Balance Your Budget
- Start saving now. You cannot maximize on this opportunity to live somewhere else if you max out your credit cards (and find yourself homeless upon return). Cut costs and save, save, save wherever you can.
- Skip your expensive lattes so that you can have the real deal in Italy next summer. Sever all unnecessary expenditures so that you can savor a new home.
- Check your airline miles and then check into restrictions on using them.
- Sign up for fare alerts and news from sites like Airfare Watchdog, and money-saving email newsletters from sources like Smarter Travel.
- Ask friends and family to forgo luxurious gifts for upcoming birthdays or holidays, and gently suggest the gift of “travel support” by way of offers to watch your cat or plants while you are away. Contributions to your travel fund are nice too!
- Plan to suspend your mail, newspaper, and all your bills too. Call your providers and ask about temporary suspensions and/or vacation services.
- You will need more money than you anticipate—regardless of how thorough you are in your research. For instance, I neglected to factor in an additional $300 for high-speed Internet service while abroad, as well as an additional $500 to board my cat for the few weeks I didn’t have care—hey, it all adds up. Consider how much you might spend eating out, eating in, side tripping, shopping, and sightseeing—you’ll want to get out and experience your new home while you’re there, so remember more is more. Save more!
Moving home for a prolonged period allows for an authentic feel-like-a-local experience that the average seven- to ten-day vacation simply does not permit. You get a real feel for the people, the issues, and the lifestyle of a destination. You also get a shake-up from your regular scenery and routine, and a refreshing new perspective on life.
So where to? My brother is moving to London next spring, and while I’ll be so sad to see him go, I’ll be so happy to see him all next summer! (Hey, it’s cheaper than paying for summer camp for my two kids in New York City!) I have a friend in Paris I can visit inexpensively from London and from there I’m thinking Eurail and hostels. Why not? If I start planning now, it can be done.
