Photo Credit Keith Fulton

A lot of people ask me if it is realistic to do budget travel these days.  And by this I don’t just mean stay within a defined budget for your trip, but get the most out of your travel dollar.  Most of us aren’t college backpackers taking a final trip around Europe before we have to get a real job.  The majority of the people that ask me this have jobs, but want to do something more with their vacations than visit Mt. Rushmore or Niagara Falls.  They want to see the far flung places of the world, but have to do it on a limited amount of money.  And to those people I say, you can do it.

Budget travel does not necessarily equate to sleeping in dive motels in some run down part of a third world country waiting for the next infestation of bed bugs to come and get you.  It is all about finding the best deals, and using what I call travel currency arbitrage to make the most of the money you have.  I’ll cover some of these thing more in depth in later articles.  Today I just want to talk about how we can realistically achieve a fantastic travel experience on a budget.

Two of the most expensive things on the travel menu if you are heading overseas is airfare and hotels.  This will probably make up the biggest chunk of your budget.  Now there is not a lot you can do about airlines, they pretty much own the market and you will get the best deal you can.  Forget all those urban myths about getting a job as a courier to carry a package on a flight to Europe for $10.  It might have happened once, but not these days.  And even if you could find something like this, most people have a set vacation schedule and couldn’t take a chance showing up to the airport hoping there was a courier spot to Amsterdam.

If you want the best air travel deals, you need to plan ahead and start looking early and often.  I usually plan my trips overseas six months in advance and watch the airfares like a hawk.  I use sites like Kayak to provide me an overview of the different airlines going to my destination.  Then I look at the individual airlines sites to get their prices as well.  I will get a base line price on the rates and continue to watch what they do.  However you don’t want to wait too long to purchase your airfare, because once you wait to long, you enter a pricing zone where seats are filling up and they can raise fares.  There are some other good tips to save you some cash that I’ll cover in another article.

In regards to hotels or accommodations, that is another big drain on the travel budget.  But where you stay and how long you stay can play a big part in getting a good deal.  And depending on where you go, you can leverage the power of the dollar to live like a king or queen on $50 a day.  But you may have to forgo one destination for another.  Right now the dollar is pretty weak compared to other western countries.  Instead of visiting Venice Italy, you may want to try Thailand.  Bangkok is the Venice of the east they say.  But those are the types of things you need to think about to get the most for your money and travel on a budget.

I’ll talk more about all this in many future articles.  There is no way to fit years of travel advise in one page.  But budget travel is real, and it will open up the world to you.

Global travel can be a reality for most people.  It is obvious that depending on your circumstance it may not be the right time for you.  If you are married with two young kids for instance, packing up and heading out on a global vagabond tour may not be the best thing.  However it doesn’t mean you can’t relocate overseas and start fresh there.  You could then use your new home country as a base of operations to go travel to other parts of the region on your holidays and vacation.

For single people it is a lot easier.  There will be some sacrifice involved without question, however sometimes we sacrifice some things in order to achieve the greater goal.  This may mean cutting back on expenses.  Forgoing payperview events, canceling your home phone and just using your cell, no more Starbucks, no more clothes shopping on a whim.  You get the idea.

The key is to make a plan, execute it, and stick to it.  This plan may need to be one to two years long in order to make it realistic.  So be it.  You must do what you need to do in order to achieve your goal and leave very little room for compromise.  I say ‘very little compromise’ because holding to strict a plan may cause people to give in early on because it is too difficult and miss out on their dreams.  You can have some compromise along the way as long as you realize you need to stay on path to reach your goal.

This advice doesn’t just apply to global travel, but is apropos to most any goals that you need or want to achieve.  It all starts with a plan, and then massive action.  You want to earn more money?  Set a goal, devise a plan, and put it to work with massive action.  The results will come.  Sometimes they come quick, other times it takes sustained amounts of effort before you achieve what you set out to do.

You may need to make so changes to the plan along the way, adjust to what is working and what isn’t.  That is what makes a it truly effective.  You need mile markers along the way to see what has been working and what hasn’t.  You then adjust your strategy accordingly.  No use banging your head against a wall doing the same thing over and over again if it isn’t working.  Part of the process is learning and adjusting.  That will make you successful.

