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Travel is Affordable

Well, thank you everyone for being here a cz john said this is just three budget travel with me matt cuteness and I run the website dramatic matt one right here and I am also author of the book how to travel the world on fifty dollars a day and I'm going to teach you how to travel on the cheap who wants to travel cheaper wants to travel longer, better, but then you come to the right place because that's, what I like to do so in this first section we will talk about how to travel anywhere on the budget. I'll lay out the details of this course and what we're going to talk about over the next two days sure, living about my background and my philosophy on travel and get you excited and inspired and ready to really, you know, start saving some money and traveling longer too s main points here we're talking about why travel anywhere is possible. Why travel media lies to you and tells you travel is expensive, where to find information and hottest cycles so sort of make planning your trip a lo...

t easier because I have found that you'll get easily overwhelmed with the possibility of a going away for a long time and there's so many destinations and things to do and see and all that stuff it's easily overwhelming, so I want to feed you had a become cool and collected and yeah, so you know, the world is a book and he who doesn't travel needs only one page. I think this is a good, uh, motto for us and people. Why we want to travel, right? I mean, we want to go and travel around the world and see everything, right? I mean, who wants to visit every country? Yeah, well, we have it's okay? We'll have two studio audience, but, you know, we're going to get out there. You want to see everything we all travel for different reasons. Reasons, uh, you know, I like to think a lot of trouble for change is change of pace. Routine setting, um, you know, itself attitude, whatever the reason is we travel, we want to get their everyone a, you know, sort of break the mold and see the world and see what it has to offer and really get to experience it. And so what I want to impart on this course is that you can do that quite easily. Um, this is my favorite quotes to move, to breathe, to fly, to flow, to gain all while you give to roam the roads of lands remote to travel is to live, and I think that's, you know, that's my philosophy on travel is that traveling really allows you to see other cultures get to know people get to know yourselves and really enriches our lives, and, you know, I'm here to help you guys travel better and longer and inspire you will show you that you dream trip isn't sort of this remote, you know, thing that maybe can happen it is a possibility because before our way, um, we all want to travel more, um, we don't know how to do so and that's, why we're here, um, this course, we'll show you how you can travel and you're on a budget. You were going to talk about this a little later about the impressions that sort of corporate travel media gives ready, you know, expensive and hotels and retty and, oh, I can't afford to do that. I only get two weeks vacation, and I my job doesn't pay me a lot and etcetera, etcetera. Um, but I learned that is possible to do all that, um, once you break away, and so I'm going to teach you everything I have learned over the last a decade of travel that allows me to traveled on the budget anywhere I want, whenever I want, you know, needs to be rich, you don't need to win the lottery, everybody, all the e mails may so how do you afford to do all this like to your parents pay I wish my parents paid for me too but they tell me I'm gonna grown male and I should take care of myself so I guess I guess I have to find another way to do it and I have never won the lottery I'm a really bad at all this I always lose in vegas and I've most of everyone is ten bucks on the scratch to get twenty five years ago so it was a gift um traveling anywhere you desire is possible regardless of your budget so you know the real secret here is to just have a desire to travel because, um the hardest part is stepping out the door and back when I started traveling I was twenty three I just graduated college and I had to explication year um this is way back a a long time ago um and I all right I have to expectation here what do I do? Um I didn't really know much about it but I figured I have two weeksvacation I need to travel so I do it everyone does I went online and find a really expensive tour and I say call up my friend joe is like jill it's good australia it's only gonna cost us five thousand dollars for two weeks plus fights and he said this sounds like a great idea and then he's like, wait, I can't afford that um but I have this vacation time supposed to take it s o I decided well, I'm not going to wait for joe um I'm going to go find a place where I can go and I found came across this company called g adventures company I still work with and that I love greatly there are excellent small group tours and I decided I was going to go to costa rica to this day I don't remember why I picked costa rica because my parents kept telling me I shouldn't go a scary and dangerous so I wanted to prove to them that I could do this on my own and so I went to costa rica two weeks by myself I remember they had this suggested packing list and I took everything on that list I want hiking shoes have this big duffel bag so much stuff so much stuff I never even used and I went and it was amazing this is me back in two thousand three we went to great volcano uh I got lost in that other volcano on the top left top right no tough left, right top left um I was in that jungle exploring it and this is right before we got lost in the jungle we just want to see a sunset and yeah, we got lost on the trails ended up saying after sunset trying to find our way back no food no water was not a smart move and then I got stuck on the zip line that's a point coming out to pull me back in I'm deathly afraid of heights too so that was an interesting experience and yeah I also a food poisoning while I was in costa rica so it was a great first trip okay loved it