Interviews – iTravelFun

Here Lies America: An Interview With Jason Cochran

Posted: 01/27/2020 | January 27th, 2020 In 2010, I decided to spend the summer in NYC. I was two years into blogging and was making enough where I could afford a few months here. Still new to the industry, NYC was where all the legends of writing lived and I wanted to start making connections with my peers. It was that summer I met Jason Cochran, a guidebook writer from Frommers, editor, and the man I would consider my mentor. Though we never had any formal mentor/mentee relationship, Jason’s writing philosophy, advice, and feedback, especially on my first book, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, has been instrumental in shaping me as a writer. Much of his philosophy has become mine and I don’t think I would have grown to where I am without him. Last year, he finally published the book he’d been working on about tourism in America, called Here Lies America. (We featured it on our best books of 2019 list). Today, we’re going to go behind the scenes of the book and talk to Jason on what does lie in America! Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. Jason Cochran: I’ve been a travel writer for longer than I’ve felt like an adult. In the mid-‘90s, I kept a very early form of a travel blog on a two-year backpacking trip around the world. That blog became a career. I’ve written for more publications than I can count, including for a prime-time game show. These days I’m the Editor-in-Chief of Frommers.com, where I also write two of its annual guidebooks, and I co-host a weekly radio show with Pauline Frommer on WABC. For me, history is always my way into a new place. In many ways, time is a form of travel, and understanding the past flexes a lot of the same intellectual muscles as understanding cultural differences. So I have come to call myself a travel writer and a pop historian. That last term is something I just made up. Dan Rather made fun of me once for it. “Whatever that is,” he said. But it seems to fit. I like uncovering everyday history in ways that are funny, revealing, and casual, the way Bill Bryson and Sarah Vowell do. What made you want to write this book? Before I began researching, I just thought it would be funny. You know, sarcastic and ironic, about Americans going to graveyards and places of suffering just to buy lots of tacky souvenirs, eat ice cream, and wear dumb t-shirts. And, that’s still in there, for sure. We’re Americans and we like those things. Key chains will happen. But that changed fast. For one, that would have become a very tired joke. It wouldn’t carry for three hundred pages. Things clicked for me early on, on the first of several cross-country research drives I took. I went to a place that I wasn’t taught about at school, and it clicked. I was at Andersonville in rural Georgia, where 13,000 out of 45,000 Civil War prisoners died in just 14 months. It was flat-out a concentration camp. Yes, it turns out that concentration camps are as American as apple pie. The man who ran it was the only Confederate officer who was executed after the war. Southerners feared the victors would hang their leaders by the dozen, but that vengeance never materialized. Not for Jefferson Davis, not for Robert E. Lee—the guy who ran this camp poorly got the only public hanging. And he wasn’t even a born American. He was Swiss! But that’s how important this place was at the time. Yet most of us have never even heard of it, except for a really bad low-budget movie on TNT in the ‘90s in which all the characters bellowed inspirational monologues as if they thought they were remaking Hoosiers. So just getting my head around the full insanity of Andersonville’s existence was a big light bulb—our history is constantly undergoing whitewashing. Americans are always willfully trying to forget how violent and awful we can be to each other. And Andersonville wasn’t even the only concentration camp in that war. There were a bunch in both the North and the South, and most of them had survival rates that were just as dismal. So that was another light bulb: There’s a story in why our society decided to preserve Andersonville but forget about a place like Chicago’s Camp Douglas, which was really just as nasty, except now it’s a high-rise housing project and there’s a Taco Bell and a frozen custard place where its gate once stood. And did you know that the remains of 12,000 people from another Revolutionary War concentration camp are in a forgotten grave smack in the middle of Brooklyn? We think our major historic sites are sacred and that they are the pillars of our proud American story, but actually, how accurate can our sites be if they’re not even fairly chosen?

What was one of the most surprising things you learned from your research? In almost no instance was a plaque, statue, or sign placed right after the historic event in question. Most of the monuments were actually installed many decades after the event. In the case of the Civil War, most of the memorials were erected in a boom that came a half-century after the last bullet was fired. If you really get close to the plaques and read past the poetic inscriptions, it quickly becomes clear that our most beloved historic sites aren’t sanctified with artifacts but with propaganda placed there by people who weren’t even witnesses to the event. There was a vast network of women’s clubs that would help you order a statue for your own town out of a catalog, and they commissioned European sculptors who cashed the checks but privately grumbled about the poor taste of the tacky kitsch they were installing all over America. We’re still dealing with what they did today. It’s what Charlottesville was about. But most people don’t realize these statues weren’t put there anywhere near the time of the war, or that they were the product of an orchestrated public relations machine. By powerful women! Arlington Cemetery

I wrote a line in the book: “Having a Southern heritage is like having herpes—you can forget you have it, you can deny it, but it inevitably bubbles up and requires attention.” These issues aren’t going away. Places we think of as holy ground, like Arlington National Cemetery, often have some pretty shocking origin stories. Arlington started because some guy got pissed off at Robert E. Lee and started buying corpses in his rose garden to get back at him! That’s our hallowed national burial ground: a nasty practical joke, like the Burn Book from Mean Girls. Dig a little and you find more revolting secrets, like how the incredible number of people buried under the wrong headstone, or the time the government put the remains of a Vietnam soldier in the Tomb of the Unknowns. They pretty much knew his identity, but Ronald Reagan really wanted a TV photo op. So they sealed all the soldier’s belongings in the coffin with him so that no one would figure it out. They eventually had to admit they’d lied and gave the soldier’s body back to his mom. But if a thing like that happens in a place like Arlington, can the rest of our supposedly sacred sites be taken at face value at all? It goes a lot deeper. At Ford’s Theatre and the surrender house at Appomattox, the site we visit isn’t even real. They’re fakes! The original buildings are long gone but visitors are rarely told that. The tale’s moral is what’s valued, not the authenticity. What can visiting these sites teach us about how we remember our past? Once you realize that all historic sites have been cultivated by someone who wanted to define your understanding of it, you learn how to use critical thinking as a traveler. All it takes is asking questions. One of the most fun threads in the book kicks off when I go to Oakland, a historic but touristy cemetery in Atlanta. I spot an ignored gravestone that piqued my interest. I’d never heard of the name of the woman: Orelia Key Bell. The info desk didn’t have her listed among the notable graves. She was born around the 1860s, which was a very eventful time in Atlanta. So I took out my phone and right there on her grave, I Googled her. I researched her whole life so I could appreciate what I was seeing. It turned out she was a major poet of her time. I stood there reading PDFs of her books at her feet. Granted, her stuff was dreary, painfully old-fashioned. I wrote that her style of writing didn’t fall out of fashion so much as it was yanked down and clubbed by Hemingway. But reading her writing at her grave made me feel wildly connected to the past. We almost never go to old places and look deeper. We usually let things remain dead. We accept what’s on the sign or the plaque as gospel, and I’m telling you, almost nothing ever reaches us in a state of purity. Grave of Stonewall Jackson

