“How do you travel so much?” is the one question a travel blogger gets asked the most. And while most of us have a few tricks up our sleeves, the answer is usually “by spending money”.
As I mentioned previously, I do have a full time job that allows me to travel quite a bit, and when my works not paying for my travel, I’m paying for it myself. To explain, I put together a list of each trip I’ve ever been on, along with how I paid for it. I left out trips before I was 18 and a few domestic trips since there’s just too many to write down…
Spain – Czech Republic – Portugal (2010)
My first international trip (besides Canada and Mexico) was to Spain in 2010. I was going into my senior year in college and decided to study abroad. I paid for this trip with a student loan. I lucked out by studying during the summer semester, because this was the year that Spain won the World Cup…
While I was studying abroad in Spain, I fit in a weekend trip to Portugal and a trip to the Czech Republic to meet up with an ex boyfriend.
Costa Rica (2011)
After graduating, I visited Costa Rica with my ex boyfriend on a 10 day trip by buying a $400 plane ticket that I earned from waiting tables.
Cost
Flight: $400
Hostels: $10-15/night
Wasn’t the best photographer back then….
A Break (2012)
Shortly after Costa Rica, I started my first real job. I saved up and stayed in the states for about a year, working a treacherously boring lab tech job in a basement with probably one of the lowest entry level salaries. I didn’t travel for a few months, but I did spend a few months trying to get the hell out of that job. I found a sales/marketing job online and went through the process of three interviews before I got the job offer. I knew I would accept it when they asked me if I had a passport during the first interview.
Venice – Florence – Rome – Istanbul (2013)
I started my new job a few weeks later. Then, on one snowy morning in February, I found a plane ticket to Venice with a 30 hour layover in Istanbul.. for $491. I called my roommate immediately and we purchased the tickets right then and there. During this trip we visited Venice, Florence, Rome and Istanbul. This also meant ditching our boyfriends on Valentines day to ride down a canal in possibly the most romantic place in the world with each other. The boyfriends were less than pleased..like boys actually care about Valentines day…
Cost:
Flight: $491
Hostels: $13/night
Munich – Zurich – Lake Lucerne – Salzburg (2013)
The following fall, my job wanted to send me to Munich for a conference. I asked if I could schedule my flight back two weeks later than planned, and decided to add Switzerland and Austria onto my trip. It was during this trip that I saw the Neuschwanstein Castle, Munich, Zurich, Lake Lucerne and Salzburg for the first time.
Flight: Free
Hostels: ~$20/night
Puerto Rico (2014)
Come March, it would not stop snowing in Philly, and my roommate and I had enough. While cuddled up in my bed with a miniature sized heater (we’re cheap), we looked up flights to the Caribbean and found a round trip to Puerto Rico for $300. Booked.
Flight: $300
Hostel: $20/night
Berlin (2014)
May rolled along and I attended a conference in Berlin for work. I extended my trip a few days to explore the city. This was my first but not last time in Berlin. This was also my first solo trip.
Cost
Free
Lisbon – Paris – Brussels – Copenhagen – Budapest – Vienna – Munich Oktoberfest – Amsterdam (2014)
The following September there was a conference to attend in Lisbon. Since flights to Europe are expensive and our company doesn’t have a European rep, I volunteered to visit some clients in Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen while I was on that side of the world. After this “work” trip, my friends met me in Copenhagen. From there, we visited Budapest, Vienna, Munich for Oktoberfest and Amsterdam. I was gone for an entire month (half work, half vacation) and saw seven countries… for….
Cost
Lisbon, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen: Free
Flight from Copenhagen to Budapest: $158
Train from Budapest to Vienna: $71
Train from Vienna to Munich: $145 (everything is a little more expensive during Oktoberfest)
Plane to Amsterdam: $200
Hostels: ~$15-$20 a night (except for Munich which was $100 because of Oktoberfest)
literally the only photo I have of myself in Amsterdam….
Bangkok – Singapore – Cambodia – Dubai (2015)
It was a month before I became bored again. My attention span was growing short. In November, my best friend and I bought tickets from Philly –> Bangkok –>Singapore –> Philly for the end of February for $1100. We also had a 12 hour layover in Dubai both ways. Oh, and we decided to also visit Cambodia for a day to see Angkor Wat. Luckily we only stayed a day, because we were scammed on a Cambodian river boat. It was during this trip that I attended my first Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan and rode my first elephant in Chiang Mai. I also paid more to stay at a hotel than I ever had in my life.
