“Travel is too expensive, I can’t do it.” Sound familiar?

Tripping yourself up with the “travel is expensive” myth is a sure-fire way to defeat the dream before you even give it a chance to breathe.

Before you defeat your dream consider this: A vacation is different from traveling. Maybe up to this point you’ve only taken a vacation, a one to two week trip you saved up for and enjoyed thoroughly. On average – a vacation that includes a flight, hotel stays, and eating out for every meal can cost anywhere form $1,000 to $2,000 per person per week. Plus when you go on vacation, all of your other monthly expenses don’t go away. You still have to pay for your mortgage or rent, car, electricity, water, magazine subscriptions – this all continues while you are on vacation.

Time is on Your Side

When you travel for an extended time this scenario of costs change because time is on your side.

Airfare

First you buy a plane ticket – but you stay longer, much longer in a region. The cost of your $1000 plane ticket overseas is now spread out across 4 weeks instead of 1 week potentially. Plus - once in that country, you have a myriad of transportation options to get from place to place in the region. You may get around the country or region by local transportation now since time is now on your side. No need to maximize every second of your vacation; slow down and relax - by doing so you spend less money.

Lodging/Food

You will also most likely not stay in high priced hotels or resorts for a long term lodging solution. You will start to be introduced to the world of guest houses, couchsurfing, and hostels; or simply more budget style hotels. You’ll find accommodation with access to a kitchen and can cook some of your own meals. You won’t be dining out for every meal; going out to eat all the time can get tiresome not to mention costly.

Monthly Expenses

Here’s where the real money savings happens…your monthly expenses go away. Maybe not all of them – but a good majority of them no longer are expenses while you travel. Consider this list (below) of typical monthly expenses for people. The ones in red will, or can, disappear while you travel.

To begin with, you can sublet or sell your home. We know that may be a big step for some, but by doing this you remove many monthly expenses! You potentially don’t have to pay to put your items in storage. No more electricity/gas/water bills. In addition, when you travel, you no longer have to supply your home with stuff like toilet paper or cleaning supplies, these normal day-to-day expenses go away while you’re on the road.

You can also get rid of your car or simply store it while you are gone and reap the benefits of no insurance payment, maintenance, or fuel charges. You no longer have to commute to work, or dry clean work clothes!

Sure - other new expenses are added when you travel - but not at the same rate as it takes to live day to day and maintain a dwelling and job.

Before you know it your monthly expenses disappear and the amount you will need to simply travel becomes ‘reasonable’ . So don’t think about your budget in terms of a vacation budget; extended travel is much different!

Download the Excel Sheet: What Can Disappear?

What other expenses do you have that will disappear when you start your career break?