I figured that if I was going to probe all these strangers, I had to be fair and probe someone I knew. I decided to look into an untimely death in my own family, a great-grandfather who had died in a train wreck in 1909. That was the beginning and the end of the tale in my family: “Your great-great grandfather died in a train wreck up in Toccoa.” But almost as soon as I started looking deeper, I discovered something truly shocking—he had been murdered. Two young Black men were accused in rural South Carolina for sabotaging his train and killing him. You’d think at least someone in my family would have known this! But no one had ever looked into it before! Here Lies America follows their trail. Who were these guys? Why would they want to kill him? I went to where their village used to be, I started digging into court documents from their murder trial. Let me tell you, the shockers came flooding. Like, I found they may have killed him because they wanted to protect a sacred old Cherokee burial mound from destruction. There was this crazy, larger-than-life forgotten story happening in my own damn family. My experience with that poet’s grave has a happy coda. Last week, someone told me that Orelia Key Bell and her companion are now officially part of the guided tour of Oakland. The simple act of looking deeper had revived a forgotten life and put her back on the record. That’s what visiting these sites can do—but you have to look behind the veneer, the way I do with dozens of attractions in my book. This is the essence of travel, isn’t it? Getting to a core understanding of the truth of a place. A lot of what you wrote showed how whitewashed many of these historical sites are. How do we as travelers dig deeper to get to the real history? Remember that pretty much everything you see at a historic site or museum was intentionally placed there or left there by someone. Ask yourself why. Ask who. And definitely ask when, because the climate of later years often twists interpretation of the past. It’s basic content analysis, really, which is something we’re really bad at in a consumer society. Americans have it drilled into them to never question the tropes of our patriotism. If we learned about in grade school, we assume it’s a settled matter, and if you press it, you’re somehow an insurgent. Now, more than any other time in history, it’s easier than ever to call up primary sources about any era you want. If you want to go back to what our society really is, if you want to try to figure out how we wandered into the shattered shambles we’re in today, you have to be honest about the forces that created the image that, until recently, many of us believed we really were. Gettysburg

Do you think Americans have a problem talking about their history? If so, why is that? There’s a phrase, and I forget who said it—maybe James Baldwin?-but it goes, “Americans are better at thinking with their feelings than about them.” We go by feels, not so much by facts. We do love to cling to a tidy mythology of how free and wonderful our country always was. It reassures us. We probably need it. After all, in America, where we all come from different places, our national self-belief is our main cultural glue. So we can’t resist prettying up the horrible things we do. But make no mistake: Violence was the foundation of power in the 1800s, and violence is still a foundation of our values and entertainment today. We have yet to come to terms with that. Our way of dealing with violence is usually to convince ourselves it’s noble. And if we can’t make pain noble, we try to erase it. It’s why the place where McKinley was shot, in Buffalo, lies under a road now. That was intentional so that it would be forgotten by anarchists. McKinley was given no significant pilgrimage spot where he died, but right after that death, his fans paid for a monument by Burnside’s Bridge in Antietam, because as a youth, he once served coffee to soldiers. That’s the reason: “personally and without orders served hot coffee,” it reads—it’s hilarious. That is our national mythmaking in a nutshell: Don’t pay attention to the place that raises tough questions about imperialism and economic disparity, but put up an expensive tribute to a barista. What is the main takeaway you’d like readers to take away from your book? You may not know where you came from as well as you think you do. And we as a society definitely haven’t asked enough questions about who shaped the information we grew up with. Americans are finally ready to hear some truth. Jason Cochran is the author of Here Lies America: Buried Agendas and Family Secrets at the Tourist Sites Where Bad History Went Down. He’s been a writer since mid-1990s, a commentator on CBS and AOL, and works today as editor-in-chief of Frommers.com and as co-host of the Frommer Travel Show on WABC. Jason was twice awarded “Guide Book of the Year” by the Lowell Thomas Awards and the North American Travel Journalists Association.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Everything is F*cked: Reflections on Hope and Travel with Mark Manson

A headshot of best-selling author Mark Manson
Posted: 05/14/2019 | May 14th, 2019

You meet a lot of interesting and smart people when you run an online business and travel the world. One of the people I’ve met is best-selling author Mark Manson. We had orbited each other for many years and finally met when he moved to New York City.

We’ve been “real life” friends ever since.

His first book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, became a runaway hit, selling over 8 million copies. (He wrote a post about how travel made him the person is today, which laid the foundation for that book.)

Now, Mark has a new book out today called, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope. I received a copy to read in advance and it’s a really incredible book about philosophy and how to live a life of meaning and challenge in our modern times. It gave me some good food for thought about issues or perspectives I hadn’t thought about before.

Today, Mark and I chat about his new book!

Nomadic Matt: You have a new book out, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope. Let’s talk about it. What would you say the core of this book is about?
Mark Manson: At its heart, this book is a look at how to develop and maintain a sense of hope for ourselves and the world — and how these hopes affect us. We generally see hope as an unequivocally “good” thing, but I call that idea into question in this book.

Would it be a considered follow up to The Subtle Art?
I’ve been calling it an “expansion” of the ideas from Subtle Art. I think it’s a deeper analysis and more complex application of the same concepts—values, pain/suffering, and our definitions of success. It’s kind of like the calculus to Subtle Art’s algebra or the chess to its checkers.

What inspired you to write this book?
Well, just looking around at what is going on in the world. We’re living in a weird time in that materially, the world, as a whole, is the best it’s ever been (less poverty, violence, more wealth, people living longer, etc.), yet mentally and emotionally, people are struggling more than ever with finding hope and meaning in their lives.

And what’s interesting is that it’s the people from the wealthiest and most stable parts of the world who are experiencing these philosophical struggles the most.

On top of that, I’ve noticed in my own life, that as an older millennial, all the promises of my youth have turned out pretty ugly. From the internet to my country and to my assumptions about relationships, friendships, community, it feels like there’s a lot to be justifiably upset about — yet things are objectively better.

