How I Travel

There's a saying “I followed my heart and it led me to the airport.” Well for me that has always been true! I have always wanted to spend my life seeing all the corners of the world and of course, eating all the amazing dishes! Over the past months, I have gotten a ton of questions about what I do for a living and how I travel as much as I do and I want to be as straightforward and as clear as possible when it comes to my answers. I want to help you figure out how you can make it possible for yourself too. I have decided to take the questions that I get asked the most and sum them all up.

So here it is you guys. No sugar coating, no BS, just all of my tips and stories as to how I travel!

To sum it up in a nutshell, my parents. I have actually been traveling long before I started posting about it. For those of you who didn't know, I was actually born in Austria. I lived there for a few years before my parents decided to move to Florida and if you ask them why they moved they will tell you they just wanted an adventure. Well, that same adventurous spirit is what led me to my first trips. I was incredibly lucky! Because of my parents, I was eating olives in Mallorca before I could even walk. And I took my first steps in a hotel in Vienna. I even watched my sister lose her first tooth in New York! I never really had to start traveling because my parents have been taking us along since before I can even remember.

Obviously, as my sister and I grew up, we didn't travel as much as we did as little kids. But having most of our extended family as well as my childhood home back in Austria, I actually traveled back and forth from Europe and the US at least once a year! To this day we still go back to Austria with the whole family and we usually will add one new country to the list along the way.

Fun fact: A lot of airlines will let you add a stop-over to your trip! We will usually book a flight that has a stop in a country that we are interested in and then call the airline to extend that stop to a few days instead of a few hours.

I have never actually sat down and made a list but off the top of my head, I think it is somewhere in the 30s. However, I have only traveled to countries in North America, Central America, and Europe.

So like I mentioned before, I was really lucky to have a family who loved to travel. It gave me the ability to see the world at a really young age. After I graduated high school I quickly realized that I wanted to be able to travel alone as well. Don't get me wrong, my family is a blast but traveling with friends or with your significant other can be a completely different experience. I took my first non-family trip at age 19 with some of my girlfriend and we went to this amazing resort in the Dominican Republic. We saved up for it ourselves and the feeling of being in complete control of the entire experience was amazing!

This one is a little bit tricky so bear with me! When I go on a family trip it is a lot cheaper for me because we do have our house as well as the houses of all of my relatives to stay at in Europe. I will usually only pay for a few thank you meals so those trips don't dig into my wallet as much!

All the other trips I have been able to pay for by following a system:
-make an exact game plan for how much EVERYTHING WILL COST (daily meals, hotels, flight, taxis, etc.)

-work my butt off to make that exact amount (I worked in a bar and at multiple restaurants during my college life and would work double shifts for weeks to make that money. I would be exhausted but it worked!)

-don't spend it on anything (I'm not kidding when I say I would literally eat ramen noodles and Cheerios every day to save all my money!)

-travel and repeat

I wish! I think since Instagram has expanded so much in the past years everyone thinks that every blogger out there is getting paid to travel. That is a complete misconception. I have been fortunate enough for the opportunity to work together with some amazing hotels to create content in exchange for accommodation but for the most part, I actually pay for my travel and my stays myself! And to be honest, if you are only reading this to find out how to travel for free, then I am sorry but there really is no secret answer! Traveling costs money! I truly believe that spending your money on travel is the best way to spend it.

This one really depends on where I am going and for how long! I have been on all-inclusive trips for less than $800 and I have been on long trips for a couple of thousand. It really depends on what you are willing to spend and what you are trying to do! Just be smart. Of course, I wanted to rent a sailboat on the British Virgin Islands but I decided to go with the cheaper option and explore the beach caves. See what I mean? It is important to have realistic expectations that are within your budget!

Just go!! I know I say this all the time but for the love of everything just pack your suitcase and go! You'll figure everything else out along the way! I can't tell you how many times I have booked a trip and not been sure if I would get the money together in time or not been sure how I was getting back since my one-way ticket was cheaper. But I have never once regretted a single trip that I have been on. Sometimes travel is worth a little extra hustle if it means you can make an amazing experience happen.

So there you have it, you guys! I hope I answered most of your questions. I am sorry that there is no secret recipe for travel, I wish there was. But I am sitting here telling you that if I made myself work overtime at a bar to save up for a trip then I am positive that you can do it too! It's all about setting priorities and making travel the first thing on that list(: