How I Did It

I wanted to write a post how I am able to take this time off to travel. I know a lot of people are envious of my plans so I want to give them an idea of how they could do it themselves. I encourage people to take risks like this because almost no one regrets it.

I want to get out of the way that I'm very fortunate and thankful for the opportunities that life has presented me. Not everyone is dealt the same cards and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't realize this. There are a few things for my situation that are beneficial for my travel plans that are difficult for the average person to change. First, I had an above average income. Getting a college education, and years of ambition and hard work really are paying off now. Second, I'm 37 years old and still single. I've known couples that have done stuff like this together though. Finally, I have no kids.  I understand that kids become your #1 priority for nearly 20 years so this is probably the biggest freedom that I have in my situation. 

Living below my means has been the biggest thing that I've done to be able to afford this opportunity. I had a decent amount of credit card debt until a few years ago. I was focused on paying that off by watching what I spent my money on. I already bought various stuff, but I needed to pay it off. That got me into a habit of being frugal. Every dollar spent was asked "Is it better to spend this on more stuff or put it toward debt?"  I have a couch, a coffee table, a dining room table,TV, a bike, and all that stuff. But my couch I got for free, my coffee table was from Craigslist as well as my dining room table, my TV is now 8 years old and works fine, and I've had my bike since 2005 since the engine is more important than the actual bike. I have stuff, but I get stuff and use it until it dies. Also, a lot of my stuff isn't really fancy, but is decent enough and is functional.  On my personal blog, I wrote an article about lifestyle inflation a few years ago. I refer back to that post to keep me in check. 

As my income has increased over the years, my expenses have gone down. For example, I'm always looking for ways to cut my utility bills. I dropped DirecTV years ago, cut the cord, and now get by with Netflix, Hulu, HBONow, and a TV antenna. All of that costs about $40 compared to $100 previously. For Internet access, I'm calling every 3-6 months to see if there are ways to cut my bill even if it is temporary. I think I've had a $10 monthly promo for the last 2 years with TWC. A relatively inexpensive programmable thermostat paid for itself in 3 months from the power bill savings. I'm not an extreme couponer, but I do use them. All of this extra money just goes to savings. 

Over the last few years, there have been many articles that state that people value experiences over things more. I grew up fairly poor and didn't have much as a kid so once I was on my own, I was all about getting "stuff". More stuff, fancy stuff, new stuff. Most of that stuff is now in the trash. I realized this on my own slowly through the years but these articles really hit home. I got into traveling again about 4 years ago and realized I'd rather be seeing the world that staying home and collecting more "stuff". Now, every dollar spent is asked "Is it better to spend this dollar on more stuff or put it towards savings so that I can travel?"  Every bonus, every stock sale, every RSU sale had 10% going to my slush fund and the other 90% went to my savings account.

I'm a planner. When I'm bored, I make plans. I have an idea and think about what could make it work. Then, what could go wrong pops up in my head. Then, Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D start to form. I'm almost always thinking about these plans. For example, if I ever unexpectedly lost my job, I have a plan written out of what to do that day, the next day, and the day after that to get back on my feet. I'm 37 years old and have a will. I've quit my job, moving to another state, and plan on traveling for at least 6 months. I've thought a lot about the pitfalls to this plan and I've done a lot to mitigate the. The best that I could. There's still the "hit by a bus" scenario, but that's why I now always walk around wearing a bicycle helmet and a life jacket. Because you can never be too careful. I'm sure I'm missing a few things, but I'll figure those out as I go. 

Between being frugal, fighting lifestyle inflation, realizing what is important to me, and planning, that's how I am able to do this