Flight including Bangkok, Singapore, and Dubai and back home: $1100
Flight to Cambodia: $200
Flights within Thailand: $100
Hostels: ~$10-$12/night
Hotel at Marina Bay in Singapore: $600 (sometimes you have to splurge for a once in a lifetime experience/this is why I work)
London – Prague – Oktoberfest Again (2015)
Once we returned, I spent a few months back in Philly, and then headed to London for a conference in September. Luckily, this conference lined up with Oktoberfest just as the previous one had. I figured this was fate and bought a trip into Munich to meet up with my friends for the second year in a row. I got a terrible deal on this ticket since I booked so last minute… but it’s worth it for one of the best days of your life..shortly followed by one of the worst days of your life. I also went to Prague last minute.
Cost
Last minute flight from London to Munich: $350
Last minute flight from London to Prague: $200
Flight from U.S. to London: Free
Hostel in Munich for Oktoberfest: $100/night
Hostel for Prague: $15/night
Beijing – Shanghai – Osaka – Seoul – Bali (2015)
As you can tell, this was a crazy few months of travel. After I got back from Europe, I had two weeks at home and then left for Asia. I had a work conference in Beijing, and then went on to visit clients in Shanghai, Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul. This work trip took a month, and afterwards I planned a trip for myself to Bali Indonesia. This trip was the first and only time I ate duck feet, the first and only time I walked the Great Wall, and the first but not only time I realized how much I loved Korean food. It was also my second completely solo trip AND the first time I went surfing.
Flights: Free
Hostels in Bali: $12-15/night
Private Driver in Bali: $30
Hawaii (2015)
When I finally returned home, I was there for about a month, and then I had a conference in Hawaii. I booked a few extra days in Hawaii and hiked the Stairway to Heaven, followed by a few adventures in Kauai and Maui.
Cost
RT Flight from Philly to Oahu: Free
RT Flight from Oahu to Kauai: $79
RT Flight from Oahu to Maui: $69
Airbnb in Kauai: ~100/night
Hostel in Maui: 44.50/night
Road Trip Across the US (2016)
For the past year, I had been asking my work if I could move to San Diego to be our West Coast Sales Representative. At first it was a joke, but then it became a possibility, and then it actually happened. I insisted that I didn’t need a moving van, because of course I wanted to take a road trip across the country. Work paid for my rental car, and I paid for hotels with a mix of Hilton reward points, IHG reward points, and free stays in exchange for sponsored posts. I also took advantage of staying at friend’s houses along my route, and grabbed a historic looking Airbnb in New Orleans. All together we visited Nashville, New Orleans, Austin, White Sands, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Arches, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and Vegas before ending up in San Diego.
Berlin, Germany – Krakow, Poland (2016)
By May it was time for my yearly Berlin trip for work again, so I added on a few days and headed to Krakow, Poland. I’ve always loved pierogies. This was my third solo trip.
Cost: Poland is dirt cheap
Hostel: $11/night
Flight from Berlin (booked last minute): 200 euros
England- Wales – Norway (2016)
When Fall came around, I had another conference in the UK, this time in Manchester. While in Manchester, I noticed that one of the highest waterfalls in Wales was only a few hours away. I took a road trip there and added Wales to my list of countries visited.
I also found another separate conference in London that was taking place a week later. I asked if I could just attend both conferences in the UK and have vacation in between. Once my wish was granted, I planned a trip to Norway for a week. Norway has always been on the top of my list, and it exceeded my expectations. If you love the outdoors, go to Norway. And bring a friend because it’s prettyyyy priceyyyy..
Cost:
Flight:~$200
Car: ~60/day
Airbnbs: ~120/night
Iceland (2016)
I made a mistake here though. I missed a flight back between Manchester and London, completely forgetting that when you don’t jump on one leg of a trip, the next flight is canceled. My flight back to the U.S. would be canceled once I went to Norway instead. Since, I’m an optimist, I dealt with it and just bought a flight home to California from Iceland on my own dime.. for $299 on WOW air. I then flew from London to Iceland for $50. My mistake cost me $350, but I got to see one more amazing country so I deemed it worth it.
I must admit that Iceland is expensive though, so I wouldn’t recommend going alone (as I mentioned in this article). Although I did, making this my fourth solo trip.
My cost for Iceland:
Flight from London to Iceland: $50
Flight from Iceland to LA: $200
Hostels: Hlemmur Square ~$35/night
Car: $22/day
Colombia (2016)
I was back in San Diego for around a month and my roommate and I were looking for somewhere to go during Thanksgiving. Heading back to the East Coast is really expensive during holidays and we would have two days off for Thanksgiving. We found a RT flight to Colombia for $391 and booked it that night.