Two of the most important things that I have identified with global travel is budget and income.  If you wish to sustain yourself traveling for an extended period of time you need to either have a very deep savings account, or a means to make money while on the road.  The optimum situation is to have both, however that is not always an option for most people.  It is recommended that you have a cushion in your savings, and then an income will traveling.   That way you spend from your monthly income but have a cash reserve should you have a light month or unexpected emergency.

The question always comes up of what can I do to make money while I travel.  There is no easy answer to this.  Some options are consulting, working remotely, or making a passive income online through such things as Internet marketing.  If you have a job that doesn’t require that you are in the office all day long, then you maybe able to do it while you are living overseas.  We call these location independent jobs.  However most of us are not that fortunate to have that option with our careers.  IT professionals are one such group that has that ability.

If you are looking at making money online, it is not as easy as advertised.  The old saying goes that internet marketers work 14 hours a day so that they can make money in their sleep.  It is slow going before you make any income online, and you have to know what you are doing.  Most people unfortunately don’t have a clue.  They are easily duped by some of the websites out there telling them to start a blog, tweet, social bookmark, and buy their ebook and they will all of a sudden be making millions of dollars.  It just doesn’t happen like that.  There are way too many things you need to know, like SEO, website or blog design, link building, etc.   This can all be learned and implemented for free.  However you will spend hours, days, and months learning, implementing, and trying again before you see any real income.  Am I trying to discourage you?  No, you just need to know the realities.  It is a business like any other.

Now once you have your budget and income squared away, you can focus on your travel plans and timeline.  If you are thinking of global travel then you probably already have a good idea of where you want to head and for how long.  Back that into your budget and cash flow estimates and you should have a pretty good idea of what your trip is going to look like.  Most people find that their budget doesn’t last as long as their dream trip does.

One good idea to get around this is to take several smaller trips with 6 to 9 months in between to build up your travel capital budget again.  IT professionals can often find it easy to come back home and take a consulting gig for 6 months, build up some savings then head back out on the travel road again for a few months.  Do this over and over, or until you are ready to settle down.  Sometimes settling down may end up being in a country that was different that the one you left.  Life is full of surprises, and you never know where you may end up.

Travel is our passion and you will soon see that by the articles on the site as we develop it here.

When you start your search for your new treadmill, there are going to be a lot of options and bells and whistles that may overwhelm you.  Well cover a few of the main points here and make your shopping a little easier.

How treadmills are not cheap.  However if you spend the money you will get a high quality exercise machine that will last for many years.  You can expect to pay on average about $1,000 dollars for a good treadmill.  It will have a lot of functionality and will be around for quite a few years.  These better treadmills are worth the investment if you are serious about getting in shape.

If you are packing on a few extra pounds, you’ll want to make sure the home electric treadmill you are looking at can support the weight.  The ones you find in gyms are able to compensate for the higher end of the weight scale.  However some home treadmills can accommodate up to 200 pounds.  If you are over that, you will want to ensure that your exercise machine is in the 200+ weight pound class.  The reason is the electric motors that run the tread are designed on a specific weight limit, if you are over it; it may not work properly or burn out quicker.

Another nice feature to have on a home workout machine is the heart rate monitor.  These nifty little devices allow you to monitor how your workout is going.  If you follow interval training, or running for fat loss, or cardiovascular improvement, heart rate monitors are essential.  They help you make sure you are running or training in the proper heart rate zone to achieve optimal results.

The next nice option to consider is a folding treadmill.  These are true space savers and can allow you to workout at home, then fold the treadmill and put it away when you are done.  Unless you have an exercise room in your house to dedicate to your new electric treadmill, this might be a great option for you.  It doesn’t make them disappear, but it sure does save a lot of space.

A couple last points to look at when shopping for a treadmill follow. One is to find one which can vary your workout routines.  You should be able to go from walking on a flat surface, to running hills, and interval training.  Not all of the units will have this, but it is a must if you want to continually change up your routine on your weight loss program.

The next is inclining.  An incline Treadmill is a great way to increase the difficulty of your workout and improve your progress to getting fit.  You can usually varry the incline amount from 1 – 10%.  Some machines may go higher, but for the most part this is all you need.

Using these tips you should be able to pick out a great electric treadmill that will work to help you achieve your weight loss goals.