I’ve had my own struggles with finding meaning and hope in my own life, despite the fact that, on paper, everything is awesome. So, in that way, this book is kind of my own way to sort through these issues.

Since this is a travel website, let’s talk about your book and travel. How can travel make us less f*cked? Or can it?
I think anything that increases human empathy is hugely important and beneficial at the moment. I also think anything that can cause you to confront your own value systems and question them is incredibly useful.

Travel does both of those things very well.

It’s a bit ironic that by connecting the world more than ever before, we’ve also come to objectify cultures more than ever before. Everything is about “the ‘Gram” so to speak. I think a highly conscious and culturally engaged form of travel is still paramount.

Like anything, travel can become an escape from one’s problems rather than a pursuit of some higher understanding. So, it’s important to always make sure you’re on the right side of that equation.

One aspect of the book I found really interesting was the formula for life and how it relates to being a better person (especially in relation to travel). Can you describe this idea a little bit?
The Formula of Humanity comes from the philosopher Emmanuel Kant and essentially says that the driving force behind all of our decisions and actions should always be people. That more than emotions, more than culture, more than group loyalties, our first principle should always be to treat people (both ourselves and others) with dignity and respect.

And I think travel forces one to practice this.

It’s easy to sit on one side of the world and criticize people on the other. But when you go there and discover that 99% of the people are good, decent people and actually value the same things you do, it makes empathy more possible.

What can people learn from your book that they can apply to their lives?
I think there are five points that people can really apply to their own life:

Why self-discipline requires understanding your own emotions.
Why trauma and loss cause emotional dysfunction and how we can overcome that dysfunction.
How every belief system is ultimately a little bit religious and we need to be careful about that.
How to be more resilient.
How to be freer in a world of constant distraction and diversion.

You talk a lot about how our feelings brain being in control and that we live in a feelings economy, where emotions run rampant. Can travel temper that in any way? Can travel show us how not to be keyboard warriors?
Unfortunately, there’s no way to NOT be irrational and emotional, as much as we’d sometimes like to. The key is to not resist or attempt to change our emotions but simply work with them, rather than against them. Things like anger, anxiety or even despair can be highly useful if channeled properly. The key is to develop the skill-set to channel them.

I think like a lot of things, travel amplifies who you already are. If you’re selfish and intolerant, then your travel experiences will reflect that. If you’re magnanimous or curious, then they will reflect that. A way that travel can be useful is that it is a tool to force you to work on aspects of yourself that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to work on.

Do you struggle with being alone or caring too much about what others think? Travel alone.

Used to being pampered and upset over every little thing? Go take a train through the Indian countryside. That’ll straighten you out real quick!

You mention a lot of philosophers in your book (which I enjoyed because I got a lot of book suggestions). What are some good books to read around this topic?
It’s exciting because I feel like philosophy is becoming cool in our culture. It makes sense because as all of our basic needs are taken care of, these questions of existential meaning, purpose, and what to hope are more at the forefront of our minds, and those are all philosophical questions.

If you’re a complete newbie to philosophy and want to get a basic understanding of the Western canon, I recommend a book called Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder. It’s a fun fiction book that acts as kind of a primer to the most important western thinkers.

If you’re into eastern philosophy, DT Suzuki’s books are a nice introduction to Zen Buddhism. The Tao Te Ching is highly readable and thought-provoking. And Alan Watts’ books are indispensable.

And if you want to see how applications of ancient philosophy are incredibly useful in today’s world. Check out Jonathan Haidt’s The Happiness Hypothesis or Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way.

You talk about how we need pain to grow and, I think, part of experiencing pain is getting out of your comfort zone. What can travel teach us about pain and growth?
Painful travel is the best kind. It’s like going to the gym for your mind and your understanding of humanity. My first trips to India and Africa were two of my most difficult and uncomfortable trips and today I think back to them fondly because they were incredibly formative to my understanding of the world.

India was shocking because of the quantity of beauty and human suffering squished into such confined spaces. You could see one of the most beautiful things in your life and one of the most horrific things in your life, all within a few blocks of each other.

Africa was eye-opening because when you really get out in the bush, you get a real sense of how little humans need to be happy. It’s cliché to say that money and possessions don’t make you happy, but when you see with your own eyes people who are feeling just fine owning nothing more than a goat and a robe, it’s quite profound.

China was probably the most alienating place I’ve ever been. I’ve never felt so foreign in my life. It’s the only place I’ve been where I’ve really gotten the sense that I did not matter, at all. And just having to sit and live with that feeling for the two weeks I was there was quite impactful.

I think it’s easy to forget how resilient the human spirit is, how many places it can flourish, and how easily it can be happy. The first time you see a child shit on the side of the street, it suddenly grants a lot of perspective the next time you complain about bad Wi-Fi.

Ultimately, I argue that a growing issue in the world today is that we aren’t challenged enough and that we don’t have meaningful struggles, so we have to invent meaningless ones to take their place and maintain a sense of hope.

Travel is a way to constantly challenge yourself. Whether it’s traveling to a poor country or forcing yourself to study a language or physically testing yourself through hikes and biking across continents. It’s indispensable.

Finally, in your own words, why should people buy this book?
Because it’s fucking awesome! And, as with my last book, I utilize stories and examples from all over the world and from a number of different cultures to make my point.

There’s a soldier from Poland and a monk from Vietnam and historical fiction about Isaac Newton and a vignette about Friedrich Nietzsche and his over-sized mustache. What’s not to love?

(Matt says: And it really is great like he says! Pick up a copy, especially if you enjoyed his last one!)

Mark Manson is a blogger, entrepreneur, and the best-selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, which has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. He specializes in writing personal development advice that doesn’t suck. His website MarkManson.net is read by over 2 million people each month.

His new book, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope is now available. He lives in New York City.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!

The post Everything is F*cked: Reflections on Hope and Travel with Mark Manson appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

How to Live and Travel Full-Time by RV

marc and julie from RV Love
Posted: 3/7/2019 | March 7th, 2019

Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of people giving up the daily grind to live and travel in vans, RVs, and other nontraditional abodes. While traveling in an RV has been something people have been doing for decades, new sharing economy websites, better resources online, more modern vans, and a growing community that can provide support have made it easier for anyone to travel full-time in an RV.

What used to be traditionally and predominantly an activity for older, retired, or family travelers is now something people of all ages are trying to do.