I was hooked to me travel was freedom this is with taken in new zealand um you despite getting sick getting lost in the jungle and getting stuck in his reply in the middle of a forest I love traveling this freedom it was every day was something different it allowed me to do you know whatever I wanted I was meeting great people from around the world I you know I was learning spanish I was doing all these adventures but back home every day wake up, go to work come home, go to the gym sleep repeat at nauseam and so you know, I was really excited the possibility that travel gave to me and as michael palin said he uh travel for our documentary guy wants to travel bug bite there is no known antidote and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life I mean when you took your first trip who took their for a ship it was like hooked on travel everybody yeah everybody right you mean once she's experienced that you're like, what was I missing and that's how I felt especially at twenty three you know I've never been anywhere I want to visit my parents grandparents in florida and I went to cruz wants got drunk in montreal when I was underage because you can legally drink there at eighteen um but I was hot this was it and all I could think about was how can I travel more with the only two weeks vacation a year and once my year rolled around I was like, I'm out it was january was cold I went to thailand um and I met the five travelers there and they, you know, opened up the possibility that you can travel long you contract quit your job you can travel it wasn't just for like young backpackers eighteen year old kids you know, putting off university they really opened up my eyes to this I was like, you know what? I'm going to go home to quit my job and travel the world and I left in june to july two thousand six for twelve months eighteen months later I came home and a sign back says people don't take trips ships take people and I came home sat down in the cubicle and realize I don't want to do this ever again and so I built this website uh, as a way to inspire others to travel because everyone was like that. How do you how do you do this? How how can I do this? What is it I can do, teo travel. And so this was really born to help people travel cheaper, better, longer. And so we asked you guys, like, what are some of your travel goals? Wait, we talked a little bit in the pre show about that, but like, what are you hoping to d'oh? I guess for a while I've been in a comfort zone kind of what you talked about, and I've enjoyed that comfort zone a lot, but I think part of the fun of life and part of really exploring and growing as a person is getting back out of that that comfort. So going somewhere I haven't seen, you know, going hostile, going to cut countries that I don't speak the language in and trying to challenge myself to rediscover what that's like, okay, anyone else? I was just I just really want to get, um, other cultures, more than anything and see what I'm about other people live differently. I know there's a whole lot of different ways to spend your time, so mine right now is just too as grand seems to go teo every continent I don't know which country specifically at for each continent percent but mainly because the whole trouble is freedom I found my traveling every new place I found a little bit of a different home and that's what? I guess everyone kind of looks from the end of freedom with a home and I find that the world's the home and I think every person should be able to travel so why not good every continent find out where home is what's really interesting I think you really touch on um so it seems a lot of people go they wanted find other places and when I visit other cultures have goals like I have a friend who want to see every unesco world heritage site in the world everywhere he goes he hits like ten um I think it's jones really get you too try to go out and see everything um so we have all these goals the other cultures visit every continent for me it was just a not sit in the cubicle um but, you know, go on calling up joe and saying, hey, we got to go in australia is going to cost us five thousand dollars for two weeks you know, that's the impression a lot of people have of travel and it's because the need to create this false impression that travel is expensive I remember while I was making this power point I'm not really great a powerpoint so forgive me for the sum of lack of images I was in the hotel room and a commercial came on for hawaii and so this family going down this slide and there's an infinity pool on the parents or you know, hanging over a nice glass of wine with candles and you think, wow, I really want to go into this resort then you think about this resort is probably really expensive um and then you see another commercial for a nice cruise that starts on ly at you know, nine, ninety nine per person and then flights and by the time you're trying to send your kids to disneyworld, your four day trip is four thousand dollars and for most people they can't afford that and so let's talk a little bit why corporate media lies by omission is because luxury cells and pays much better than budget travel if you're telling people stay in hospitals use airbnb here is some ways to fly for cheaply here are free tours you know, whatever tires where you're going to find that it's like yeah definitely tell people not to do use my product or do anything for may and so you know, I don't fault uh corporate travel media not writers all my writer friends are great, you know no problem with writers but when you're you're a corporate magazine you have staff to pay and profit to make and build up a um so you go for the things that cells so they commit all these budget travel items and then not showing us things like this bye there's a resort in thailand I snuck into this year's art they had a great pool and uh so I was staying at a guest house nearby that didn't really have hot water and so I snuck in enjoy luxury one day and you know, magazines they show us these high price adds resorts and tourist because they make money for people and I remember I was watching this ad um