Making the shift to full-time travel sounds like a dream, but if you want to make it a reality (and you absolutely can,) your finances need to be as ready as you are. It is crucial to ensure your money and finances are in a good place so you can enjoy your travels and know what you can and cannot do, otherwise you are going to be stressed and you might find yourself in financial difficulties. With that in mind, here are some ideas to help you and make sure your finances are set up for a life of full-time travel. 

Create A Realistic Travel Budget

The first step to getting your finances in place and correct is to know how much all your traveling is going to cost you. The best place to start with this is by researching the typical daily expenses in wherever it is you want to go – some places will be more expensive than others, so you might need to change your plans depending on how much money you have, and that’s okay – never be afraid to make changes and always try to be as flexible as possible. You will have more fun that way.

You will need to factor in everything from food and accommodation to transportation, tours, and those unexpected splurges or expenses.

Once you’ve got a rough daily or maybe monthly figure, you’ll need to add a bit to your budget for emergencies or those surprise adventures mentioned, and once you have done that, you will have a good, safe, realistic budget that you can tweak as you go.

It’s not a bad idea to download a spending and budgeting app as well, and then you can keep things in check and know that you are sticking to your budget. 

Build An Emergency Fund 

Emergency funds are important because it really isn’t something you can ignore. Even the best travel plans can go off track at times, and you’re going to need that spare money to help get you out of difficult situations or just help you if things don’t quite go according to plan in some way. What would happen if you missed a flight or lost your bags or had some unexpected medical bill to pay if you didn’t have an emergency fund you could dip into?

To keep this fund separate (otherwise you might find you’ve accidentally spent it when you come to need it), it’s wise to open a good, high-yield savings account that you can easily access in emergencies but that you can’t just spend on every day.

You really want at least three months’ worth of money in there as a handy cushion, and it’s the perfect safety net – even just knowing it’s there and never using it can give you some fantastic peace of mind and stop you from being caught off guard when something goes a bit (or a lot) wrong. 

Check out these phrases you should know when traveling abroad.

Plan To Earn On The Road

Setting up a reliable source of income while you’re traveling is really the key to making full-time travel a sustainable thing to do, otherwise you will have to go home and get a job when you run out of savings. And the great thing is there are loads of options for you for jobs you can do while you are traveling that won’t cut into your adventures too much but that will give you the funds you need to keep moving on for as long as you want to. Things like freelancing in all kinds of sectors, consulting, running an online store, and so on means you can fit the work around your schedule, make money, and enjoy your travel at the same time. 

There are many platforms online that you can sign up for to find work and they will generally help you get paid as well, so you don’t have to set up an entire business before you leave home. Of course, if you become very successful or you feel you want to carry on freelancing or working in eCommerce or anything else, you can branch out on your own at a later date, but if the work is simply to fund your travel, making it as simple and easy to do is the best way to go about it. 

Sell Your Stuff

When you are preparing for full-time travel, it’s a good idea to pare down on the things you own – not only is that going to help you simplify your life, but it can also mean you get a nice source of extra travel funds if you’re able to sell some of your stuff rather than just throw it away.

Start by looking at what it is you really need, or the things that have sentimental value, because you don’t have to get rid of everything if you don’t want to. Keep those safe to one side and then try to sell as much of the rest of it as possible.

You can use apps and online marketplace to make the actual selling a lot easier, and you’ll be able to sell everything from clothes to furniture to electronics and so on, and put all the money you make directly into your travel fund, ready to go. 

For items you really want to keep but can’t take with you, storing them is a definite option – just keep it minimal to avoid any hefty storage fees. And while you are on the go and you need a short-term solution, big cities tend to offer handy luggage storage, so you can take important things with you, but you don’t have to carry them around everywhere you go, meaning it all stays safe and you can have that little bit of home on your travels, which can make it feel so much more enjoyable and relaxing. 

These are just a few ideas on how to financially prepare for traveling full-time. If you are a full-time traveler yourself, make sure to share your experiences and tips in the comments below!