One just has to look up #vanlife on social media to see!

(An aside: I hate the #vanlife movement. The faux Instagram movement does nothing for me. Just a bunch of millennials searching out that perfect sponsored photo and talking about how woke they are (for the most part)).

But #vanlife aside, RV travel is a wonderful way to see the world.

“How do you travel in an RV?” is one of the questions I’m most asked.

So today, we’re going to the experts and talking full-time RV with nomads Marc and Julie from RV Love. This couple joined my blogging program a few years ago, hoping to find a way to spread the gospel of living and traveling in an RV to the wider world. (Spoiler: they did. And they just published a book with Simon & Schuster about it too!)

They’ve been driving around in their RV for nearly five years and, today, they share their wisdom about how to travel by RV:

Nomadic Matt: Tell us about yourselves! How did you get into this?
Marc and Julie: We’re Marc and Julie Bennett, full-time RVers since 2014, living, working, and traveling in our motorhome as we explore North America and the world! We met on the dating website eHarmony while both living in Colorado in 2010, married in 2011, and hit the road three years later!

marc from RV Love quitting his job

Why did you pick traveling in an RV as your way to get around?
We knew we wanted to do a lot more extended travel while we were still working. We get such little vacation time here in the USA, and we didn’t want that to limit our lives. So we started exploring different ways to bring more travel and adventure into our everyday life without Marc having to give up his job as project manager of operations, which he was able to do from home.

We considered international travel, but there were two main reasons why wasn’t a fit: the challenge of time zones, and more specifically, we wanted to travel with our dog Coda. Plus, we love to drive, so RVing was really the ideal solution for us. We love that wherever we go, we’re always home, and we’re not living out of suitcases.

We’re both passionate about driving, so it makes sense that we would choose to live and travel by RV, although we usually prefer more sporty rides when it comes to entertainment, as we both have a love for sports cars and convertibles.

What’s life like living and traveling around in an RV?
We just entered our fifth year on the road full-time as RVers, and we recently changed from a 2012 36’ gas Class A motorhome to a 1999 40’ diesel motorhome! We bucked the trend and went bigger (and older and cheaper, but much higher quality), and we’re actually doing a complete remodel of our RV this summer.

Traditionally, we spend about 80% of our time in campgrounds and about 20% dry camping, but we recently installed a big lithium battery bank and solar system on our RV, so we plan on spending a lot more time camping off the grid out in nature in the coming years. We try to spend 2-3 weeks in each location, but that varies on where we are, the weather, and what projects we have on our plates. We moved pretty fast in our first 3+ years, having visited all 50 states while still working full-time.

This year, we have so many big and exciting projects on our plates, we’re really feeling the need to slow down, catch our breath, and get caught up on our content! We tend to wing our plans a lot more than we used to, as we’re more comfortable and confident RVers now.

marc and julie from RV Love looking at balloons

An average day depends on whether you have to work or not. We love that we no longer have a commute and that the views outside our windows change every week or so. Nature is a big part of our everyday life, so it can be easier to get in more walking, hiking, biking, or kayaking. We definitely get to see more sunsets — that’s a big thing for a lot of RVers.

RV life is still life. You need to go grocery shopping, make meals, do laundry, pay bills, and do housework. Then there’s RV maintenance and repairs! There’s almost always something to do on an RV — tighten screws, replace parts, troubleshoot issues, check your tire pressure, fix whatever’s broken.

Upon arrival at a destination, it usually takes less than 30 minutes to set up. It may sound like a hassle, but if you’re staying a week or more, it becomes a small percentage of your time. And RV life can be as social as you like. We tend to mostly stay in campgrounds, so it’s not too difficult to meet new people. And we also go to RV rallies to meet up with our RVing friends, who we stay in touch with online. It can take a little time to build your RV community, but if you put yourself out there, it can happen pretty quickly!

an RV for long-term travel parked on the side of the road

Do you need a lot of mechanical skills to do this?
When you’re traveling around in an RV, if you aren’t already handy, you’ll learn to be! It’s definitely an advantage to become somewhat mechanical and familiar with simple tools. The RVing community is very helpful and supportive when it comes to finding answers for issues you may have — whether online (in social media groups) or in person. At RV parks and campgrounds, you will usually find someone reasonably experienced and mechanically oriented nearby. If you are not skilled or it’s a complex job, you can usually find a local or mobile repair person to perform needed maintenance or repairs.

We recommend sticking with a less complex RV when starting out. The more simple the RV, the more reliable and easy to fix they are likely to be, and you can tackle many repairs yourself. As full-time RVers driving a Class A motorhome, we only need to take our RV into repair facilities 2-3 times per year on average.

Many RV repairs are fairly simple, and that’s when YouTube and Google are your friends! One of our favorite YouTube channels is the RV Geeks, who make DIY how-to videos to help you make simple repairs and upgrades. It’s often more convenient (and definitely cheaper) to do many RV repairs yourself. And you may even want to consider an extended service contract to cover your RV for repairs outside of the manufacturer’s warranty period and help limit repair costs.

Are there any personality traits you think are necessary for living in an RV?
Flexibility, adaptability, resourcefulness, and a sense of humor! Just like any other kind of travel, things don’t always go the way you want, RVs break (or break down), and travel plans go awry when you least expect it, so you need to be able to find a creative solution, often on the fly. It really helps to be handy or at least be willing to have a go at DIY fixes. RVers learn to become much more self-sufficient pretty quickly.

Anyone can RV if they really want to. It doesn’t matter about your age, life stage, relationship status, or financial situation. In our book, we share the inspiring story of 69-year-old Frieda who hit the road solo after her husband passed away and drove to Alaska to celebrate her 70th birthday. She’s been on the road for two years now and is still going strong.

Another great case study from the book is Nik and Allison (31 and 30). They share why they decided to RV and explore the country before they started a family. They follow the FIRE philosophy (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and save more than 50% of their income so Nik can be a stay-at-home dad. RVing for a year and a half while still working allowed them to do a lot of travel affordably while keeping them on track with their financial and life goals.

marc and julie from RV Love

There really is no “one way” to RV, just the right way for you. That’s why, when writing our book Living the RV Life: Your Ultimate Guide to Life on the Road, we wanted to create a roadmap for people that would help them hit the road and thrive, keeping them on track with their personal goals while they’re doing it. That’s been a big part of our own success. We’re almost five years in now and still living and loving the RV Life. Now we’re showing others how they can do it too.

