a cloud. Wearing new skin that’s identical to your old skin and no one knows because you cut off the tags and still fit into that dress from four birthdays ago. Chewing mouthfuls of metaphors to elucidate that I’ve changed, but not having the confidence to spit them into your plate. 

One of my best Instagram captions is “don’t know why I always want to leave, when California in the summer is my favorite place to be.” Coming back in April was really, really hard for me. It’s less difficult now under the solstice sun, yet it’s still tender, like all wounds. Regardless, I will always love how it feels here. 

In other recommendations: I’ve been loving the combination of Lorde’s new album Virgin with Pop Song: Adventures in Art and Intimacy by Larissa Pham, which I purchased at Redbud Books while I was in Bloomington, Indiana. In researching places to live in California, I came across this article about the Great Flood of 1861-1862. I got my own tarot deck (also from Redbud) and it’s pink :)

Written to: Shapeshifter by Lorde
Category: Schemes