for thompson I know I forget who it was with the u k ad and it's a family and showing how much fun they're having you know how relaxing is how everyone's just having a good time and there's great resort and the kids are happy and the parents are rekindling their romance and this use of imagery over and over and over and over again creates its impression that this is what travel must pay right um do you guys feel this way when you guys see it on commercials? No, no, you know you think travel is expensive or I think for those groups who they're targeting that part of the reason why they don't end up going yeah, because you know it creates this impression that this is what must be and part of it is is that um we we don't really have a frame of reference when I went travelling nobody I know had done this before I don't know a single person other than the people I had met in thailand how many of your friends have taking long training trips? One two three four okay um that's good it's more than when I started but you know back when I went in two hours before two thousand five you know there were no travel blog's right there were there was no airbnb there was the sharing economy that really exist so there was less familiarity with it and it's still kind of new I remember when uh a friend of mine was getting coming to visit me and thailand and her co workers like thailand why would you want to go there it's you could get beaches and hawaii if you want to go you know it's a scary place and over and over and over again we get you know, reinforces image that travel is expensive it is too expensive for the average family tio um and so I think that really is important this course and I'm going to show you that travel is inexpensive and there are many ways you can travel cheap because when I see these commercials I just get really upset when like no no there's so many other ways to do this and it gets paid lip service there's an article here and there about cut shipping there's something about airbnb you know they'll talk about hostiles but it's not the main attraction the main attraction is um this this is the main attraction because this makes the money the cells and so they realize by omission because um you know the general population doesn't see this I remember I tell my mom like I'm gonna stay in the hospital and it's like you can be safe they're gonna do with your stuff I saw those on a movie once they weren't looked really clean and I remember meeting ah these girls in amsterdam I mean they were on a tour and I was I want to take this tour like well haven't you seen the movie taken wait, we're in europe things can happen I was like uh I don't think takings we're you know gonna happen and liam neeson is not there to save you um you know, even in the budget magazines you know budget is you know, one hundred could be one hundred dollars a night and I know they're targeting you know, a middle class america um middle class audience as a little bit more money to spend but all the middle class friends I know would love to travel more but a little bit one hundred bucks a night for a hotel room you know, go away for a week that seven hundred bucks plus flights activities get kids I got to go in another hotel room before you know it your you know your disneyworld trip is for grand so here in this course we're going to chiefs that travel is affordable that I have learned through close to ten years of traveling all these little ways that they don't talk about in the media that he learned through experience that you learn by traveling the way you live back at home who spends a lot of money every day back at home well, you're an exception to the rule would understand what they're spending every day they realize they're going to start but every single day actually costing them ten dollars a day exactly you know people don't think in those terms but you put all that money into your travel you could go somewhere fabulous and who needs coffee make it a home that's true and we are going to get into all the little ways to cut your daily expenses but if you travel like you live in, you know that's sort of my take on the whole travel like a local, you can really lower your expenses because you know locals aren't taking expensive tours or not going to expensive restaurants better in the guide book that's you know, everybody recommend this place go there and they're finding alternatives to even when you go in san francisco, right? There's, a lot of bare your folks here, um, you're looking for, you know, what's on the weekend activity that's sort of cheap and affordable, you know, what is their art show? Or is there a concert? Right? Well, do the same thing, you know, in paris, and suddenly paris has become a lot more affordable, and I think, you know, one thing I really want to impart throughout this course is that philosophy that if you travel as you live your home, you can really find a lot of ways to lower your costs, because you're not in that hole, you know, resort, hotel, expensive tour mindset, and once you break out of that mindset, suddenly everything becomes a possibility, it's so much easier in our days to find information online and find access to these tours on dh, your little restaurants and everything that there was a great time to travel because, it's, you know, easy, you know, I have made a lot easier and actually, that we've got to say, we've got about one hundred forty, people in the chapmans that now thank you all for joining us and that they've got their own little debate going on because some people saying they've heard, you know, they want to try hostiles, they want to try and be in the other people say, no, they don't worry about the safety. Now all of these things were going to be covering over the next couple of days. Yeah, so for all your concerns or your excitement that that she was sharing with this right now that's going to get into all of these topics, he's also going to be talking about working abroad and that's a big topic that's come up as well, yeah, so, you know, over the course of the next two days of this course, we're going to talk about how to save money before you go. I'm going