A lot of people are embracing RV/van life these days. Why do you think that is?
We think it’s a perfect storm of several things colliding simultaneously:

A lot of people are questioning the traditional American Dream as a path to success or happiness — the idea of postponing your life, travels, and experiences until retirement just doesn’t really make sense, and of course, the future is promised to no one. Why not travel while you have youth and health on your side?
Technology is enabling us to live and work from pretty much anywhere, and more companies are allowing people to work remotely, and more people are starting their own businesses.
Then there’s social media and FOMO! With the increased awareness that RV or van life is possible through watching people’s YouTube channels, Facebook pages, and Instagram feeds, other people are beginning to realize you can travel and see cool places, and live or work in forests or by lakes — and they want to do it too. America has long been famous for iconic road trips — and RVs and van life offer the ultimate freedom: exploring the country on wheels.

julie from RV Love surrounded by beautiful nature

How much money will people need before they dive into RV life?
It’s a good idea to pay off as much unsecured debt as possible before hitting the road. Less debt lightens your load and allows you to really enjoy the freedoms of RV life.

It all depends on how you want to RV, and your budget. Generally, we recommend people try to save up a few months of living expenses to get started, and as a backup for unforeseen challenges and expenses. Life happens, and you just never know when you may be hit with an unexpected expense or expensive RV repair.

As a guide, as long as you plan and budget carefully, and make a good RV purchasing decision, it’s possible to RV full-time for about $2,000–$3,000 per month. Some do it for less, and others do it for way more. But across the board, we find most RVers end up spending about the same in their RV life as they did in their regular life.

Just like in traditional life, you just have to plan to live and travel within your means. Plus, your ability to earn an income while you travel is a huge factor. If you can work from the road while you RV — as was the case for us — it can be a pretty simple trade.

For example, we sold our townhome and traded our mortgage payment, HOA, utility bills, and two car payments for:

A used RV, which we financed
A less-expensive car that we paid cash for
Campground and fuel expenses

What we previously spent on home repairs and maintenance for our home is now redirected to our RV. Same goes for RV insurance and roadside assistance. We tend to spend a bit more on eating out and entertainment, as we’re always on the move and experiencing new places. But it’s easy to save money by making meals in your RV, and there’s no shortage of things you can do for free, like hiking, biking, and kayaking.

Many people (like us) are able to work remotely with just an internet connection. Some work seasonally, then take a few months off to travel and explore. Other careers, like nursing, hospitality, agriculture, and construction are highly transferable to new locations, especially for seasonal work. For some lines of work, it can actually be easier to find jobs by having the ability to follow the work around the country.

We have met people who live full-time in vans or RVs frugally, for less than $20,000 per year. And we have seen others who spend well over $60,000 per year. Like all other forms of travel (and life!), expenses are variable, depending on how you do it.

julie from RV Love working on her laptop

What tips do you have for people who aren’t sure what RV, van, or trailer they should get?
Buying an RV can be expensive, and buying the wrong RV can be even more expensive! Like anything with wheels, RVs depreciate (hard), and so doing your research in advance pays off. Before you even set foot on an RV dealer’s lot or go check out the RV you found on Craigslist, ask yourself:

Who is traveling with you?
How much do you plan to travel? (weekends, part-time, full-time)
Where do you want to go? (campgrounds and RV parks or off-grid camping in national forests?)

Generally speaking, you’ll want to choose the smallest RV that you feel that you can comfortably live in. Smaller RVs offer more flexibility to access more places. Larger RVs are more comfortable for extended travel but will be more limiting in terms of where you can take them, especially if you want to stay in national parks and do off-grid camping.

Don’t overinvest in your first RV — it’s the one that will teach you what is most important to you and your travel style. Start out by buying used. You will avoid the steepest part of the depreciation curve. Plus, you’ll have a much better idea of what’s important to you when it comes time to buy your second RV. It’s possible to nail it with your first RV purchase, but not without a lot of research and clarity around your priorities.

What are some common pitfalls to avoid when starting out?
Full-time RVing is not a vacation, it’s a lifestyle. It’s exciting when you start. You want to go everywhere and see and do everything. Try to create a sustainable travel pace from the beginning. Stay longer in an area. It’s cheaper – in terms of fuel and campground fees – and you’ll really be able to immerse yourself, explore, and even feel like a local for a while.

Second, it’s easy for people to think they need a big RV to be comfortable, especially when coming from a bigger home. In the RV lifestyle, your environment and views are constantly changing, so your world feels a lot bigger, even if your living space isn’t. It’s easier to live in a smaller space than you might expect, especially with way less “stuff.” Remember our advice above when it comes to choosing the right RV, so you can avoid that expensive mistake.

And finally, it can be hard to resist buying gadgets and gear before you even buy your RV! Every RV has cupboards and storage of different sizes and shapes, and you won’t know what fits where until you have your RV. Save money by hitting the road with the essentials, then spend some time traveling before investing in too many upgrades or gear. You’ll want to make sure they are going to be a fit for your preferred travel style. You can always buy what you need as you go. Don’t take too much stuff! You need less than you think and can get what you need as you travel.

marc from RV Love standing in the road on a road trip

Do you have any recommended companies for vans/RVs? What about resources for finding where to camp/park?
It’s a good idea to consider renting an RV or van first, to see if you even like the lifestyle. You can rent RVs from rental companies and even from private individuals, which gives you more variety in the types of RVs you can choose from. This is really useful for helping you decide what kind of RV is right for you, before buying one. It may seem expensive, but making the wrong decision isn’t cheap either! Many large RV dealerships rent RVs, there are large rental chains like cruiseamerica.com or www.roadbearrv.com, but if you want to rent an RV from individuals for more variety, consider doing so via rvshare.com.

It is difficult to make specific recommendations about buying RVs, as there are hundreds of manufacturers, models, and types, and RVs are not like cars. The options, features, and price range of RVs vary widely. That said, we generally recommend buying a preowned RV, as they are usually more affordable, and, contrary to cars, you will generally experience fewer issues with a well-maintained preowned RV than with a brand-new unit. That’s because every RV — much like building a new house or condo — will have a “punch list” of items that need to be fixed for the first few months (or more) after you drive it off the dealer’s lot.

You can find RVs at RV dealers, on websites like RVTrader.com, as well as on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, and from friends and family. Local RV parks often have a community notice board of RVs for sale, too.

