On Privilege

This post was inspired by Peggy McIntosh’s 1988 paper “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” In essence, the paper is a list of privileges she, as a white woman, receives. Privilege is defined here as unearned advantages that one receives simply by being a part of in the society in which one lives. 

The concept of privilege is based on the idea that we are not simply autonomous, entirely independent beings living in a vacuum. Instead, whether we acknowledge it or not, we are participants in our society, both at home and abroad. We exist in a world where the rules are already made, and even if those rules are not explicitly written, they are often executed in such a way that gives one group an advantage or another.

Below is a brief list of the privileges I experience as a white, American, college-educated traveler. 

I can book a flight using a major credit card, and do not need to operate on a cash-only budget. Banks in a few countries do not issue credit cards at all, and spending money abroad is on a cash-only basis for citizens of these countries.

English is my first language, and nearly anywhere in the world, if something is translated from the countries official language, it will likely be translated into English.  If I wish to volunteer or work abroad as an English teach, my native proficiency is in high demand.

My passport allows me to go more places without a visa than nearly any other passport in the world (besides passports from Sweden, Finland, or the UK). I do not need to spend money on a visa or organize my itinerary around a visa, to visit 172 countries.

While traveling alone as a women is still seen as unusual in other parts of the world, it is culturally acceptable in my home country. 

I can return to my home country at any time and, within a reasonable amount of time, expect to find employment.

Even if I return home with no money at all, I can return to a social structure that will support me.  

I am a traveler. Not a refugee. I am not fleeing a war, terrorism, or an oppressive government. I have an autonomy and freedom that was not earned, that was given to me by birth. That is my privilege as a traveler.     

To roam across the world as a traveler is, in my eyes, the greatest privilege. 

On Planning

So, you’ve used a budgeting system to save up for your dream trip. Now, how do you plan it? Where will you go and what will you do?

From what I’ve seen and done myself, there seem to be two approaches to planning an international trip: 1) plan everything down to the last detail or 2) plan absolutely nothing, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, and figure it out each day.

Most travelers will fall somewhere in the middle of these two approaches, and in general solo travelers are much more spontaneous than groups. Each approach has it’s own pros and cons, but in general I have noticed a few rules (guidelines, really) for planning a trip that have created successful vagabonding experiences for both myself and others. 

1) Make a list of things you want to do - then be willing to let go of half of those things.

            If you want to go to Paris to see the Eiffel tower, by all means put that on the list. But if you have one day in Paris and you want to (without a tour guide shuttling you around) see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc De Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Opera de Paris, Montparnasse Tower, Moulin Rouge, eat crepes, take a boat ride down the river, and go to a wine tasting all before noon, be prepared for at least one of those things to not happen. Set realistic goals regarding what you could reasonably do in a day, and take time to look at where each of these things are located and how you can get there. 

2) Know that planning takes time.

            I have and continue to do most of my planning while on the road, since in my trip is fairly long, and in my experience the best opportunities are recommended by other travelers. However, know that you will spend time sitting on the wifi in your hostel looking up bus schedules and flight options when you could be out on the town having adventures.

3) Don’t forget about food, water, and local currency.

            This goes back to a mantra of sorts – any time I’ve been miserable on the road, I have been decidedly lacking in one or more of those things. You can’t fully appreciate the beauty of the place you’re in if your stomach is growling or you forgot to get enough money to catch the bus back to the place you’re sleeping. Look at your plan for the day and make sure those key things are included in it. 

4) Give yourself transit time

            Especially when your plan requires you to catch busses, planes, or trains (or several of each), know that they may not arrive in time, you may not find the right spot on your first try, and in places outside of the US and Europe, the online schedule might not be accurate. Also, when going to a new place, it's often an all-day affair to arrive, go though customs, get your bag, find public transit, find the place you're staying, and check in. Plus you'll need to find food, water, and local currency (see above).

5) Listen to others

            Even if you have the most iron clad itinerary, down to the restaurants you want to eat at, be open to the opinions of other travelers and locals. Through other travelers I have found the best hostels, the best food, and the most interesting things to do. This goes double for the people who actually live in these places.

Ultimately, when planning your trip, remember to relax, have fun, and take it easy. You will never be able to do everything you want to always - that's part of the beauty. It’s not a race to check every box in the guidebook. Your only task is to enjoy yourself and learn about the place you’re in. So when things don’t go as planned, stay zen, vagabonders.    

On Money

“Do you have a job?"
“Did your father get oil money?”
“Did you deal drugs?”
“Who’s paying for your trip?”

