How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

So you just graduated college, Congratulations! This time in your life is filled with so many changes. Some of them may include getting a full time job, actually seeing more than $500 in your bank account, moving back home with your parents, maybe buying your own place, buying a new car, saying hello to your student loans that are now starting to accrue interest, having a new profound interest in exploring the world, and the list goes on and on. Sound familiar?! I believe these are some things all recent grads go through. They all have one thing in common, they all deal with your finances! I will address each one of these scenarios in this How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad blog.

Both Faris and I graduated from business school in 2016. We felt the pressure from all these changes and had to make so many different decisions. We too caught that travel bug but had to do some major research on how to afford our expensive hobby. Faris and I have been traveling since the day we graduated and have been to over 30 countries in the last 3 years. We share all of our secrets with you in this How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad blog so that you can get your travel on too!

Pick the Right Job – How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

Your first step in how to afford travel as a recent college grad should be getting a job. Not any job but the right job. What I mean by this is knowing your worth and getting an appropriate job and salary which suites your degree, experience, and is something you enjoy!

Be Well Equipped with the Essentials

Make sure you have all the essentials to score that perfect first job post graduation! These essentials include a network of people in your industry, a superb resume, interview skills, and the confidence! I will talk more about scoring your perfect first job in another blog coming soon!

Do Your Research on Your Pay Grade

Know your worth by doing your research! There’s a ton of different job opportunities out there and each has their own pay scale. I use Glassdoor to understand where my pay should be around. Glassdoor uses employees titles, location, experience, and pay to calculate the average pay for your title in your area. This will give you a base to start from.

Do you research by talking to others. Talk with your professors to see what pay you should expect and what qualities companies are willing to pay more for! Talk with other recent grads to see what their base is and why!

Do note every person is different with the qualities they have! Things like the college you graduated from, intern experience, scholarship, athletics, greek life, and more can play a part in your pay grade.

Don’t Be Afraid to Negotiate

One of the most important steps in how to afford travel as a recent college grad is to get a strong base pay. Once you finally score an offer from a company you really like don’t be afraid to negotiate! You’ve done your research on your pay and you know where you want to be, let the company know. Now don’t get me wrong it’s not the easiest thing to do and can be a little awkward but this is normal for HR. They deal with negotiations and pay grades all the time so don’t let feeling awkward stop you.

The one thing I’ve learned from working in corporate is that people are a company’s most valuable asset. Once they’ve found the right candidate for the position they don’t want to let them go. Even if they can’t give you a higher salary maybe they can offer you a bigger sign on bonus or a commitment to put you in a development program. I promise a company will never revoke your offer for trying to negotiate, it will never hurt you so mind as well try. The worst thing they can say is no!

How Faris and I Picked the Right Job

Faris and I went to the same business school in Midland MI, Northwood University. We were both college athletes and took our education pretty seriously from the start. Northwood specializes in Automotive Aftermarket. Coming from Michigan, the automotive industry is huge and makes up a large portion of our jobs. Not to mention the pay in this industry is higher than most other businesses in our area.

Both Faris and I were pretty involved in all event scholarships and program internships. We both had internships starting in our sophomore years for the companies we still work for today!

The internships helped us gain that network of people and allowed us to learn the skills necessary for our future jobs. It also made getting our jobs easier because we knew the people interviewing us!

Once we received our offer letters we both negotiated. Here are some of the reasons I used for my negotiation. I graduated number one in my major, I already had 2 years experience in the company, and I had a specialized degree in the industry of the company. Both Faris and I’s negotiations were accepted. We started out with salaries higher than the normal average in our area.

We continue to evaluate our salaries with glass door and negotiate our pay. Today I am in a 3 year management development program. By the end I will be a manager by age 26! Not to mention I get a pay increase every year of the program. The moral is to ask for what you want or you’ll never get it by waiting. Negotiating and getting what you are worth is a huge factor in how to afford travel as a recent college grad.

