Last minute winter Euro-trip planning

It’s August, time has flown by, yet you’re still set on traveling at the end of the year. However, you don’t know where to start. Is it too late to begin saving and planning? Absolutely not. Is it going to require a lot of hard-work and serious sacrifices? Definitely.

You may not believe me, but believe it or not, over a year ago I only set my mind on traveling about two months before I left. I had a relatively small amount saved – about ten thousand rand – in a fixed-deposit account, as I actually expected to travel six months later. However, life happened and I just went with it. This amount was small, considering my last-minute ticket to Berlin and from Belgium cost about eleven thousand rand. I vividly remember paying this amount via EFT, feeling so empty seeing all my hard-work and savings disappear in the push of a button. However, this is a feeling I’ve since starting embracing because your return on this ‘investment’ is immeasurable. So, let’s consider your current position and how you can start working towards getting on that flight. First thing’s first:

• You’re going to have to work some very long and tedious hours. Unless you have a steady income, you’re probably going to have to do a lot of overtime due to only having a few months left. To put it in perspective, I tutored everyday of the week, while doing promotions and working in clubs until about 3:00am from Friday to Sunday; I had no life, I was so tired, but I knew what my goal was. Let me add that I despise clubs, so every time I had to muster up the energy to go to work at midnight, it was a never ending challenge.
• Next up, you want to spring clean your finances. By this, I mean sit down with your previous month’s bank statements and look at what you can cut out. For instance, I had to significantly reduce my spending on food and going out for coffee, dinner and so. For some of you, it might be going out on the weekends for drinks or shopping regularly. A night out costing five hundred rand is the same as one night’s accomodation in the city of your choice. To encourage you, I always think about how I could do all of the above, just overseas in a new and more exciting environment. I’m currently saving for my upcoming trip, and so far I’ve stopped going for eyelash extensions (approximately six hundred rand per month), I’ve cut my grocery spending to one thousand two hundred rand per month and I’ve stopped eating out in the week. All in all, this has saved me about two thousand rand a month.
• You want to book your ticket as soon as possible. If you’re flexible, flying on Christmas is probably the most affordable time. I’ve done this before, and personally, I loved it. I remember flying in on the 25th, and I spent my evening escaping the rain by having a grande hot chocolate at the Starbucks near St Katherine’s Docks – this is probably top ten travel memories for me. I sat back to think about how I was half way across the world, and my heart was so warm. Back to my point of flying on Christmas, I was so surprised at how many other people were doing it too, but keep in mind that all public transport – like the Underground in London – will be closed.
• Assuming you’ve made a plan with budgeting, you also want to be realistic about how long you can go for. Of course, whether you go for one week or four weeks, your airfare will be the same, however expenses such as accommodation and food will keep adding up. The good new is that hostels and most accommodation during winter are so, so affordable! For example, you can book a room in a girl’s dorm in Paris for about 20 euros. However, don’t look at prices months before – they will decrease as your stay approaches, and there is usually a very low demand in December and January. I booked a room at the Generator on the day I wanted to check in, and there was no problem. They also offer a promo code if you book in winter. Besides for this, there are endless options on Hostel World.
• Lastly, do not compare your travels to anyone else. Your journey, experience and situation is completely unique. Also, don’t forget that we only see the good and glamourised parts on social media; it’s not often that you see the not-so-pretty, difficult times which are a part of the reality. Never lose track of why we travel, what we seek and what we feel afterwards. We are young, therefore a restrictive budget that only allows for bargains, sightseeing and hostels is so much more than what others may be able to afford. Just being able to get on a plane, wake up in an unfamiliar city filled with new aromas, languages and faces is a blessing beyond belief. When I arrived home after my first Euro-trip in 2015, my bank balance was five rand twenty cents 🙂 I embraced this, and got right back to work the next day with a heart filled with gratitude and a mind craving the next adventure.

I will be doing a more detailed post on how I budget, and where and what I spend on once I get to that phase of my jourey. Right now, I’m working towards my plane ticket as my first step: Cape Town to Milan return – nine thousand rand. Goal one in progress 🙂

From far but near,

Jess.