If you want to camp for free on public lands, there are websites like Campendium.com and Frugal Shunpiker’s Guides to find free camping areas. And there are thousands of RV parks and campgrounds around the country, which you can you find online, through apps, and in camping directories.

You can also look into camping memberships that offer discounts on your stays. For example, we spend a lot of time in a campground membership network that literally saves us thousands of dollars per year. Other websites and apps we recommend include CampgroundViews.com, Campendium, and AllStays. There are a ton out there, and you can find many more resources in our book and at our website, RV Love of course! 🙂

***

If you want more information, Marc and Julie Bennett are RVers who live, work, and travel from the road full-time, and since hitting the road in 2014, have visited all 50 USA states, plus Canada and Mexico. They are co-authors of Living the RV Life: Your Ultimate Guide to Life on the Road, and you can follow along on their journey via their website RV Love as well as their social media channels!

If you’d like to dive deep and get hands-on help on starting your own RV life, they also run online courses at RVSuccessSchool.com. As a Nomadic Matt reader, you can get 10% off their course with the code NOMADICMATT. Just input the code when you sign up!

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe, so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld, as it has the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com, as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them both all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it, as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use when I travel — and they will save you time and money too!

The post How to Live and Travel Full-Time by RV appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Why You Shouldn’t Overlook the American South

Caroline Eubanks standing in front of murals in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Posted: 2/18/2019 | February 18th, 2019

I love the South. Before I went traveling, I always had this perception that the southern states in the US were backward. They were filled with racists, yokels, and obese, gun-loving, Jesus freaks. It was a perception born out of a quarter-century of living in New England and consuming mass media and stereotypes about a people and place I really didn’t know anything about.

Then, at the start of my grand trip in 2006, I drove across the United States. As I made my way through the South, I fell in love with the area. I loved the food, the people, the scenery, the architecture. My perception of the South was wrong.

Sure, it has a lingering history of racism and is more conservative than I personally am, but no place is perfect — and no place is like the stereotypes you see. Driving through the South was the first instance in which I really confronted the stereotypes about people and places I grew up with.

After spending months exploring the South, I realized that the Southern states — which encompass a massive section of the country — are not as culturally and politically monolithic as they once were. Every state is different, each offering the attentive traveler an eclectic mix of incredible food, foot-stomping music, and heart-warming hospitality.

Over the years, I’ve grown to love the area the more I spend time there (hidden gem: Mississippi).

Today, I want to introduce you to Caroline Eubanks. She’s a friend and fellow travel writer whose work primarily focuses on the American South. Caroline has called the South home for her entire life, and in her new guidebook, This Is My South, she shatters all the stereotypes about the Southern United States while sharing her expert tips and suggestions to help you make the most of your next visit.

In this interview, we discuss all things Southern, why this book needed to be written, and why you shouldn’t overlook this region of the country!

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone a bit about yourself! How did you get into what it is you do?
Caroline Eubanks: I’m Caroline Eubanks, a native of Atlanta, Georgia. I went to college in Charleston, South Carolina and it was there I really fell in love with the American South, especially driving back and forth from my hometown past small towns on country roads. I started working for a newspaper when I lived there and started reading travel blogs (including Matt’s!) so I was inspired to create my own. I leveraged guest posts into paid work and one job led to another. I’ve since been published by BBC Travel, Lonely Planet, Thrillist, Roads & Kingdoms, and Fodor’s. I also started my own blog, Caroline in the City, in 2009, and later This Is My South in 2012. This is basically the only job I’ve ever had and the only one I wanted!

Caroline Eubanks chasing waterfalls in Helen, Georgia

How did you start writing about the Southern USA?
I grew up taking road trips around the region with my family, whether that was to the Outer Banks or the Panhandle of Florida. After graduating from college, I went on a working holiday in Australia where I worked with a lot of people from all over the world. I would try to explain to them where I came from but most of the time they were only familiar with places like Miami and New York. And most travelers went to a few well-known destinations but nothing in between. So I started my website, This Is My South, to tell people about the lesser-known destinations that I love from my corner of the world. I also started focusing on the region in my freelance writing since the market wasn’t quite so saturated.

Why do you think the south gets such a bad wrap?
A lot of it comes from the news. Of course, bad things happen here, but it’s a large region so that’s bound to happen. It becomes polarizing with elections but there are lots of different opinions, not just the ones that are the loudest.

I also think people assume that the movies and television shows about it are accurate. Gone with the Wind and Deliverance are not accurate representations at all. These remain what people most associate the region with, but there are large cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville as well as the small towns. You wouldn’t assume every Australian is like Crocodile Dundee or that every person from New Jersey was Tony Soprano, right?

What about the stereotypes about the South?
When I lived in Australia, I went to an expat July 4 party and I was talking to a guy from Ohio. When I said I was from Georgia, he joked that he was surprised to see I had all my teeth. When my parents were traveling in New York, someone asked about their crops. I realized how little people know about this part of the world. I started thinking about these perceptions of the South from both Americans and the world as a whole.

I wouldn’t say that some of the stereotypes aren’t true. There are obviously political divides, but I think there’s a lot more to the South than what you read in the news. The people are overall welcoming and friendly. The region is home to some of the nation’s top universities like Duke and Emory. There are young people creating murals in their small towns (like Kristin!) to drive tourism as well as immigrants from everywhere to Korea to India to Syria bringing their cuisines to meld with traditional regional dishes. And I think there’s something just about everyone can come together on, especially in the South, like food.

Caroline Eubanks standing in front of a mural for Doc Watson in Wilkesboro, North Carolina

What are some of your favorite things about the south?
I always say the food, which is certainly one element. You’ll find both comfort food like fried chicken and collard greens and “healthy” food as well as the cuisines of dozens of cultures. For example, there’s a large Korean community near where I live in Atlanta so I can have authentic Korean barbecue before relaxing at a Korean spa. I love how food is a way that people show their affection.

I also love the general attitude and friendliness. People tend to know their neighbors and offer help when needed. And the music is unmatched by anywhere else in the country. Every genre can be found here. You don’t have to go to a stadium to see impressive artists since there’s usually someone playing at the local dive bar or coffee shop.

Why did you write this book?
I wanted to show people the South that I know and love. I had thought about the idea of writing a guidebook but it actually came to life when I was contacted by a publisher after six years of running my website. They saw my work and wanted to create a guidebook in a similar format. Ever since I started writing, I’ve wanted to write a guidebook, so it was definitely a dream come true.

