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We get asked this question daily on our Instagram, so I wanted to break it down for you guys! It's important to mention that it's been a slow process for us to get to the point where we can travel full-time. Back in 2019, we sold everything we owned to move to England in the hopes to live in London and travel Europe. We went through an immigration lawyer and because Josh is a UK citizen (he lived there most of his childhood) we were told we were a shoo-in to get accepted. Josh quit his job and started applying for work in the UK and I had some interviews lined up for schools in London (at the time I was an online ESL teacher). But, after selling everything in preparation for our big move we got the dreaded news…our application was denied!
I got denied entrance because at the time we didn't meet the financial requirements. We were so shocked because our immigration lawyer had assured us everything would go smoothly and we had nothing to worry about. Once the shock wore off we realized we were in a pretty bleak situation! We had sold everything and Josh was unemployed.
We quickly went into planning mode and spent the following three days researching every possible alternative. It was at this time that Josh started his marketing company in an effort to bring in an income. We found out that as South Africans we don't need a visa to visit Mauritius and at the time flights were R4 000 each. We researched food prices and accommodation options and realized we could live in Mauritius cheaper than we did at home in South Africa. With some planning, we decided to use some of our savings to travel to Mauritius and live there as digital nomads for a month… but life had other plans!
After two weeks in Mauritius, the pandemic hit and we got locked down for five months. It was at this time that we really solidified our love of being digital nomads. We were able to easily adapt to lockdown life in Mauritius because we could continue working online and making an income. When we did eventually repatriate home to South Africa, it didn't take long before we decided to move into a van and travel around our own country as digital nomads.
So now you know some of the backstories leading up to full-time travel. I want to share some of the tips and tricks that help us maintain this lifestyle. It mostly comes down to daily habits and small changes we make that result in big changes to our life and finances long-term.
First up is a very strict budget that we have adhered to for years. This was something we implemented into our lives about five years ago. We were in debt and couldn’t seem to break out of our bad spending habits. We decided enough was enough so we started having weekly meetings to figure out our spending habits. This is still something we do to this day! We usually meet on a Sunday evening for 20 minutes, we both bring our diaries and we chat about the upcoming week. This allows us to communicate where we are financially, what expenses are coming up that week such as birthdays, date nights, functions, etc, and what our food, travel, and entertainment budget looks like for the week ahead. This really helps us stay on track with our monthly budget and made a big difference to us both feeling more at ease with our finances.
Tip number two is to cut unnecessary costs such as new clothing, eating out, latest technology, etc., and rather save towards experiences and travel over material possessions. This isn’t for everyone and that’s totally okay! It’s just something that makes a big financial difference for us.
Our third tip is work-related. It made a big difference to both be self-employed and work full-time jobs remotely. This took time to build but allows us flexibility in our schedules. At first, it was just Josh being self-employed and I was an online ESL teacher for a company called KKTALKEE. But, in 2021 my company closed down which forced me to rethink my work situation. I was fortunate enough that our social media had grown to a point where I could make an income through hotel content creation and brand collaborations.
Next up is creating multiple revenue streams. For us, this looks like our Ebooks and digital products, investments, content creation, hotel work, and Joshie’s marketing company. Again, this takes time to build but it’s a great way to diversify your monthly income and ensure that if something does come up, you have alternative incomes to rely on.
The fifth tip we have is to live below your means. For us, this looks like living in a van/backpacking. Van life can be really affordable when you travel slowly and backpacking works the same way. You give up some comforts (hot water, privacy, lots of possessions) but save money. There are many ways to travel to a new place when traveling full-time… when you travel very cheaply it can mean being uncomfortable. When we weigh up the pros and cons - we would way rather give up some comforts but wake up in Thailand! This totally depends on you and there is no perfect way to do it. I know there is an initial big investment into buying a van/booking flights etc. This is something we save for long in advance to avoid going into debt.
Also on this topic is to travel to cheap destinations where your currency is stronger and you don’t need a visa (can find a list of these countries online).
A big one when traveling internationally is to eat local food. It’s delicious and WAY cheaper! This is something we always encourage people to do. I know it can be initially daunting to try unfamiliar food and eat at street cafes when traveling but with some online research, you can find lots of great cafes with good reviews.
Tip number seven is research, research, research! We don’t do any travel (van or backpack) without thorough research first. We learn about culture, food prices, transport prices, accommodation prices, and safety. We make sure we are familiar with which internet provider we need to secure so we can work in foreign countries. We learn some basic vocabulary to ensure we can communicate respectfully with locals. We watch endless YouTube videos, read online blogs, and scour the internet for information on the new location. This allows us to budget correctly for our visit, and it also ensures we plan our accommodation correctly
Our final tip today is to save for big purchases instead of going into debt. When we want something such as a new phone or camera etc we save up and buy it for cash and even then we buy second hand.