Volcano Boarding in Leon: A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again

While Nicaragua is not a tourist hot spot quite yet, there is one thing it’s well-known for: volcano boarding down Cerro Negro, Central America’s youngest volcano located a short distance from León. There are many companies that offer volcano boarding tours, typically for $25 to $30. Bigfoot Hostel is one of the better-known operators, thanks … Read more

Backpacking and the Art of Losing

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;  so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster.  When my entire life fits into a backpack, I notice everything that disappears. A phone charger left behind one hungover morning, a razor left in a hostel shower, a favorite … Read more

Durmitor National Park: The Gem of the Balkans

Months later, I still feel like I don’t have adequate words to describe Durmitor National Park. Which is odd, because normally words come to my overcaffeinated fingers a bit too easily – see my exhausting list of 40 unique things to do in Montenegro if you have any doubts. But Durmitor National Park, nestled high in the mountains in the northeast corner of Montenegro, defies even my verbosity.

The landscape of Durmitor National Park looks alternately like New Zealand, Scotland, Iceland, and the Alps. Limestone crags cut by melting glaciers millions of years ago left an otherworldly landscape in this tiny corner of this tiny country, unbeknownst to much of the world. Pristine glacial lakes are the few remnants of this prehistoric time: every other surface is covered with craggy rocks and lush grass.

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101 Simple Ways to Save Money for Travel

I’m gonna be brutally honest: it’s like some bloggers who publish guides on how to save money for travel aren’t even trying.

They tell you to cancel your landline as if that’s even a thing these days. They say, “stop ordering $5 coffees every day!” as if that’s something everyone does on the regular and that’s the only thing holding you back from travel. “5 x 365 is almost $2,000, enough to travel for four months in Vietnam!”

They parrot some ridiculously blown-up figure at you, assuming it’s a necessary expense that every “real person” faces, when in reality, only a small percentage of people spend that amount on coffee to begin with. And, let’s be real — those people aren’t the kind of people who really need to scrimp and save money to travel to begin with.

Well, guess what? I saved up enough money to quit my job to travel the world for the next four years or so, and I didn’t give up coffee or my social life to do it. I wasn’t an investment banker. No rich relative died and left me a fortune (though I’m candid that I’ve been afforded plenty of opportunity and privilege).

Nope. I was just a public school teacher. What did I do? I tracked my income and spendings, prioritized my spendings, identified non-negotiables and things I could do without, developed alternate income streams, and was a little bit creative when it came to planning things with my friends. 

And the fact I’m most proud of? I did this all while living, traveling as much as I could, and working full-time as a teacher living in one of the most expensive cities in the world: NYC.

Not including my untapped retirement fund, I was able to save money for travel — approximately $50,000 over the course of five somewhat frugal years — while still affording to travel to 17 countries in that time alone! Here’s how:

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