Cost
Flight:$391
Hostels: $15-$18/night
Cuba (2017)
For Christmas, my family was celebrating in Florida. My best friend and I had dreams of visiting Cuba, but unfortunately all of the flights were over $400. However, about 10 minutes after my mom picked me up from the airport, my friend Lauren called to inform me that tickets had dropped.. to $100 roundtrip from Miami to Cuba.. and 5 minutes later we booked a trip to Cuba. Unfortunately we were super unprepared and almost ended up homeless while we were there, but we were there nonetheless.
Cost
Flight: $100
Airbnbs:$45-$100/night
But what about credit card miles?
Usually everyone assumes I’m doing all this traveling on credit card miles. Yes, I do have a ton of credit card miles and I would encourage people to sign up for travel credit cards. Right now I have over 120k miles on both American Airlines and the Venture card. So why haven’t I used them yet? Well, airline miles have a sort of all or nothing capacity and I want to purchase the most expensive flights possible on them. I’m not slowing down anytime soon, and it’s likely I’ll use these miles within the next year or two on either South Africa, Patagonia, or New Zealand… or all three. All of the flights I’ve been buying lately are so cheap that I don’t want to waste my miles. I’m also looking into purchasing a few other cards depending on sign on bonuses.
UPDATE:
Okay I finally updated this post with my most recent trips…. and it’s safe to say, I’ve finally used some of those airline miles..
Costa Rica (again… I LOVE Costa Rica) 2017
In March of 2017, my best friend needed a wedding date for a wedding that was in Costa Rica… so I obviously NEEDED to go back. I saw a few things that I didn’t get to see the first time around, like the bajas del toro and rio celeste waterfalls. Dear country counters, this is why it’s okay to go back to the same place twice, or three times, or more!
Cost
Flight from LA to Liberia: $193.75 on Alaska Air
From Liberia to LA: $189.35
La Fortuna:$50/night
Monteverde: $25/night
Tamarindo: $79/night
Unfortunately we got in a car accident leaving the country, but thanks to my American Airlines credit card that I booked on, I didn’t have to pay for any of that. Oh, and here’s my 10 day itinerary for Costa Rica if you’re interested.
Barcelona -Morocco – Switzerland – South Tyrol Italy (2017)
In June of 2017, I attended a conference in Barcelona and had a work meeting in Basel, Switzerland. This means I had a free roundtrip flight to Europe. I flew into Barcelona early and headed to Morocco for three days before my conference.
I also realized that the Caminito del Rey hike that I’ve seen on Youtube was in Southern Spain. I couldn’t miss out and decided to fly to Malaga Spain on my way back to Barcelona.
Barcelona and Basel were both mostly work (although a little play), and then I took the train South to Zermatt to meet up with a few of my friends. We went hiking in Zermatt for a few days and then I rented a car and headed to South Tyrol Italy alone. I’ve always wanted to see the dolomites (but unfortunately I forgot that there would still be a ton of snow during this time). I hiked through the snow anyways because I’m stubborn and also because I’m not going to visit the dolomites and not hike.
Cost
Flight to Barcelona: Free
Flight to Marrakech: $57
Airbnb in Marrakech: $37/night
Flight to Malaga: $139
Flight to Barcelona: $50
Flight from South Tyrol: Free
Hotel in Barcelona: free from work
Hotel in Basel: free from work
Hostel in Zermatt: $100 (Zermatt is expensive)
Train to Zermatt: $100 (worth it… one of the prettiest train rides I’ve ever taken)
Car Rental: $155.20 for 3 days
South Tyrol Hotel: $50/night
Greece & Yacht Week Croatia (2017)
Yacht Week is a bucket list item. This was one of the very few trips I actually booked ahead of time (if you know me, you know I’m not a planner). Since we would be going to Croatia, we also spent one week in Greece beforehand (while we were over there…)
Cost
Flight to Athens: Free by finally using my accrued points on my Capital One Venture Card
Hostel in Athens: $15/night
Budget Hotel in Santorini: $50/night
Hostel in Mykonos: $15/night
Flight from Athens to Split: Free by finally using my accrued points on my Capital One Venture Card
Yacht Rental for a week: ~1100/person (10 people in total)
Flight from Split Croatia to the US: Free by finally using my accrued points on my Capital One Venture Card
If you’re thinking about heading to Yacht Week, you may want to read this first.
Half Dome (2017)
Later that summer, I hiked Half Dome in Yosemite National Park with my best friend. I know this isn’t an international trip, but it’s something everyone can afford and it was one of my favorite experiences so I’m including it 🙂 It also happened completely last minute since we had to apply for the permit 2 days ahead of the hike and realized we got the permit after a few margaritas on taco tuesday.