It was important to me that I have the flexibility to include the places I had fallen in love with in my travels, not just the popular ones. I have a section on the must-eat dishes from every state, quirky roadside attractions, unique accommodations like historic hotels and treehouses, and tours. I tried to emphasize responsible travel and small businesses, so you won’t find those double decker bus tours or your big chain hotels.

I also wanted to include elements that I find lacking in other books, namely the history and odd pieces of trivia. For example, I have sections on the title of “Kentucky Colonel” and the legal loopholes that allow for casinos on and near the Mississippi River.

What do you hope travelers will walk away knowing from your book?
That it’s more than one story. I hope that travelers will be inspired to visit some of the places they’ve heard about as well as ones not previously on their radar. I hope they’ll challenge some of their preconceived notions about the region and give it a chance. I hope they’ll come back for more since there’s no way to see it all at once. And, of course, I hope that travelers will visit the places I write about and tell others about them!

What makes the south special?
So many things. There is unmatched biodiversity including the barrier islands on the North Carolina coast to the swamps of Louisiana to the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The Appalachian Trail runs through much of the region, starting in Georgia at Springer Mountain. It’s a region where connecting with nature is a part of everyday life.

Caroline Eubanks on the Appalachian Trail Approach Trail

Food is also affordable and you can find it in unique places. Similar to the bodega eats in New York, the South sells surprisingly good food at gas stations, including fried chicken, Cajun meats, and Delta hot tamales. Dining is a major part of visiting the region as it’s home to many different styles of cuisine that have influenced American food. You can find “Southern food” in both award-winning restaurants and mom-and-pop casual spots, so there’s something for everyone.

The region is also important when it comes to history. It’s where European travelers first arrived in America, specifically South Carolina and Virginia, and where they were met with Native American tribes. Much of the Civil Rights Movement took place here like the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, and the Woolworth’s counter in Greensboro. A number of notable politicians, including presidents Jimmy Carter and Woodrow Wilson, hailed from these states.

There’s also a lot to offer music lovers since nearly every type of American music has roots in the blues of Mississippi. Icons like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash were influenced by these musicians and infused their styles into their own music. In addition to rock and blues, the mountains of the South were where bluegrass and “old time” music started, eventually becoming modern country music. And, of course, Atlanta is known for its music industry, especially when it comes to hip hop and R&B. Artists like TLC, Usher, Goodie Mob, and Outkast rose to fame there.

Caroline Eubanks in Muscle Shoals, Alabama

What are some budget travel tips for the area?
The South is generally a fairly cheap place to travel. The main expenditures are transportation and accommodation. Flights into major airports like Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, and New Orleans will be cheaper than smaller ones. The same goes for car rentals. Once in the South, it is possible to get around without a car by taking Amtrak and Megabus, but by car is certainly the preferred method of travel.

Certain cities will be more expensive for accommodations, especially Charleston. But you can look for alternative options like small bed and breakfasts, campgrounds with cabins, hostels, and Airbnb rentals. Keep in mind that rentals are limited in cities like New Orleans because of how it affects the local housing market. New Orleans is also great because you can stay at a trendy boutique hotel for under $100 per night.

Meals are cheap at most places unless you’re visiting a fine dining restaurant. If you’re looking for a meal on the go, visit a grocery store to save money. Most have deli counters and prepared foods. Lunch is a good time of day to try the more expensive restaurants, especially those award-winners that can be tough to get a reservation at.

What are some of your favorite off the beaten path destinations?
You don’t have to go far from the well-known destinations like Charleston, New Orleans, and Nashville to see places not in most of the guidebooks. One of the places I always say is a favorite of mine is the Mississippi Delta, which is a number of towns that follow the river south of Memphis. This part of the country is highly important when it comes to music. It was here that artists like BB King and Robert Johnson found their sound and where the blues was developed. There are some funky accommodations like the Shack Up Inn, a collection of sharecropper cabins transformed into guest suites.

War Eagle Mill in Northwest Arkansas

I was also surprised by Northwest Arkansas. This region is known for mountain biking, with trails connecting the towns, but also has an incredible craft brewery scene. Crystal Bridges Museum of Art has one of the best collections in the nation, if not the world, focusing on American works like those by Andy Warhol and Frank Lloyd Wright. Eureka Springs is a funky mountain town that looks straight out of a postcard from the 1800s.

I’ve also found some off-the-beaten-path areas within well-known destinations. In my hometown of Atlanta, I always recommend that visitors check out Buford Highway, the city’s international dining corridor. When I lived in Charleston, I spent most of my time downtown, but on subsequent visits, I end up in the Park Circle area of North Charleston, an underrated part of the city. Just outside of Nashville is Franklin, a town with deep ties to the Civil War. It’s just off the Natchez Trace Parkway and hosts musicians nearly every night of the week at Puckett’s Grocery. They also host Pilgrimage, an annual music festival that has hosted the likes of Justin Timberlake and Jack White.

In every small town in between, there are quirky museums and landmarks you might miss if you limit your trip to the “big” destinations, like a museum devoted to ventriloquism in Kentucky and a memorial to the victims of the Trail of Tears in Alabama. You never know what you might find!

***

Caroline Eubanks is a travel writer and the author of This Is My South: The Essential Travel Guide to the Southern States. She writes about all things Southern at ThisisMySouth.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hotel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

The post Why You Shouldn’t Overlook the American South appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

RTW Update: How Heather is Traveling on a Budget

Heather in Italy
Posted: 11/12/18 | November 12th, 2018

Last December, Heather won our round the world trip contest and was gifted a trip around the world worth $50 a day! In January, she started backpacking her way through South America on a budget. Today, she’s written a blog post about how she’s been able to stay on budget for the last 36 weeks and the lessons she’s learned as a new traveler!

After over ten months on the road, it’s time to update the community again on my trip! Since the last update, I spent two weeks in Brazil, a month exploring Morocco, and two months in Europe watching the World Cup.

Now, I’m in Tanzania exploring Africa!

After so long on the road, I think it’s time to answer the question that really drove the contest in the first place:

“Is budget travel possible on Matt’s $50 a day recommendations?”

One of the reasons Matt sponsored this trip was because he wanted to show everyone that travel is possible on his suggested budget of $50 a day. He wanted a living case study for the ideas in his book!

After tracking all my expenses — including my flights, travel insurance, and incidentals — I’ve spent $14,450 or $56 a day so far. I’ve not only found sticking to Matt’s budget feasible but not at all demanding (especially with a little creativity).

