Summary

Sara Burdick traveled the world for three years on a budget of less than $20 a day by combining work and volunteering, which allowed her to experience local cultures deeply while maintaining financial stability.

Abstract

Sara Burdick defies the common belief that traveling the world is expensive, demonstrating that it's possible to live on less than $20 a day. Over three years, she spent around$ 6,500 per year, often spending less than $200 a month while living in Colombia. Sara achieved this by working remotely as a nurse consultant and later at a higher-paying job, while simultaneously volunteering through platforms like Workaway. Her experiences include volunteering at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand and an off-grid horse and huskies farm in Patagonia, where she spent nothing and even earned money. Sara emphasizes the importance of hard work, determination, and the willingness to exchange time and energy for experiences, rather than luxury. She acknowledges that traveling while working is challenging but rewarding, and she has made lifelong friends along the way. Sara's lifestyle choice is not about taking vacations but about integrating work and travel to sustain a life of exploration and personal growth.

Opinions

Sara challenges the notion that one needs to spend a lot to travel the world, proving that it's possible to live on a modest budget.
She values experiences over material possessions and prioritizes her passion for volunteering, which often takes precedence over her work.
Sara believes in the power of determination and hard work to maintain a sustainable travel lifestyle.
She does not view her life as a perpetual vacation but as a conscious choice for a different, yet fulfilling, way of living.
Sara emphasizes that her lifestyle is not easier than a conventional one; it's simply a different path that she has chosen.
She points out that many people are not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to live as she does, highlighting the dedication required for her nom

How I traveled the world on less than 20 dollars a day for 3 years

I was not Couchsurfing or living in my car.

Volunteering at a hands-off elephant sanctuary in Thailand. Camoon eating banana leaves

I spent about $6500 per year traveling.

I am telling you this because so many blogs tell you:

You can not travel the world on less than 10K a year.

I am here to tell you yes you can. I now spend less if I am being honest.

This is not an unreasonable amount, honestly, right now I spend less than $200 a month living in Colombia.

I am not cheap, if I want to indulge I do. I just don’t need a lot of things, I never have.

I know what you are thinking, Sara you are absolutely losing your mind now. We DO NOT believe you.

When I tell people that traveling is cheaper than living my previously normal life, I get laughed at.

I get told there is no way possible. To be honest, sometimes I second guess myself.

Were my finances incorrect?

I am going to clarify this is an average, some days were more than 20 and some less.

But the average and how much came out of my bank account is what is important.

I basically have broken even the past 3 years. So until I lost my job I did not need to touch my savings.

Now I am building up a few different areas to generate some income, yet I feel no pressure because I planned accordingly.

This is giving me a chance to explore what I really want to do.

I have NEVER done this before.

I was always pressured, make more, buy more, go into more debt- the vicious cycle we all know.

I do not have spreadsheets to show you, I am not that fancy. I will tell you my secret also.

First of all the first two years, I was traveling I had a job. The first job was as a nurse consultant and I made $500 dollars a month!

Yes. I just wanted to break even and not touch my savings. Goal achieved.

The second job was much better.

I made $30/hr and was able to save almost all of my salary minus around 500/month or less that I lived on.

So I saved as much as possible.

My secret is I volunteered and worked at the same time.

Volunteering on a horse ride across the Andes Mountains in Argentina for 3 days!

Thank you work away for existing!

One of the whole reasons I wanted to travel was to see different parts of the world. Meet locals, go off the beaten path.

Volunteering gave me this opportunity.

I did not want to just travel, that would bore me, I did not just want to work and travel. That was not enough.

If you haven’t noticed by now I am either all in or all out. Balance is not my strong suit.

So I refused to quit my job to volunteer and I refused to not volunteer because I had a job.

So I did what anyone would do, I made it work.

I have volunteered all over the world. I would tell them I worked online, but it would not interfere with my duties as a volunteer.

To be honest, volunteering always came first.

It was my passion, I love it so much.

Even now in my small town, I am volunteering to teach English to the locals!

I volunteered at a hands-off elephant sanctuary for a month. I spent $0 dollars that month! Except for the $1 Thai tea, I had to have!

I volunteered in Patagonia at an off-grid horse and huskies farm for 2 months. I spend $0 those months, I was also not working so it worked out!

Check this video out to see how fun and how dirty I was for 2 months!

I have cleaned hostels in Argentina. I worked at an off-season ski lodge in Japan.

I even worked at a movie theatre in Phnom Pen Cambodia! It was wild.

Attempting to learn the dance of the village in Japan.

I have made a ton of lifelong friends that I will never forget.

When I was working in Asia, I was on US time. I would have consulting calls at 2,3,4 AM.

I would get up ride my bike to the wifi zone and work. It is just what had to be done. So I did it.

My friends, old co-workers sometimes look at my life.

Wishing they could do it. To be honest most of them are not strong enough to make it work. Two came to visit me, assuming I was always on vacation.

When I pulled out my laptop to work for 5–6 hours a day, there were mortified, you are working????

Yes, I am not on vacation, just because you are. I have goals, objectives and clients.

I should not be hard on them, it is their choice how they live. Is what bothers me is how they look at my life thinking it's all sunshine and rainbows.

Travel is not always easy, and working while traveling is a whole new ballgame. I chose differently, but I did not choose easier.

It would have been easier to keep my cushy 6 figure job at one of the best hospitals in Los Angeles.

I chose differently.

So this is how I have been able to stay on the road for so long. Hard work and determination.

If you are willing to give something in exchange for something it will always find a way to work itself out.

Being a good human will never go out of style. Travel will never go away.

How you can travel cheap, free will always be there if you are willing to work. I traded my time and energy for an experience. I did not do it because I needed a bed.

I do it because I want to. I cleaned toilets for a month. It was so eye-opening that will have to be a whole other blog post.

Malee says goodbye, and please don’t touch the elephants:)

Malee had to check me out to make sure I was doing a good job:)

XOXO

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