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\u201cYour job sounds like the most exciting job in the world,\u201d she said to me. Let\u2019s call her Jessica because I never caught her name. I was outside a bar in Boston<\/a> and she had overheard a conversation I was having with some friends I hadn\u2019t seen in years.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has the best job,\u201d replied my friend.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, can you get me to Ireland<\/a> cheap? I really want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure,\u201d I replied. \u201cTell me about your trip.\u201d<\/p>\n Normally when I\u2019m asked about these things, I talk a little bit about my travel guides section, hand over my business card, and tell the person to email me. In my free time, I don\u2019t want to turn into someone\u2019s travel agent. <\/p>\n But, in this moment, I didn’t mind.<\/p>\n \u201cMy boyfriend and I want to go to Ireland in the summer, but we don\u2019t know how to afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, the first thing you should do is go home, and each of you should sign up for a travel-related credit card<\/a>. That will get you at least 50,000 miles as a sign-up bonus. That’s enough for a free flight. That\u2019s step one.\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cWait! You get miles for signing up for a credit card!? Really?\u201d Jessica said.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve used these bonuses to get over 400,000 miles just on American Airlines alone. I fly first class with free miles all the time.\u201d I said.<\/p>\n As our conversation continued for a bit longer, Jessica was amazed at all the traveling I\u2019ve done. <\/p>\n \u201cYou are either rich or get paid a lot of money,\u201d she said to me. <\/p>\n \u201cNope,\u201d I told her. \u201cYou just need $50 a day<\/a>, which works out to $18,000 per year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, that\u2019s too much money. I don\u2019t have that.\u201d she said.<\/p>\n So I broke it down for her and had her think about her own expenses and spending habits, and she soon realized that for more money per year, she does a lot less.<\/p>\n \u201cWow! I never thought about it that way,\u201d an astonished Jessica told me.<\/p>\n I gave the girl my card and wished her well. As she walked away, I turned to my friends, \u201cThat girl is never going to visit Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n After years of talking to people about travel, I can tell when people are serious. My friend\u2019s friend who wrote down the name of companies and websites over a beer was serious. Jessica? She\u2019s not going to Ireland with her boyfriend anytime soon.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because, while she was intrigued by all the money-saving tips<\/a> I was giving her, she wasn\u2019t ready to implement them.<\/p>\n She’s trapped by this belief “travel is expensive.” The look in her eyes told me she didn’t really<\/em> believe what I was telling her.<\/p>\n See, the travel industry is insidious. It shows you ads like this:<\/p>\n