We see the pics all over Insta of friends backpacking across Europe, Christmas in NYC, Spring Break on the ski slopes, and several trips to the beach for the predictable toes in the sand shot. And some of us are just over here wondering how in the world they do it? Vacation days notwithstanding, you’re just trying to pay bills and a trip home for the holidays is about as good as it gets right now.
Comparing your life to the lives of others and jealousy struggles aside, prioritizing travel can be difficult on one income. There’s only so much to go around, and bills, bills, bills, you know? It’s not the sexy answer you want to hear, but unless you want to rack up some debt, travel requires intentional planning and saving. You’d rather we write a post about some magical, secret money that falls from the sky for Christian singles who suffer from wanderlust, right?
SingleRoots Writers Say…
For wise counsel, we asked some of our SingleRoots alumni writers to weigh in on the matter. Here’s what they had to say:
“Here’s the cool thing about being single: We can travel with people, lots of people. Sure, married folks can too, but it takes a lot more for them to coordinate schedules and kids and other stuff. For us, we can plan a trip with some available friends and GO! The best part: It’s always cheaper when you travel with a group. A hotel room or an Air BnB house, grocery bills, a rental car, gas money—it all gets split 3, 4, 5…10 ways. Travel is so much easier when you’ve budgeted your amount and you find enough people to help you see somewhere really awesome on that (smaller) budgeted amount of money. And once you find a really good group to travel with, you prioritize travel with them by getting the next trip on the calendar before you finish the one you’re on. That way, everyone in the traveling group can plan in advance to take off, as well as save their money.”
:: Liesl Bennett, author of Never Been Kissed…or in Love
“This is a good idea although not necessarily just for singles. It’s good to think about what kind of travel you prefer and then plan. By plan, I mean do a couple of things. First, what is a good time to go? Are you going alone or with someone? The other part of planning is cost. Budget for it, especially bigger trips. A mistake I made as a single was that I would just go because I could, and then pay it off later. That was not smart. Instead, budget it out, save for it, then spend it and enjoy.”
:: Justin Campbell, author of Are You in It to Win It?
“If traveling is something you enjoy, you can find a way to do it at all stages of your life. Just because you’re single doesn’t mean you have to spend your life savings to circumvent the globe before you get tied down by marriage. Married people can get on planes, too! I even heard of one married couple that hiked the Grand Canyon. Crazy, I know. While single, travel within reason and within budget.”
:: Ruth Rutherford, author of Changing Jobs Is No Big Deal
“I’m a bit of a wandering spirit when it comes to travel. I crave it. But I also have a very tight budget. So I plan six months out–I schedule driving trips to see friends within a reasonable distance, but I also start saving for bigger trips of where I am wanting to visit. Financially, it can be hard but when you allow yourself to save and put forth effort to then see the thing you have been daydreaming of–like the Rocky Mountains, or Big Ben, or a beautiful coastline–it pays off. Sometimes that means not having lunch out every day or renting movies from the library instead of seeing them in the theaters all the time. You have to make sacrifices that fit your budget and your personality. Maybe you don’t get 10 days backpacking through Europe, but you do get four days in Chicago checking out the amazing foodie scene (a little bias on that one).”
:: Sara Stacy, author of Battling Single Syndrome in the Workplace
“My biggest regret of my singleness is that I didn’t travel with friends. Create and keep a budget. Put money towards it regularly. If you have to schedule a year out with friends, do it.”
:: W. Brandon Howard, author of When It Feels Like Your Joy Is Held Captive
Explore the Topic Further…
For further discussion on traveling while you’re single, check out these posts:
What I’ve Learned Traveling Alone – “Traveling alone is an opportunity for solitude, and it is also an opportunity for forming relationships. Living outside of my comfort zone has forced me to reach out to new people, to share stories, and to get to know people who I might not normally spend time with if I were with my best friends at home. I hope that everyone who moves to a new city eventually learns that loneliness is not a permanent condition.”
9 Necessities to Make Your Travel Easier and More Fun – “After 15 years of traveling internationally, I have acquired a list of a few of my favorite things to make travel easier and more fun, thus contributing to more of my random travel knowledge. Here are a few that might help you, especially those of you who travel internationally.”
The Art of Traveling Alone – “Leading up to my departure, I felt the need to defend my honour. “I do have friends!” my pride would want to yell at people who were openly surprised at my choice to travel solo. Which I do, but none of them had the same budget or schedule as me. I wasn’t going to let that stop me, I couldn’t.”
8 Ideas for Making Travel Even More Meaningful – “The first step to having a more meaningful trip is to choose your traveling companions wisely. No one wants to deal with drama, yet you can also travel with a “party” of 5 and still leave feeling completely empty. One of the reasons I love my traveling crew so much is everyone is invested in making our time together count.”