Inevitably, these questions come up in conversations, colored with various mixes of curiosity, disbelief, and the assumption that I am a trust-fund kid. People seem to struggle with the concept that yes, I am paying for the trip myself, and no, I am not independently wealthy, all money I've made has been legal, and I did not have particularly lucrative jobs for the last year and a half. I had did have a LOT of jobs, both in college and since I graduated, but that was not the secret.

Travel is not particularly more expensive than a new car, a wedding, a boat, or any other "luxury item" that people spend money on. It is not an unreachable goal for most of us in the Western World. It simply requires saving money. My secret to saving is so simple it can be explained in one sentence. 

I kept track of every single dime I’ve spent since Fall 2012.

Each month I did the math: How much I would earn that month, what my necessary expenses were (food, rent, car insurance), what my unnecessary expenses were (beer, eating out, beer, skiing, beer). I added it all and made sure the total was a smaller number than the amount of money I made. I set goals each month based on those totals. If I went over my budget, I picked up an extra shift, found another job, or pro-rated the expenses over multiple months. For example, if I had to spend $300 on groceries at Costco, I added and extra $100 to my grocery expense each month for 3 months, since that was the approximate amount of time the groceries would last. It's simple math, the kind even I can do, it just takes discipline to enter your expenses as they happen.

In the interest of full discolsure, I will admit to two additional advantage, besides my obsessive accounting. 

1) I have very little student debt, and my loan payments are incredibility low, meaning that unlike my peers I don’t need to shell out $600 every month to make my minimum loan payment. This I attribute to a combination of good fortune and hard work, including applying for nearly 100 scholarships, working as an RA, and taking the maximum number of classes each semester so I could finish in four years. However, I truly believe my system would have worked even if I’d had student debt, it would have just taken a bit longer (perhaps 2 years instead of 1) to save enough.

2) I avoided paying rent as much as possible. I spent nearly every summer with a job that included housing, and had my housing paid for when I was an Resident Assistant in college. Housing is generally the biggest expense in any budget, so finding that cheaply was key. This does mean a few sacrifices of privacy and space, but with a bit of creative thinking it is entirely possible.

That’s it. That’s the whole story. I worked a lot, had a bit of luck, and most importantly kept an account of every dime I spend, and still do.  

If you would like a copy of an the excel template I used, a breakdown of my expenses on the road, or other budgeting information, comment with your email below.

To find out what your dream trip would cost, check out: 

Budget Your Trip - for accurate estimates of expenses in many countries  

Kayak - for estimating flight costs. In Europe, also try RyanAir and EasyJet

Lonely Planet - cost estimates for budget, mid-range, and high-end travel 

On New Friends

Staying in hostels is like a perpetual first day of college. You tried to figure out who was cool and who wasn’t, but, if you were even a little bit social, you gave everyone an equal chance all the same. Everyone was a potential friend, and it was only after days or weeks or even school years that you learned who could be trusted and who was going to flunk out, flake, fuck off, or never be heard from again.

Traveling alone and staying in hostels is so much like that – figuring out who you can trust and who not to, but being open all the same. But the stakes seem so much lower. After all, if you make a mistake, say something stupid, you or he or she or they will be gone in the next night, or the one after that. You will never have to look that person, or group of people, in the eye in English 101 next semester. Your interactions in these places are fleeting and temporary and, often, follow a very similar pattern.

“Where you from?”

“How long you been here?”

“How long you traveling”

“Where to next?”

Names often come last, and only if the answers to the above are satisfying.

This isn’t to say the experiences aren’t valuable. There are interesting people, smart people, people whose lives you can’t even quite imagine, waiting to tell you their story. There is an open-minded and handsome young man from Dubai, who is excited at pathetic attempts to speak Arabic. There are Germans and Italians and French, all usually traveling in groups. There are the invariable shades of Aussie and English girls and boys, and one can’t help but fall a bit in love with their accents, in the same way they enjoys yours. There are one or two potential true friends, who leave too suddenly, and whose itinerates you wish you could match better. Just like in college, there are people with whom there is unexpected common ground. 

But mostly, when one is traveling alone there is only the road, that endless stretch of potential adventures. The question of what you are doing and why you are here has a million answers, but it only the answer that you can give yourself that matters. The ability to leave a place, and people, is a great freedom, but it comes with the cost of starting over at a new place, answering the same questions, and sussing out the same people again and again. It is the perpetual process of making new friends.