This is probably the question I get asked the most, and the only way I know how to answer it is:
Work - Save - Go!
If you are a traveller, you don't need to read this, since you already know.
Work
Me, like most people, don't come from a rich family and have to earn every penny myself. Not to hide the fact that Norwegians get a scholarship and a loan to study abroad (which makes the saving part a whole lot easier). I usually spend most of my summers (if not all) working. - Usually at home where I can make decent money (Norway).
Save
If travelling is your passion and lifestyle, you might have to give up some comfort that most people see as a general way of living. You have to learn to look for cheaper alternatives, both for living situations and for travelling. You might not have as much savings as others on your bank account. But if you die tomorrow, wouldn't you rather have used the money on an adventure?
Here are some examples from my life: I moved into a dormitory to spend as little as possible on living. I ride a bike when possible to burn calories instead of money. I try to limit eating out (although Poland is fairly cheap for this), and generally spending my money on "stuff". I try to reserve all my money for travelling. And when I do travel, I look for the cheapest tickets I can find, in the cheapest way possible (might be train or bus). I'm young: ATM I have time but no money, so I've easily taken 11h bus rides to save 150€ (haha). I always travel with hand luggage to save money and time (you can have quite a large bag in the cabin). Sometimes the tickets I find decides where I'll go (examples further down). I always sleep in hostels as these are usually the cheapest alternative, plus that's how you meet people when you travel alone. Even better if you can visit a friend and you get to experience the culture as well! Once you start travelling you'll make friends from all over the world.
If you can find these posts on my ig @tinamhansen I explain a bit as well
.. and if you can find this one you're in for some great travel hacks!
Go!
If I was to wait for someone to come with me on my travels, I still wouldn't have left the country. (..okay, a couple of my travels I've actually had friends along).
You've heard this before, but I can't state enough times how solo travel changes you as a person. You learn to be responsible, to be independent. You'll open your mind, and learn to see the beauty of the world, and embrace new cultures. I might even write a whole new blog post about this.
A traveler's mindset
"I'm not as outgoing as you are". "I would never have the courage to just take off like that".
These are things I hear people say a lot. Firstly, I want you to ask yourself if you've ever been in the situation where you didn't have a choice but to talk to a stranger? Travelling and going alone to hostels are a completely different culture. People are there to travel, have fun and make friends. You'll be in a setting where everyone is in your shoes, and are more than open to make new friends. I'm not going to lie, there are countless times on the bus on my way alone to a foreign country where I've thought "What the h*ll did I just do". But it only lasts maybe a day in after arriving at the hostel, and I won't be alone for a minute for the rest of the trip! As for courage I guess it's like everything else in life; sometime have to be the first! Sometimes you just have to jump in the cold water, that's all I can say. It will be worth it!
Here are some examples from my travels, just to give you an idea:
Round trip Croatia April 2019
We got 2 weeks off in uni and I decided to go somewhere close, warm, and cheap. A lot of friends had talked warmly about Croatia so I decided to go there, as it's not that far from Poland where I study and I found cheap tickets (Flixbus). It was an 11 h bus ride FYI.
Keep in mind I had no plans or aims for this trip, I just booked a bus ticket and left the next day. I travelled alone, but already on the bus I started making friends. I arrived at the hostel in Zagreb (which had decent ratings and was cheap), and I made friends with a girl that I travelled most of Zagreb and some national parks with. At the hostel I also met a mexican guy (on the pic), and when I said I wanted to check out the south of Croatia he decided to jump along and take the same bus. Arriving at the hostel in Split, we met 2 younger guys from Hawaii and an awesome woman from Canada. In every age from any country we made a group, "The aimless and shameless". We saw most of Split together, and even rented a car to see some monuments further away. Just saying, I would never have had this awesome experience with all these amazing people if I'd never had the guts to travel alone! I also befriended another man at the hostel, that I later visited in the US; and he showed me all around Seattle.
Gender/sex doesn't even matter, especially not for a traveller. I've made friends in every category from 15 to 60-something years old.
I went to Zadar with some of them, as more than a week had passed and I soon needed to find my way back to Poland before school started: I found a cheap flight from Zadar to Czech Republic. I made heaps of friends down there as well, before I took my flight up to Prague. After landing in Prague, I realized that most busses back to Wroclaw were sold out, and I could be in some trouble as I knew school started in less than 4 days. Interestingly enough, at the hostel I went to, I got to know a polish Roller Derby team, that happened to be going back to Poznan that same weekend. And luckily they had an extra spot in the car! We had an amazing sight-seeing drive home, before we had dinner together. I have met up with some of them in later times. On the whole trip (almost 2 weeks) I spent about 200 euro on living, travelling and food. I'm very happy with how it all turned out, even for a person with no plans!
Hawaii 2020
Earlier this year, I sat tight waiting for my pathophysiology exam results. When I found out all my hard work had paid off and I was one of the few lucky that passed the exam on first try, I decided to treat myself. We had 2 weeks of semester break if we passed first try. I looked through my fav app (Skiplagged) for
"flights to anywhere", and found out that their tickets to Hawaii were fairly cheap. Also I still had my visitors VISA from my trip to the US the previous summer.
Spontaneity is usually a great thing! Unless you forget to consider the cost of living where you are going .. heh. I found out that one of the cheapest hostels on Oahu was still way out of my budget over time. Couch surfing was not that common over there, and the few that was open, were usually "fully booked". My trip turned out okay money wise, due to great friends I made down there, also with some locals. Lucky me! But this was a heads up to learn from my mistakes, haha. Not everywhere is as easy and cheap to travel as Europe and many parts of Asia!
Overall I had the best time, and I made so many amazing friends that I
am still in contact with. I lived in hostels, crashed at friends', and did some couch surfing. I went to the beach, checked out the nightlife, went for loads of unforgettable hikes, and got to see some of the local culture. I even made friends who had cars, and we drove all around the Island.
I also made friends with a great girl that was driving up to the North Shore for a surf camp. I decided to join to see that part of Oahu as well. I asked to stay at the surf camp she was going to; luckily they had a spare bed, and took me in with open arms. They also asked if I was interested in surf lessons, of course I could not say no!! So that spontaneously turned into a couple surf lessons close to Banzai Pipeline, the most famous surfing spot in the world!
The saddest part of travelling is always at the end, when you have to leave all your new friends.. My flight went from Oahu to Washington DC, which made time for a couple hours exploring as well! On my 11h layover I met a man on the bus on the way to the city. He was also only there for a layover and our flights was around the same time. We explored the city together, watched the monuments,
took heaps of photos, visited museums (as most museums here are for free), and had dinner together before we went our separate ways. All that just because I had the guts to say hello to a random person on the bus.
I could give you dozens of stories like these, but I think you get the point!
- Be cautious where you spend your money.
- If no one goes with you, go alone. You'll always meet people.
- Be spontaneous and open minded, go where the wind takes you!
- Your time off school/work is precious, use it wisely.
A special thanks to all the amazing people I've met travelling. Thank you for all the memories we've shared, and I can't wait to meet up with you all in the future!!
Any questions at all, you can always reach me on instagram @tinamhansen
Thanks for reading! <3