How to Save For Travel

from:http://www.smallworldpursuits.com/5-ways-to-help-you-save-to-travel-or-volunteer-abroad?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SmallWorldPursuits+%28Small+World+Pursuits%29

There are tons of ways to help you start saving to travel. So many in fact that when we start reading about all of them it seems as though we forget about doing any of them. So for me, I started with 5 different savings techniques and then built upon that. These were my five.

Create A Budget:
When I was first getting serious about saving, I sat down and calculated all of my expenses (rent, bills, food, etc) and made note of my take home pay per month. I decided that I would keep $100 per month for any and all “extra” activities and or items, and that EVERYTHING else would go into my savings. I was strict about this and it made me start taking my lunch to work and making my own coffee as well as cooking at home more frequently and then eating leftovers.

Get A Roommate/HouseMate:
This was by far the second best thing that I did to help save money! At the time, I lived in only a one-bedroom apartment but got creative, and we turned the living area into loft style extra living space for my new housemate. I traveled a lot for work so I was rarely home anyway. Getting a housemate instantly put an additional $400 in my savings each month! This adds up quickly – trust me!

Put All Extra Money In Your Savings Pot: Anytime I would get a bonus, raise, commission check, or earn any type of extra money it would all go directly into my savings. I didn’t “need” the money before to survive so I went against my urges to spend it on something I didn’t need. And, let me just say that using the money to do a safari in The Serengeti tops any new “thing” I could have spent it on back home!

Sell The Things You Do Not Need:
Go through your home or apartment and start getting rid of stuff you do not need or things you will have to get rid of anyway once you start traveling. I did this several different ways. I sold stuff to friends, posted flyers at my apartment, put notes on facebook, and sold things on craigslist. There are tons of ways to sell stuff it’s just the getting started part that’s sometimes difficult. For me, I started with electronics. For some reason, I had a silly amount of gadgets that had accumulated over the years that I either did not use or did not need. Once I started selling off the first items it all got easier from there.

Drink and Eat At Home:
I know this seems so cliché and is on everyone’s “how to save list” but by far this can be one of the most expensive monthly item for anyone who loves to socialize. Which I do. Cooking in and sharing a bottle of wine, a beer, or cocktails at home before venturing out will save anyone’s pocket book. I couldn’t always do this of course, but I tried whenever I could. As you can see from saving tip number one, I had only had $100 of extra cash a month to work with.

These are just 5 ways to get started, but a way to get going nonetheless. And, when you start thinking about how hard it is and start faltering, instantly remind yourself about the amazing time you will have salsa dancing in the streets of Colombia, sleeping under the stars in Africa, sipping wine in Italy, or lounging at the beach in Fiji. This always helped me!

Camping Tips for Camper Vans

from: http://www.carlosprivateadventures.com/conversion-van-camping-tips/

Conversion forerunner camping doesn’t impart you the luxury of life in an RV, nor the discomfort of sleeping in a tent. It can ensue tough to securely reheat a van on night, nevertheless it’s inferior compared to an RV, and you can chance chairs they cannot. We tired extra than 25 nights sleeping in our conversion van last year.

Life Into A Conversion Van Make your van into something that’s useable for you, in particular rider it’s going to ensue your residence for days before weeks on a calculate. Representing my wife and I, this meant having space to move around.

We took absent the two average seats which, I convinced Ana, would live clear armchairs for the living room. Next we had enough seat for dressing or cooking. The bench-seat in backside folds outdated interested in a comfortable bed, accordingly we were all obstinate representing camping.

When traveling, you need a system of organization to keep your space inner recesses the van habitable. After our first prolonged outing, we noticed the many equipment we never worn. We got added useful later than that. We’re also talented to keep the space unbolt, in the face of carrying many possessions, by via forced luggage compartment tubs you can purchase about wherever. They stack thriving, and if you need further space by night, you can place them by the roof. They’re rainproof with the lids snapped on.

Heating A Conversion Van Camping in a van can be freezing at times, as it was for us in the deserts of Arizona last iciness. We ongoing the van and cranked awake the heater after in a although, excluding only representing brief

. The danger of carbon monoxide poisoning is emphatically excessively enormous to donate the car running while you are sleeping. We and cooked to heat positive the van. Our propane camp heater burned fantastically spotless. Any epoch it was aloof, it was time to cook feast, breakfast, before tea. This heated positive the van nicely.

Yet again, for the reason that of carbon monoxide, I wouldn’t suggest ever sleeping with a propane burner going. At rest, on occasion a quick warm-up is all you need more willingly than you crawl underneath the blankets for the night.

The skeleton in the cupboard to heating a conversion van when camping is to give up. Enjoy meal calculate warm-ups, excluding except you have electric clout, I don’t identify of a safe feature to heat a van all darkness. Instead, you can fervor yourselves. Wear out warmhearted clothing. Be sold for more blankets than you ponder you’ll need.

Warm up a thermos bottle chock-full of spicy auburn apiece darkness, hence it will be waitng for you in the morning. You get to enthusiastic the van when you make it, and warm cheery yourselves drinking it for breakfast.

Advantages Of Conversion Van Camping

Traveling and camping in a conversion van costs less than in an RV. The early expense is a lot with a reduction of proviso you procure old, as we did, and the cost of forceful it is substantialy less.

We averaged 18 miles per gallon by our last cross-country outing. The majority recreational vehicles are lucky to get semi of that, and they’re vastly classy to maintain. Compared with tent camping, a van is much extra comfortable. Unchanging rider you backpack, you are perhaps up for grabs to drive a number of kind of car to where you get.

