Traveller Profile: The Adventurer

The adventurer is essentially deemed the "free spirit" of the three profiles. If you are an adventurer, you know how to get out there, see many places, do tons of activities and usually with the smallest budget available.  This may far be the thriftiest traveller of all! Here is a breakdown of the adventurer profile:

• Will usually be known as the camper, roadtripper, backpacker, RV'er or van dweller.
• Will take a trip anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months! May even be gone for a year!
• Will see a multitude of destinations in one trip, usually staying at each for a few days to a month
• May work at various points throughout the trip to sustain expenses.

Adventurers have been the same for a long time.  They can usually "get up and go" with less than $100 a in their pockets, yet see and do more than the average traveler.  Check out this excerpt from one of our followers who has been island hopping in the Caribbean for 6 months -

" My name is Gabe and I'd definitely say I'm an adventurer! I've been living on the high seas and it's been the best time of my life.  I originally landed a contract job on a cruiseship that went from New York to the Bahamas and back once a week. The job lasted 3 months and I made a good amount of money, friends and connections while working on the ship.  After the contract was complete,  I stayed on Grand Island for a few days.  Eventually, I found out about another job through some friends, working as a beachman at a private resort on Nassau.  Needless to say after two months of working I decided I had enough money to do some island hopping. In the past 5 weeks, I've gone from Grand Bahama, to Nassau, all the way to Puerto Rico and now I'm planning on going to the Virgin Islands.  I feel like I never want to go back to my normal life back up in New Jersey.  What's my advice to anyone looking to become an adventurer?  Don't look back, see what you can and make connections! Meeting new people afforded me the information to moving from Island to Island for cheap!  I've seen alot of the Carribean, and I started out with $75 in my pocket. "

Like Gabe, there are thousands of people taking on the adventurer profile more than ever.  But what does it take to really be an adventurer?  Think about these questions:

1. Can you get up and leave where you are, knowing you may not see your friends and family for a long period of time?
2. Would you be able to live, possessing only the bare essentials or a very limited number of items?
3. Do you mind sharing living accommodations with people you may not know to well?
4. Can you live off a budget of $20 to $60 a day, in another place?

If you answered yes or even maybe to atleast two of these questions, then you are ready for an adventurer lifestyle.  So the real question here is, how do they really do it?  How can somebody with limited funds see so much??  Being an adventurer does take a load of planning and you almost always need a back up plan.  Let's take a look at a basic two month getaway!

What you need:

Computer
A black and white marble notebook

Steps:

1.  Before anything, think about what is going to happen the two months that you are away.  Do you need to pay rent? When you come home, will you have a job and/or a place to stay? Do your pets need to be boarded? Take into consideration all the things that will happen if you leave your life for two months and notate this on the first page.  Before you can move on, you need to come up with solutions to those issues.  The best time to take a roadtrip is after you've left a job or when you're transitioning apartments.  That way you won't have to worry about taking time off and/or paying bills at home.  If you absolutely need to keep your apartment, think about subletting it other adventurers travelling to your area, while you are away!
2.  Label your notebook as your travel diary, as this will be the method in which you keep track of everything you need for your trip. The next page will break down each phase of your trip and how much your complete budget is. You may break down the phase by months, or every two weeks.  This will be particularly helpful in figuring out how much money you will have for each destination.
3.  Think about a state, region or country that you would like to see.  Usually there will be a few popular destinations within this state, region or country.  List all possible destinations that are 50 to 100 miles away from the previous.  You should have about 4 to 5 destinations per state, region or country.  Just remember that it may be more money to travel cross country then across state or region.
4.  For the next page, you will want to think about the length of your trip (in this case two months) and how long you will stay at each location (about 2 weeks).  What are the dates and how will you travel between each location.  Popular ways to travel are bus and train.  More unconventional ways which we will discuss later are carshares and helping someone move (if you can drive).  If you are travelling by car, RV or van, you can skip this step.
5.  Next, where will you stay when you arrive at each location.  If you are sleeping in an RV or Van, then you can skip this step.  There are a few ways to find cheap/free places to stay.  We will list the websites at the end of this post.  For now, you can check out a Hostel, Bed n Breakfast, or if you really want to take on the adventure lifestyle, there is couchsurfing and volunteer in exchange for room/board.
6.  You want to think about how you will earn extra money to replace any depleted funds over the trip.  We all get carried away at times, and need to replenish, so there are a number of ways to get small gigs to make money.  You can try websites like craigslist and backpage for small gigs or if you have career, you can even act as a consultant to a few companies.  On this page of your diary, write down leads to possible short term/contract/consulting jobs.  Do a bit of digging using the internet.  Using your travel email, contact people in advance of your trip to secure a connection.  You may even get a job in advance of your trip!
7.  Last but not least, how will you get home?  If you are taking a trip for a pre-determined amount of time, then you can purchase your return trip ticket in advance of your trip.  If you are aren't certain of your return date just yet, purchase a Visa gift card/prepaid debit card in the amount that would cover a return trip from any place within your destination.
8.  Now you're ready for your trip.  While you are on your trip, record everything in your travel diary from where you stayed to the amount of money you used, where you ate and who you met.  If you ever decide to return to your place of travel, this information will prove to be very useful.

And there you have it!  You have successfully planned your first adventure style vacation.  Here are some tips:

• STAYING SAFE - You will want to make sure that whereever you go, you are familiar with atleast a few landmarks such as the police precinct, embassy and etc.  You want to research some laws before arming yourself in another country but pepperspray is definitely accessible in any location at your local Wal-mart.  If you can, travel with a buddy from your hometown.
• Finding a job - Craigslist.org, Backpage.com, and newspaper classifieds are your best choice to finding a small job in the destination.  You may also want to make a list of staffing agencies that offer jobs in your field. In future posts, we will discuss making money online as a means of income.
• Finding a place to stay - Hostels.com, Hostelworld.com, Hostelbookers.com for your cheap Hostels.  For free places, check out BeWelcome.org, CouchSurfing.com. For work/live exchanges, check out WWoof.org, Helpx.net, Workaway.info.  Also consider cruiseship jobs and resort jobs by contract.
• Getting to your next location - we don't recommend walking alongside a highway and sticking your thumb out. Try Craigslist.org using the RideShare section. You can also check out erideshare.com, rideshareonline.com.  Also think about checking labor gigs for people who need help moving to another place within your travel itinerary.  This is a great way to make money and get to your next location.
• Keeping track of your things: Make sure to list everything you are taking on your trip in your diary.  And we do suggest to travel as lightly as possible if you aren't road-tripping, RV'ing or van dwelling.

Last but not least, make the most of your trip!  We can't stress this enough because you are essentially taking a trip, where anything can happen!  That's what adventures are all about! Stay tuned for more blogs about taking an adventure!

Stay Thrifty and Safe Travels!