How i could afford to travel

A year ago i returned home from my trip around the world, regardless of how I travelled, or where I travelled, the one question I still always get asked: How did you afford it?

I feel exceptionally lucky to of been able to spend so much time traveling the world and allowing such a massive dream of mine become reality. I feel even more lucky that I was able to do this a month after graduating from university. A few times while traveling I was asked if my parents helped me fund this or weather I’m working while doing so to be able to afford such a long trip. The first question was always hard to answer because no, my parents didn’t just give me money to go and enjoy life, but it was a bittersweet gift from my mum.

I received the money that funded my travels through inheritance. It’s a generous gift, of course, but id of rather not had to have lost a loved one to be able to afford it. When people say inheritance, most people assume you’ve lost a grandparent however, this was not the case for me. Time to get a little personal, for those of you that don’t know me, my mum suddenly passed away when I was 15 years old and as you could imagine this was the hardest thing me and my family have ever had to deal with. The money me and my sister inherited was put into holding until we were old enough to make sensible decisions of what we would do with it.

When you inherit money the burden of ‘doing the right thing’ with it can put a lot of pressure on people, especially if you receive it so young. At the age of 18 my obsession of planning a round the world trip made it clear that I was going to finish my degree and buy a one-way ticket. Some may debate weather that was a wise way to spend my inheritance but for me it was the best discussion I ever made.

Since I was young I was obsessed with going on holidays, family holidays, girl’s holidays and I always dreamed of travelling for a long period of time. I always expressed this to my mum I would sit there for hours writing lists of country’s I wanted to visit or flick through holiday brochures begging her to take us to America. My mum new how much I wanted to do this even from the age of 15, and she always wanted me and mybsister to fulfil our dreams, this is why I went to university got my degree and then brought that plane ticket. University was also a key goal for me and I thought long and hard about taking a gap year between sixth form and university, this was very tempting however I was scared if I left then I would never of came back to go to university, so I got my degree then celebrated that success with a trip around the world.

So, for anyone wondering how I could afford to spend so long away, you have your answer. I do not regret spending my money this way as i learnt so much in those months and experienced things I will never forget, and I can only say I’m forever grateful for the ‘bittersweet’ gift I received. I know my mum would be super proud of me for having the balls to travel solo and being the happiest I’ve ever been. My message for anyone with inheritance and wanting to travel but thinking you should be doing something more permanent with your money, don’t worry about if people think your ‘wasting’ it or you could be doing something more long lasting with it, go and have the best time making memories that will last a lifetime.

The money I had went along way due to backpacking around fairly cheap countries to begin with, staying in hostels, sleeping on overnight buses to save on accommodation and cooking as groups in New Zealand. I had the best time but sadly it couldn’t last forever, and I am now back home working a full-time job to fund my next adventure.