I reblogged my first blog post “How I started travel the world – leave the marked path and take the side track” after reading ladiesgoneglobal‘s post about “HOW DO YOU AFFORD TO TRAVEL”, which pointed out that it’s for privileged people to have the ability to prioritize travelling at the first place.
HOW DO YOU AFFORD TO TRAVEL?
Travelling can seem out of reach for those of us who do not have a lot of disposable income.
You save and save yet being able to fund a trip seems impossible. There is always something else you have to pay for, always something else that stands in the way of booking that ticket.
It’s not as simple as saying that it’s a matter of priorities, because that statement itself comes from a position of privilege. Your privilege being that you have a choice as to what you prioritise. Think about it.
I immediately recalled my experience of feeling dejected and envious to see people travelling a lot while I had family burdens/background that didn’t allow me to stray a bit away from a secure job/the standard way of life.
When people say they would rather buy experiences than things; when they say it’s only a matter of priorities, I agree and I understand because that’s what I’m thinking and doing right now.
But some years ago, I didn’t have the privilege to say that. It’s not about choosing not to own that new pair of shoes or that latest iPhone model so that I could take a trip to the white sandy beach of Hawaii or clear water ocean of the Maldives, when new shoes or new phones were never even my options.
What stood between travelling and my purse were household expenses and parents that I have to take care of; student loan for my university education that took me 5 years to repay to the government – these are money that you cannot choose not to spend.
With a rather low salary compared to the long working hours (>14 hours a day was thought to be normal), I hardly had any money left for the monthly savings that I knew I had to keep if I wanted to travel; nor did I even have a life to think about myself when I spent all of my waking hours working.
And the most complicated issue of all, which has nothing to do with your purse, is responsibilities. What’s your family background? How’s your upbringing like? Do you have supportive or overprotective, open-minded or conservative parents? How’s your relationship with your family and what’s your role in it? These all cultivated and shaped what you have become today, as well as your sense of responsibility and what you have to carry on your shoulders.
To travel nowadays is not difficult with the accessibility and information we have, and there are a lot of budgeted tickets and ways to travel around. You don’t need to be a millionaire. But even if you prioritize travelling, your background still implies a lot more things which could get in your way before you could start reaching your goal.
Sometimes it’s not just a matter of money and how you choose to spend it, I wish it’s this simple as how many people would put it. But life is a fact, so stop over-romantizing and simplifying different kinds of problems, some you don’t even understand, that each individual has to face.
It takes some people much longer time and much more sacrifices to get the same things. Don’t take chances, choices and freedom for granted. Each person has a different journey.
Do you agree that we’re in a privileged position to have a choice as to what we prioritize? What’s your life journey before you could actually take your journey of travelling the world?
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