{"id":1906,"date":"2025-03-04T07:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/?p=1906"},"modified":"2025-03-04T21:04:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T02:04:28","slug":"secret-to-long-term-traveling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/secret-to-long-term-traveling\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Long Term Traveling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nomadic<\/p>\n

Serendipitous adventure, carefree nights with newfound friends in foreign lands, delicious foods for bargain prices, and the luxury of time to enjoy it all.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the world of long-term travel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When it comes to this kind of travel, I get a lot of emails asking for my “secret.”<\/p>\n

How do you travel so often and for so long? How did you quit your job and escape the grind? You must have a trust fund to afford all that, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

Wrong.<\/p>\n

I’ve written about how I manage to travel<\/a> in the past (over<\/a> and over<\/a> again), but people still wonder if I am holding something back.<\/p>\n

What am I leaving out? What, they ask, is my secret to escaping the cubicle and being a nomad? Did I win the lottery? Do my parents pay for everything?<\/p>\n

There must<\/em> be something that makes me so special.<\/p>\n

Well, here it is! The big secret to traveling long-term is…<\/p>\n

Nothing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely nothing!<\/p>\n

There is no special secret.<\/p>\n

Vagabonds, nomads, and long-term travelers are nothing special. We have no superpowers or secret Swiss bank accounts. We don’t have a money tree<\/a> or the ability to teleport everywhere.<\/p>\n

Of course, privilege will inevitably play its part<\/a>, but we’re not unique or doing anything special. This kind of travel has been done for decades, by people from all parts of the world, with a variety of backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Long-term travelers are just like you.<\/p>\n

When I first discovered long-term travel, I thought the backpackers I had met in Chiang Mai had found some secret to life I didn’t know existed.<\/p>\n

But once I got on the road myself, I saw that there was no secret. I wasn’t unique or special. Millions of people every year did this. Even people with virtually no money<\/a> were making it work.<\/p>\n

I had left home thinking I was going on an exciting adventure few people go on \u2014 then I went to Khao San Road<\/a> and hung out in Amsterdam<\/a> during the summer. In those places, I met travelers young and old doing exactly the same thing as me \u2014 and none of them were trust fund babies.<\/p>\n

These travelers just did what they wanted \u2014 a revolutionary idea for me at the time. But now, after years of travel, I realize that it\u2019s not so revolutionary. If people really want something, they do it. If you want a big-screen TV or a new computer, you find a way to make it happen. If you really want to eat sushi for dinner, you are going to have sushi for dinner.<\/p>\n

If you really want to travel, you will do that, too<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because, just like you find a way to pay for that TV or your new car, these travelers simply arranged their life so that they could afford to travel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The only thing these people had that I didn\u2019t have before was the desire to do what they wanted to do, free from the expectations of society, just because they enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

They simply said, \u201cI want to travel\u201d and then worked to make it happen.<\/p>\n

They saved more, they took second jobs, they stayed home instead of going out to eat or drink, they found work overseas. They did whatever it took.<\/p>\n

As the saying goes, where there\u2019s a will, there\u2019s a way.<\/p>\n

It is that simple.<\/p>\n

People ask me about whether I worry about bills, retirement, and my future. To be honest, not really.<\/p>\n

When you travel long-term, all those things disappear. You have no bills because you have no home. You just spend what you spend from day to day (which is usually less than $50 a day<\/a>).<\/p>\n

My mother told me I should start saving more for my retirement so I could…wait for it…travel more.<\/p>\n

Then she stopped herself and said, \u201cWell, I guess you do that already, so never mind!\u201d<\/p>\n

I’m a big believer in the idea that we shouldn’t work our lives away and that we should take short breaks to pursue our passions<\/a>. Why should I spend my best years in an office, saving money for an age I may not even see, or if I do see it, might be too sick to enjoy?<\/p>\n

Yeah, we long-term travelers save a bit for a rainy day, but we don’t worry about the future. We enjoy now<\/em>. Take care of your present, and your future works itself out. When I stop traveling, I’ll figure out what is next.<\/p>\n

So, when you ask travelers how they do it, they aren\u2019t lying when they say there is no secret. We simply made a conscious decision to do it and, after that, just worked toward our goal, saving money and making plans<\/a> just like what you would do for any other goal or venture in your life.<\/p>\n

That’s the secret. So, now that you know it, go start making your travel dreams come true!
\n <\/p>\n

How to Travel the World on $75 a Day<\/span><\/h3>
\"How<\/div>

My New York Times<\/em> best-selling book to travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you\u2019ll get off save money, always find deals, and have a deeper travel experience. It\u2019s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC called the \u201cbible for budget travelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to learn more and start reading it today!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

\n

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks<\/h4>\n

Book Your Flight<\/strong>
\nFind a cheap flight by using Skyscanner<\/a>. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. <\/p>\n

Book Your Accommodation<\/strong>
\nYou can book your hostel with Hostelworld<\/a>. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com<\/a> as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. <\/p>\n

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance<\/strong>
\nTravel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:<\/p>\n