Cost
Permit: $20
BANFF (2017)
My brother and I had always dreamed of going on a backpacking trip together. Unfortunately, the hike we wanted to do in Glacier National Park was on fire, so we made lemonade from lemons and drove up to Banff National Park instead.
Cost
Flight to Helena, MT: $101.80
Flight from Calgary to San Diego: $200
Hotel Calgary: Free from hotel points
Airbnb Banff: $121/night
Camping Banff: $15/night
Seville and Granada Spain (2017)
In November of 2017, I had a work conference in Germany. I decided to extend my trip and visit Southern Spain. Seville was named the number one city to visit in 2017 by Lonely Planet, and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. I loved Seville. And I REALLY loved Granada.
Cost
Roundtrip flight to Berlin: Free
Flight to Seville: $126
Ride to Granada: Free because I make friends easily 🙂
Hostel in Seville: $26/night
Airbnb in Granada: $60/night (this was one of my favorite Airbnbs ever, check it out in this post)
TULUM Mexico (2018)
It was time for our annual NYE trip again, and this year Tulum won. We headed to Mexico to ring in the New Year.
Cost
Flight to Tulum (Cancun): $361.59
Airbnb Tulum: $180/night for 3 beds (prices are high here during new years)
If you plan on visiting Tulum, you may want to check out this article.
Vietnam and the Philippines (2018)
I was getting in a weird funk back in San Diego and decided that it was yet again time for a trip. My best friend was doing a yoga program in Bali for a month, and I remembered that I’ve always wanted to visit the Philippines. The plane ticket was actually cheaper if I flew into Vietnam first, so I headed to Vietnam for a few days, and then the Philippines for 10 days.
Cost
RT Flight to Hanoi Vietman and from Manila to San Diego: $600
Flight from Hanoi to Manila: $124
Flight from Manila to El Nido: $137
Flight from El Nido to Cebu: $107 on Air Swift
Flight from Cebu to Boracay: $55
Hostel Vietnam: $12
Hotel El Nido: $60/night
Hotel Cebu: $19/night
Hostel Boracay: $10/night
Check out my full 10 day itinerary for the Philippines here.
Alabama (I know, what?)
Listen, I never thought I’d find my way to Alabama either, but Hangout Festival had an insane line up.
Lake Tahoe (2018)
One morning last May my roomate and I just decided to take a last minute trip to Lake Tahoe. It was only 7 hours away after all. I got us an Airbnb with points that I earned from introducing people to Airbnb on this blog and all of our activities were free. We hiked for free and we found guys on Bumble with a boat for free.
Cost
Free (besides gas)
Montenegro – Bosnia – Croatia (again) (2018)
When June of 2018 came around, I had a work conference in Brussels. I really have visited a lot of Europe and I was unsure if I even wanted to add days onto my work trip. However, that changed when I saw a cheap flight from Brussels to Montenegro on Skyscanner.
I realized that 1.) I didn’t know a thing about Montenegro and 2.) I’ve never met someone that visited the country.
So, I decided to go. It was an amazing decision.
Since I had a car, I also drove to Bosnia to visit Mostar and decided to fly out of Croatia since it was cheaper.
Cost
Flight to Montenegro: $234
Rental Car: $271.50
Airbnb in Kotor: Would have been $66/night but I used Airbnb credits from people signing up on my blog
Airbnb in Durmitor National Park: 10 Euro
Hostel in Budva: 13 Euros/night
The Channel Islands (2018)
My friend Sammy asked me if I would join her backpacking the Channel Islands in August. Since this was a short trip from San Diego and hiking is right up my alley, I was happy to accept her cordial invitation. This is also a cheaper adventure if you love the outdoors.
Cost
Ferry from Ventura: $79 roundtrip
Campsite: $15/night
Slovenia – Egypt – South Africa – Zambia – Zimbabwe – Qatar (2018)
I know, what? A really random line up this time around. I can definitely tell I’m getting less shy with spending money as I get older.
So, I had a work trip in Slovenia which got me a free flight there. I then took a few days after the conference to rent a car and explore Slovenia myself.
My friends were interested in visiting South Africa, so I used my flight miles that I’d been saving from my American Airlines credit card to fly to Cape Town. However, I decided to split that flight up and spend 2 days in Cairo as well.
South Africa was one of the best and most memorable trips I’ve ever taken. Definitely go if you get the chance and/or have the means. After spending a week in Cape Town and visiting Kruger National Park, we flew to Zambia/Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls.
