Before I begin this article, I want to emphasize that I am sharing this information with you not to brag but to continue to show complete transparency with my financial numbers and life. I do this for three reasons.
- To keep my blog’s integrity. I would never try to sell something that I wasn’t practicing myself. Just like you wouldn’t trust an out of shape personal trainer, or a dentist with decaying teeth. By using my actual numbers, it’s the best way to keep my journey authentic and relatable.
- To show how easy many of the concepts that I discuss are and how applicable they can be to your life too. I don’t work in a career driven by math or spreadsheets, honestly it’s quite the opposite, the most math I do on a daily basis is counting my patient’s reps and sets. And yet I can still figure this out. All of us will be coming from different places in our financial and real lives but many of the principles I discuss can be applied to anyone’s financial plan. And the best part is that it’s not a cookie cutter approach, you can pick and choose ideas that work for your life and ditch the rest. Finances aren’t one size fits all. I just use my own journey as an example to show what has worked and what hasn’t for me so that my mistakes or accomplishments can help motivate or enlighten others in similar places
- To prove that you can live a full life of happiness doing whatever it is you value while pursuing financial independence. You don’t and shouldn’t sacrifice one to get the other.
Financial Recap
As I discussed in last week’s 2019’s financial review, I was able to save almost 65% of my income this year. I broke down where I spent my money during the year, but what I didn’t talk about was how much I was able to travel and do this year while maintaining this high savings rate.
Most people when you tell them that you saved 65% of your income first assume that you’re lying or had everything paid for by a large trust fund. The next assumption is that you live in a cardboard box and live off ramen and dried beans like a typical college student. You could never eat out, go to events, or travel when you are saving that much.
In reality, in 2019, I needed to plan rest weekends this fall because I felt like I was traveling too much. And this wasn’t because it was breaking my bank financially, it was because I was truly just tired.
Again, this article is not to brag but it’s to break that myth that you have to “sacrifice” everything you value and enjoy to reach financial independence.
In fact, it’s the exact opposite. When you are deliberate with your spending, you plan your trips, and live life some flexibility, you don’t need to sacrifice what you value at all.
I now understand that you need to enjoy the process of reaching financial independence, even if you think it might delay reaching your “fi number” a little bit. However, what you might find though, is that you can still enjoy the things that make you happy while you maintain all of your financial goals.
Travel
Of all the categories of spending, this is the one in which I get the most questions about as I have become an avid traveler in the last 2 years. Oftentimes people don’t believe that I could be traveling as much as I do while still maintaining this high of a savings rate and level of wealth accumulation. So I plan to fully break down my 2019 travel to show how much I was able to do this year while maintaining this level of saving.
Most people think that travel is the most discretionary category of spending so it should be one of the first categories cut if you are pursuing financial independence and you are trying to ramp up your savings rate. But if you are like me and still value travel, you’ll find that there are still plenty of ways to travel and still maintain your financial goals. It’s possible and my 2019 is proof.
2019 Travel
This year I spent around $318 in travel per month or $3,816 this year. This includes flights, driving, food, events, etc. Basically anything I did while I was on vacation away from my current home.
So let’s begin..
Traveling for Work
Boston: I started 2019 by driving out to Boston for my first traveling assignment of the new year. This travel cost was reimbursed from work as it was part of my travel stipend (another perk of traveling healthcare).
This travel assignment allowed for 3 more months of exploring Boston as this was my second assignment I’ve completed here. I didn’t travel far outside of the area as I love Boston and the city itself has so much to do. So the primary spending I did was in the entertainment and eating/going out categories.
Arizona: After Boston, I drove across the country to Prescott, AZ (again getting reimbursed for my driving). On this drive I had extra time mapped into my drive from taking some time off between assignments which allowed me to spend a couple of days in Knoxville, TN.
I had a friend here so we explored a little bit and drank a little whiskey in the process. I continued on, stopping in Oklahoma City where my hotel was again reimbursed by my traveling company. I finally made it to Arizona after 3 long driving days in the car. This is really where all my non work traveling began.
2019 Vacations
Travel Back Home (MN/WI): During my time in Arizona I was able to fly from Phoenix to Minneapolis 4 times for a wedding, a long cabin weekend with my friends, a funeral, and Christmas. These flights were primarily paid for using credit card miles from my capital one venture card, so most of these travel costs were wiped out.
Bay Area: This year I took two flights from Phoenix to San Francisco once to explore and once for Thanksgiving as my significant other’s family still lives here. So it was great to have a free tour guide and a place to stay which again limited the costs outside of travel and food.
San Diego: I absolutely loved San Diego, the weather, the people, and the overall vibe of the city. Much more laid back than some of the other California locations I visited this year. And due to the proximity to Phoenix, we were able to make the 6 hour drive there and back for a long weekend trip.
Los Angeles: Again within driving distance for us, we were able to explore LA and it’s food scene for another long weekend. This time we used some Mariott points to eliminate the hotel costs allowing us to spend more on some of the attractions LA has to offer like visiting Hogwarts.
Seattle: Another city that I loved even though it stayed consistent to the stereotype and rained the majority of the time we were there. We had plans to do some hiking of Mount Rainier but due to the weather and how much there was to do, see, and eat in the city, we will have to make a hiking trip there in the future.
Havasupai: I stumbled into this opportunity as I found someone looking to transfer 2 tickets over a weekend that worked out perfectly in my schedule as I didn’t need to take any extra days off of work. This was one of the more expensive trips this year but it was absolutely worth it. We were able to save money on this trip as we were able to borrow much of the gear required for the hike and again due to my working location, we didn’t need to fly to Las Vegas, rent gear, rent a car, and stay multiple nights in hotels on each side of the trip.
The pictures don’t even come close to capturing the true beauty that this place had around every corner. If you like to hike or even if you don’t (you can take a helicopter down), this place should be on everyone’s bucket list in my opinion.
Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Horseshoe Bend: Going full on tourist mode, we took a weekend trip up into Northern Arizona exploring the many natural wonders this state has to offer. Many people have to fly from all over to see these locations, so again strategically working in areas I want to explore allowed me the opportunity to be within driving distance of some of these beautiful places.
Not to mention the other many weekends spent hiking and exploring the other landscapes that Arizona has to offer like red rocks of Sedona.
Conclusion
As I’m writing this, it again sounds boastful, but this is not my intent at all. I merely want to show how much you can travel or do the things you enjoy without completely derailing your path to financial independence.
So in total this year I was able to spend over 2 weeks in hotels, purchase 7 round trip flights, spend 11 weekends away from home, see a natural wonder of the world, and explore multiple cities typically considered expensive all for under $4,000 this year while maintaining a 65% savings rate.
There is no secret to what I am doing, I am just designing my life in a way that maximizes what I enjoy while attempting to minimize what I don’t (the cost). I take deliberate steps such as travel hacking with specific planned out credit cards, visiting friends and family, traveling during certain times of the year to minimize the costs while never diminishing the experience.
You truly can do this too, and the first step is understanding your current finances so you can begin to make plans for your future.
Where were you able to travel last year??
Hopefully next year I’ll be able to share some international travel experiences.
As always let me know what you think in the comments. Or if you have a specific question or want some advice on getting started, feel free to message me here.