Check out our 15 Ways to Travel With a Full Time Job blog for more tips!

Make A Payment Plan for All Debts – How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

A college degree now a days is no joke and can rack up the $$$ really quick. Most student loans start to accrue interest the day you graduate and interest is high. Have a payment plan for your loans. The worst thing you can do is let these loans sit and add up. Paying off student loans should be one of your highest priorities. Also, once you have a monthly payment plan you will have some peace of mind. This is a huge bill for someone just in their twenties, but hopefully will pay for itself with your new job! Being debt free plays a huge part in how to afford travel as a recent college grad.

How Faris and I Pay Off Our Student Loans

Both Faris and I had athletic and academic scholarships, but it didn’t cover all costs. We went to a small private school which cost double the amount of a public university so we feel your pain! I was able to pay off all loans in my first year post graduation. Faris continues to pay his off on a monthly basis and only has a little more to go. We are both extremely happy we decided to negotiate our pay and get higher salaries in our first job so that we could pay off our loans faster!

Get Rid of Unnecessary Costs – How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

This one really has to deal with your priorities and what’s most important to you. If travel is important to you then you need to get rid of the costs that are standing in your way. Take a look at your credit card statement and see what’s making up the majority of the bill. Things that often take up a lot of cash include: going out to eat, drinks at the bar, new clothing, even that brand new car you decided to buy. Now I’m not saying to never go out to eat or buy a pair of jeans again but can you cut these costs down by 25%? Any change can help add up!

How Faris and I Cut Down on Unnecessary Costs

Both Faris and I are huge foodies so cutting down on food is really hard for us! So instead of cutting out restaurant eating entirely we’ve picked a couple favorites that are more affordable. We have our favorite sushi spot which costs $20 for the both of us, an authentic taco place which gets both of us dinner for under $10, and some extremely cheap greek spots. We tend to stick to these few places because the food is amazing and the prices are great!

Cars are another big topic when talking to recent college grads. It’s really nice to see those $’s rolling into your bank account once you’ve got that job and it can be tempting to buy an expensive car. In my own opinion cars are rarely an investment and depreciate too fast. Faris and I stick to leases because it’s a cheaper option. We both pay under $200/month for our leases and we don’t have to worry about mechanical fixes that older cars may require.

Choose the Living Situation You Can Afford – How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

So a lot of recent grads deal with the “I can’t go back to living at home with my parents” thought post graduation. Maybe moving into an apartment or buying your own house is the right decision for you or moving back home and saving for a couple years is right. You need to take all financial details into consideration like how much do you have saved up, how many loans do you have, can this new job support a house, how much can I travel if I choose to make a mortgage payment every month?

These are questions you need to ask yourself about setting your priorities. If buying a house is more important to you then travel then there’s your answer, but if it’s vice versa look into other options. Living costs can be the largest payments for any person, it is extremely important to look into all options. Faris’ situation is actually completely opposite of mine but both work for us and allow us to travel.

How Faris and I Chose Affordable Living

Post graduation I chose to move back home with my parents. I get along with my parents really well and both my brothers were moved out so it was just me, my parents, and my dog Jimmy, no brainer! I made a plan to save up for a year and then move out into an apartment with a girlfriend! Three years later at age 25 I’m still living at home with my parents. Many of you reading this may think I’m crazy. But now I have all student loans paid off, I invest 17% into my 401K/Roth, and I get to travel as much as I get vacation time. I don’t have to worry much about my financials at all. By time I move out I will be able to pay off more than half a house!

Faris on the other hand did the exact opposite. He bought a home just 6 months after graduation. He bought the home and finished the basement which put value on the house. Once he sells the house he hopes to get more money for it than he bought it for.

On the other hand cash flow is much different. He has two roommates which help with the bills but every month he has to pay off the mortgage, utilities, and student loans. His job allows him to afford all these things but his cash sits in his investment rather than his bank account. He uses his cash from his side hustle to allow him to travel which brings me to the next point!