talk about how did never pay bank fees and use travel, hacking I as a call, you know, points and miles to travel for free how they deal with your gear, we're gonna have death. Come on, we're gonna have a desk come on a little bit sort of talking about their story because it's, not just me, this I'm not just some guy who, like, find the secret and unique times of other people do this. You when the great greatest things I learned about traveling is that I'm not special. Because you think, uh I know my mom tells me I'm special, but I think every mom tells everyone there special, but it was nice to know that other people have done this before and that you know, you're not christopher columbus forging a path out there into the unknown other people have done this and he seems so scary like, you know, when you want to visit every continent you know who, michael? How do I do that? You want to visit every culture you want to get? Every country had seems like a daunting task, but I always take solace in the fact that, um when I've traveled, I met like eighteen year olds, you know, who have just left high school and have backpacked through the world and they can make it I can make it to, and so we're going to be talking a lot about that over the course we're gonna talk about working overseas because, you know, working overseas really can extend your travel, especially if you can't save a lot before you go. And I worked overseas in thailand and taiwan is an english teacher, and as john mentioned, I also played poker professionally in amsterdam that was an interesting time they leave, but, you know, finding jobs overseas can really extend your trip, and we're also going to talk about how to save money and every destination you know, saving on food saving on attractions transportations I'm going to go into the dreaded train passes that everyone is always so perplexed about um and you were going to put it all together into a nice step by step plan and we're also going to talk about how to save money on airlines because who hates paying airline tickets are so expensive these days, eh? So I'm going to explain the liver to why they're so expensive and how you can not be the person on the plane paying the most money ah and then we're also going to talk about um saving money on accommodation too getting out of that hotel resort mindset we will talk about the hostels and how they're not dirty, dank places like you see in the movies you're not going to end up in bratislava like that movie hostel where some guy's experimenting on you um well that's a different kind of I mean you can end up in riots lava you know with a guy doing some stuff but we're not going talk without of course um that's for a different course creative live after after dark s o you know I really want to get to all of this because I really think it's important that we learned that travel is affordable and accessible to everyone and I think you know the media does and disservice by painting this image that travel is done accessible to everybody when in fact it really is I have met, you know, people who you know from all walks of life from all countries, you know, traveling the world I've met, you know, people from india and the philippines and, you know, developing countries and expensive countries like sweden and norway and australia, you think, well, how you know, if they can find a way to make it work, you know, we from a western country can definitely make it work too, and we're going to get into all that and we are going to have some great guests on too soon we're going to have some other friends of mine from england and they're in peru and one's in nicaragua right now talk about their own experiences traveling and we're gonna have ah, girl, come on, taco, female safety why we have seven females in the audience do you plan on traveling alone? Yes, it is safety year concern yes, well, we're gonna have ah, great person come on, my friend candidates talked about how to travel safe as a woman because I can't really speak to that because when I woke up this morning, I was still a guy there's a fine by may um and so yeah, it was great and we're going to get into our first sort of group hang out pretty soon but before we do let's take some questions from the audience let's do that now people got some very specific, very specific questions. Mason rick dees asking, are you going to begin to talk about traveling with kids traveling with families? Um a lot of what we touched on will be able applicable to that were not specifically like that, but it's all the universal and a lot people are safety seems to be a big question is coming up right now, I know we're going to talk about that j r h is saying, you know, they're worrying about keeping safe but still interacting with locals, but nothing take advantage of you when you're traveling, they were thinking very specifically of vietnam, I've been to be in under the nicest people in the world don't worry about that, people do have those concerns that they're not being somewhere, so I know we're going to talk about the way you have a whole section specifically devoted teo safety, fifty of your like china goods in gear and your your stuff and fifty of your person, you know how to avoid getting ripped off, how to make sure that you're not getting it through a dodgy area and you know, these people are not there to cheat, you know how you don't end up, robbed and experimented on in bratislava or taken in paris this is the wrong hotel. Next time travel with me, okay, we'll show you where we're actually in tow. I think I really one of them. Another. Another thing. That's coming up is traveling with buddies. You know what it's like to to select that person that is going to be your travel buddy, or what to do when it does not work out. When you're in the middle of the trip, what do you do with that bad travel? Because we'd be fighting on the plane waste of time. Yeah, I have a bad trouble. But before I've had great travel buddies, so we will get into that and talk about it. And one of our first guest is a couple and their traveling together, the narrative on, and they can shed some light on the subject, too.