I wanted to use the rest of my points on American Airlines to get home, but there weren’t any flights available from South Africa. I decided to fly to Doha, Qatar instead (which is really cheap right now) and to get my free flight home from there.
Cost
Flight to Slovenia: Free
Hotel in Ljubljana: Free
Airbnb in Lake Bled: Would have been $124/night but I used Airbnb points from the blog
Airbnb by Triglav National Park: Would have been $68/night but I used Airbnb points again
Rental Car Slovenia:$127 for 4 days
Flight to Egypt: $436 (pricey last minute flight from Ljubljana)
Hostel in Egypt: $10/night
Flight to Cape Town: Free due to accrued miles on my Barclay Arrival Mastercard
Airbnb Cape Town: $137/night split by 4 people
Flight to Kruger: $189
Hotel Kruger: $100/night
Kruger Safari: $100
Flight to Victoria Falls: $186
Hotel Victoria Falls: $100/night
Price for Devils Pool: $100
Flight for Helicopter tour: $300
Flight back to Johannesburg: $384
Flight to Doha: $400
Flight from Doha to US: Free due to accrued miles on my American Airlines Credit Card
Big Pine Lakes (2018)
Big Pine also isn’t international, but definitely worth a mention for friends of mine in California. Plus, hiking and camping trips are a way to explore and still save money.
Cost
Free
Belize (2018)
I decided last minute that I needed to do a trip for my 30th birthday. Luckily, 3 of my friends are just as crazy as I am and decided come with me at a moments notice. I didn’t dive the blue hole due to an ankle injury, but I did fly over it and manage to drink about 15 Lazy Lizards.
Cost
Flight to Belize: $668 (last minute, that’s not a good price)
Hotel San Pedro: $80/night
Hotel Caye Caulker: $100/night
Argentina & Chile (2018)
Patagonia was my ultimate bucketlist item. When my friend found cheap flights to Buenos Aires for her annual birthday trip, I knew we weren’t visiting Argentina without going to Patagonia. So, there we were, booking a whirlwind trip with 2 weeks notice. Most people plan Patagonia months in advance. We planned it 10 days in advance. And it worked out, surprisingly nothing (too) crazy went wrong.
Oh, and we also had time for NYE in Buenos Aires, and an NYE extension in Mendoza 😉
And I almost forgot, we visited Iguazu Falls too!
Cost
I really don’t want to add this up, but…
Round trip flight to Buenos Aires: Free due to accrued miles on American Airlines credit card (that’s the last of those!)
Hotel in Buenos Aires: $100/night
Flight to Mendoza: $106
Hotel in Mendoza: $100/night
Mendoza wine tasting: $200 (including drivers to the tastings which is necessary)
Flight to Punta Arenas Argentina: 361.48
Car Rental for ~2 weeks last minute: ~$1600
Hotel Chalten: $65/night
The W Trail (Torres del Paine) Lodging and Meals: ~$400/person
Hostel Puerto Nuevo: $20/night
Hostel Calafate: (this place was awesome and worth it): $100/night (for 2 people)
Glacier Kayaking: $100
Flight from Punta Arenas to Iguazu Falls: $184.62
Hotel Iguazu Falls: $76/night
Flight from Iguazu to Buenos Aires: $93.50
So What Do I Do for Work?
I try to avoid speaking about my 9-5 job on my personal blog, but you can read my advice on how to find a career that involves travel here. And no, it’s not recommending you to join the crew of a cruise ship, try your hand in the circus, or teach English abroad (although all of those are great options).
I also recently wrote an article about how my friends and I afford to travel so much. This includes information on each of our jobs.
And Where Do I Book My Flights?
You’ll notice that I love booking cheap flights and long layovers in interesting places. You can learn more about how I do this on my post on cheap flights.
Credit Cards to Consider
Here’s a few cards you should look at if you’re trying to gain travel points:
Capital One Venture Card: 40k Bonus Miles
American Airlines Credit Card: 50k Bonus Miles
United Credit Card: 50k Bonus Miles
Delta Credit Card: 30k Bonus Miles
Hilton Credit Card: 75k Bonus Miles
Chase Sapphire Preferred: 50k Bonus Miles
Barclay Arrival +: 50k Bonus Miles
All photos taken with my Sony a6000, portable tripod, and Iphone
Have any questions about my trips? Feel free to comment below!
Some amazing rocks you had chance to stand on !
camping channel isl….windy? cold?
Hi Zane,
I went to the Channel Islands in August so it was pretty hot, at night it was in the 50s. It wasn’t windy or cold, but I imagine if you go later in the year it might be!
Thanks
Marteen