Amid a van, you can extend inside proviso it starts to rain. If you’re backpacking a long feature as of home, you can save resting on motels on the drive to and from the trailhead. Camping can be present further comfortable in an RV, except not in every one of habits.

It’s careful, on behalf of example, to park somewhere. We’ve taken naps in parking lots, and nobody was the wiser, thanks to decorated windows, curtains, and the inconspicuousness of a van.

By the side of a emancipated camp in Florida we got the finest smudge, proceeding a bank overlooking Lake Talquin, since our van was small sufficient to able-bodied there, not like on the whole of the RVs.

It’s vast to live bright to drive wherever. In the conversion van, camping wherever we are when it gets bleak is no glitch. To finish, approximately better RVs drag a car roughly since the cumbersome assemble a detailed ago isn’t practical representing daily forceful. Our coversion van is a subsequent inland With our crucial vehicle for shopping or free to work. With the purpose of’s flexibilty.

The Ultimate On The Road Family: From Alaska To Argentina

You will want to read all about this incredible family of 7! They are presently on an adventure: driving in their veggie powered truck from Alaska to Argentina.,, 5 children in tow!

I suggest subscribing to their website so you can follow along this epic adventure.

from: http://www.discovershareinspire.com/2011/11/6-months-on-the-road-what-it-cost...

It was April 26, 2011 when we left Homer, Alaska to begin our Epic Expedition – a road trip from Alaska to Argentina. It’s been just about six months on the road. So how is it going? How much has it cost us and how far have we driven?

Here’s the breakdown:
Total Miles Driven – 17,253

Meetups: in Gilbert, Arizona Camping in Southeastern Arizona Bisbee, Arizona Tombstone, Arizona Crossed the Mexico Border – Douglas, AZ/Agua Priete Camped in Northern Mexico Chihuahua, Mexico Durango, Mexico Our truck breaks down somewhere in Mexico Chapala, Mexico Ajijic, Mexico Jocotepec, Mexico Isla Mezcala, Mexico Orphanage in Chapala, Mexico Homer, Alaska

Read all about their adventures and watch their videos on their website here: http://www.discovershareinspire.com/2011/11/6-months-on-the-road-what-it-cost...

Meet a Family Who Lives On The Road

from: http://www.frugalmom.net/blog/home/rv-living-meet-a-family-who-sold-their-hom...

Is RV Living for You? Have you ever dreamed of selling your home so you could travel the country with your family in an RV?

This idea of RV living has always appealed to me and it’s a hot topic on KOA’s Around the Campfire Community. I love the idea of simplifying life, enjoying more family time, and seeing the country. And that’s exactly what Mariza and her family recently did.

I met Mariza through her blog My Own Version. In her blog, Mariza shares what life is like on the road with her husband and 2 daughters. This week Mariza answered some of my questions about their new life.

What is RV Living really like?
1. What made you decide to sell your home and live in an RV?

We got tired of living for our things and wanted to make a change. At first we didn’t know what type of change we wanted to make. We knew we wanted to live more freely. We owned two houses and just the upkeep was time consuming and costly. We wanted a smaller place and at the same time we wanted to travel. RV living seemed like the best thing for us. The RV has been ordered!

2. How has the transition from having a home base to living on the road been?

I thought that there was going to be some kind of transition period and that maybe it was going to be hard in the beginning. We’ve been in our RV for 2 months and it’s been lovely! We think that 365 sq ft is the perfect size for us to live.

3. What is the best part of living in an RV and what is the hardest part?

The best part is the upkeep. There’s minimal maintenance. My husband and I no longer spend the weekends maintaining a large home.

The hardest part…
I get that question a lot and I haven’t been able to come up with an answer. Since I had already done my research I kind of knew what to expect.

For me, living in an RV is much easier than living in a big house. I tell my husband every day that I love our home. I decided that I prefer to spend quality time with my girls than organizing and cleaning a big house. Living in our RV gives me so much free time to do what I love.

4. How do you receive mail?

We use a mail forwarding service called Escapees. We get our mail there and then whenever we ask them, they mail it to our current location.

5. Are you guys able to work while traveling, or is this something you saved up for?

We are able to work while traveling. My husband and I work out of the home and we did this before we moved into the RV. That was one of the reasons we thought we should live life more freely. My husband and I were already working out of the home and we were already homeschooling.

6. What is a “day in the life” like on the road?

A normal day goes like this: During the week, normally my husband works out of our home. I work before the girls wake up The girls and I have breakfast We go for a walk We do circle time and school (Sometimes we have a guest and do school with them in our RV) We have lunch all together The girls have resting time in their room while I work on a project The girls and I go to a class, play the violin, do handwork, the girls play outside while I knit outside and watch them play We have dinner all together We go for a bike ride all together Play board games with the girls or go to the pool We prepare the girls for bed and tuck them in My husband and I chat or watch a movie I continue working if I have a project End of the day So far it’s been wonderful. I know that living in an RV is not for everyone, but it is for us. Our girls love it! We get to spend more time together and exploring and riding bikes. The time that we used to spend taking care of a big house, we now spend it with each other enjoying each other’s company and laughing and having fun together. Thank you Mariza for giving us a glimpse into your life! Happy trails to you and your beautiful family!

To learn more about RV living, visit Mariza’s blog: My Own Version of Life. http://myownversion.com/