Get A Side Hustle To Pay for Your Travels – How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

The transition of college to graduation to working full time is a weird period. It’s a new schedule, it’s new people, it’s a new you. I think it takes everyone at least a couples months to adjust to your new lifestyle. Once you get accustomed you notice that a 9-5 schedule is pretty simple especially in your first job. There’s some room for something else, aka a side hustle. Is there a hobby you have that you could monetize? Some examples could include: volleyball lessons, bartending, writing, photography, gardening, and so much more. Check out the website Upwork it’s a website for freelancers to book jobs.

This is where you can get some extra side cash for travels! This is huge for people who have so many expenses like a house payment or huge amounts of student loans. Use your side hustle money for all your travels. It’s a guiltless way of spending money on travels because it’s extra cash on top of your normal job.

Faris and I’s Side Hustle – Extra Cash

Being college athletes Faris and I are used to packed schedules so it felt a little empty going to work every day for 8 hours and not having anything else in the plans. In the beginning the free time is nice for some Netflix and Weekend get togethers but we wanted something more! Faris was always into making videos and traveling so he decided to get a camera and got me into it as well. For some months we went out and practiced our photography skills.

Now today Faris books us photography jobs through upwork with all kinds of clients like restaurants, clothing brands, and athletes. Faris also does video work with a wide range of clients. Jobs range from a couple hundred dollars to thousands. It’s something fun we do together and the extra money is used for our travels and camera equipment! If we can learn something new in just a year and monetize it you can definitely do the same!

Choose Cheaper Travel Destinations – How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

Oh there are so many places in this world to travel, how do you know which countries to choose?! While you are still building up your bank account choose cheaper destinations to travel to! Find cheap flights using google flights and travel to countries that you know the $ will go along way. Some places include: Eastern Europe, South America, and Asia. There are others especially along the Mediterranean as long as you stay away from the touristy spots! Do some research! Your travels do not need to cost thousands of dollars. We have done internationals trips that cost under $1,000! I think it surprises people that you can stay in a 5 star hotel on the Greek island of Paros for just $50’s a night! Those prices are out there you just gotta find them!

How Faris and I Choose Cheap Travel Destinations

People always ask us how do you choose where you travel and I always answer with price. We want to travel everywhere but we still need to afford to live. It starts off with finding a cheap flight then looking at the country’s economy. So if we find $300 flights to Hawaii we will still turn them down just because we know the prices once we get there will surpass the cost of a trip to Thailand with flights at $700.

If there’s a place you’re dying to go to save up for it and make a plan! Both Faris and I are dying to go on an African Safari trip but we know this is just out of our price range for now, but once I get the manager position I will take the trip!

If you do decide to travel to a destination that is more expensive look at where you can save costs. Faris and I took a trip to Iceland. We found airfare for $300 but we knew accommodations, and food would be extremely expensive. In order to save we traveled with a bigger group to help with accommodations and only bought food from the grocery stores. In the end we spent less than $900 per person. I linked our Iceland Travel Tips and Itinerary below if you are looking to do your own cheap Iceland trip:

Travel in the Off Seasons – How to Afford Travel as a Recent College Grad

Travel in the off seasons because it’s a great way to save on some cash and a huge step in how to afford travel as a recent college grad! For example European summers are amazing and everyone travels to them at this time. This means the prices are double the amount they are in other months. Look into shoulder seasons like May or September when the tourist season is low but the weather is still nice. Things like airfare, accommodations, food costs, excursions are all much cheaper at this time! Make sure to check out all of our itineraries as many of them promote going in the off seasons:

How Faris and I Travel in the Off Seasons

Faris and I travel in the off seasons almost every time we plan a trip. First of all it’s much cheaper and it’s so nice to go to a place that’s normally packed with tourists and have it all to yourselves. I really enjoy going to the Mediterranean area in September. Tourist season slows down tremendously, prices are cheap, and the weather is still hot!