After Africa, I’ll be flying to Southeast Asia, where I’ll end my trip. I suspect that will lower my overall costs even more!

How I stayed on budget

Heather in Africa
At the beginning of my trip, I went to the Galápagos Islands, which are not backpacker-budget friendly, so I had some work cut out for me to get back on budget.

I saved on housing costs by Couchsurfing and staying with friends. In Chile, I stayed with friends I met in Colombia. In Paris, I stayed with a friend I met in Brazil. I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of kind people who offer me help, especially with accommodation, as I travel, expecting nothing in return. The travel community is extremely warm and open. It makes friends of strangers.

I’ve been balancing out other expenses by also keeping my transportation costs low. I opted to take the longer, cheaper way to get from A to B. In Brazil and Europe, I used BlaBlaCar to save money. In Morocco and South America, buses were my go-to option — they were cheap and easy. I booked a limited number of flights and tracked prices so I could book them at just the right time if possible.

Food has been the only place I haven’t cut back. I’m a foodie and, as Matt always says, what’s the point in traveling if you don’t eat the local food! In South America, this was usually easy. There were tons of lunch specials around and cheap local food so I was able to eat on a budget. In Europe, it was much harder. Food was by far my biggest expense but I have no regrets. A girl’s got to eat!

Here are my costs broken down by region:

Duration

Total Spent

Average per Day

South America

115 days

$5,215

$45; $32*

Ecuador

14 days

$600

$42

Galápagos

8 days

$1,700

$212

Peru

63 days

$1,800

$28

Chile

7 days

$210

$30

Argentina

4 days

$146

$36

Iguaçu Falls

3 days

$225

$85

Brazil

16 days

$534

$33

Africa

63 days

$3,904

$62

Morocco

22 days

$748

$34

Tanzania

31 days

$3,156

$76

Europe

78 days

$4,757

$60

Portugal & Spain

5 days

$368

$74

France

22 days

$1,650

$61

Germany

7 days

$500

$42

Italy

14 days

$839

$59

France (part 2)

30 days

$1,700

$56

*Total for South America if you exclude the Galápagos

Here’s the breakdown of my spending by category:

Housing: $2,874
Transportation: $2,632
Food: $4,687
Travel insurance: $1,040
Activities: $3,217 (such as tours to Machu Picchu or the Sahara, diving, a safari, shopping, etc.)

However, that’s not to say it’s all been super easy. I’ve made a ton of rookie mistakes. Even though I’ve read countless articles and books on traveling, once you’re on the road, you tend to get caught up in the moment. It’s one thing to read about it, it’s another thing to be there doing it!

And that can lead to a bunch of easily preventable mistakes! For example, some of the “doh” moments I had:

I spent 16 EUR on coffee as I was walking with a friend I met in Rome. It was SO hot and we just wanted to get off our feet before going to the Vatican. Big mistake! We even forgot to ask the prices. Since it was so close to the attraction (something I normally never do), each cappuccino was 8 EUR — and I got two! Oh, man were we pissed.
When I was in Morocco, just before going to the desert, I went to the supermarket to buy three day’s worth of snacks for lunch. I had heard that lunch was not included in your tour price (already ridiculous, at 86 EUR for three days!) and the tour guide, of course, only takes you to expensive lunch places. I did buy a bunch of groceries — 130 dirhams’ worth ($14 USD). But then I ended up eating at the restaurants anyway because I felt too awkward not eating with everyone and too tempted to order a nice chicken tagine instead of eating trail mix.
Looking back, I would have done a self-guided tour of the Sahara. I knew that before I did the tour, but I was lazy and tired, and I wanted to get out of Morocco. Being lazy is a quick way to burn money — and often also a quick way to have a less special experience.
I met some really interesting people in Buenos Aires who invited me to dinner. One of them was a local expat who was eager to show us that Buenos Aires “isn’t all meat anymore.” It was a great place, but that dinner was about 25 USD, which was almost my budget for the whole day! Then we had drinks afterward as well.

My Advice for Others: How to Save Money When You Travel

Heather in Brazil
Backpacking isn’t like vacation travel. When you travel on vacation, you have little time but more money. When you backpack, the opposite is true: you have time, but little money. If you seek too many comforts and conveniences, you’ll blow your budget and have to go home early!

If I were to give advice to others, my main piece of advice would be to take a minute before your trip to think about what expenses you anticipate and what you are willing to spend. (Matt talks a lot about this.) Ask around for the right price for experiences, food, and lodging so that you have the most accurate information. The time you spend researching will help you better budget you money.

On the road, I would suggest doing two things: first is to write down everything and, second, is to forego convenience.

In his book, Matt says, “It’s the people who don’t write down their expenses that go home early.”

Speaking for myself, I can say this is completely true. There were a few days here and there where I would be so caught up in the experiences I was having that I completely forgot to write down my spending. Afterward, when I sat down to recall what I had spent, I realized I was not thinking about these costs and how they fit into my budget. Writing them all down helped me be mindful how much I was spending. It allowed me to make adjustments to my spending as I went. It’s because of that that I haven’t run out of money yet!

Heather on safari in Africa

Even more important is foregoing convenience. Backpacking isn’t luxury travel. The majority of the time, there isn’t someone to port your luggage, drive you directly to your lodging, or arrange your day trip or tour. But walking when you can, sharing a ride with other travelers, asking for help from a kind stranger, or arranging your own itinerary — all those are free or nearly free.

***Staying on budget has become second nature to me now. It’s not hard once you internalize the strategy and learn to think outside the box. When you do that, you can spend your energy on why you are traveling in the first place: for new experiences and new friends.

I’m ten months into my yearlong trip. Some moments whizzed by. Others felt like they lasted forever. But, overall, it has been everything I hoped it to be – and also unlike anything I expected.

As Heather keeps going with her travels, we’re going to follow along to get more details about her trip, experiences, roadblocks, budgeting, and everything in between! You can follow her journeys on her blog, Confidently Lost, as well as on Instagram. She will also be sharing some of her experiences here!

How to Travel the World on $50 a Day

My New York Times best-selling paperback guide to world travel will teach you how to master the art of travel save money, get off the beaten path, and have a more local, richer travel experiences. It’s the book Heather is basing her travels off her and using as her guidebook around the world. As you can see, it’s working! She’s travel big on a small budget.

If that’s something you want to do too, click here to learn more about the book, how it can help you, and you can start reading it today!

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

The post RTW Update: How Heather is Traveling on a Budget appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.