Nora Dunn has toured 50 countries in ten years
ACCOMMODATION
For starters, **Nora almost never pays for her accommodation**: "I've changed my travel style several times, from long-term volunteering in which he spent more than six months in the destination to years in which I didn't spend more than five nights in one place , like 2010 (in all of 2011, I spent $173 on accommodation ) . I have also lived abroad for rent, and I have taken care of houses in exchange for living in them ", she explains on her website.
The search for this type of agreement has led him to discover amazing places , like the iron and cement yurt in which she lived for a month, suspended on a cliff in Hawaii and surrounded by tropical forests . "It had amazing views from a few hundred meters of hardened lava and a 100-foot drop to the ocean, with waves so big that sometimes collided with the cliff itself ", she explains to us. The place was completely sustainable (with handicaps, in her opinion, like a toilet based simply on two cubes ), which ultimately caused her to have to leave; after a month in which it did not stop raining, there was not enough solar energy for the wifi to work, and she needs it to work.
"That and what was the owner was a bit difficult to deal with The adventurer clarifies. Usually, however, Nora has nothing but generous words for hospitality with which she is treated when she uses some coachsurfing service (literally, "sofa surfing"): "In fact, it is very rare that she sleeps on someone's sofa; I usually get my own room! I guess that helps," she comments.
Also, she says she feels safe when she sleeps in someone else's house : "I try to stay with people I've met before, or communicate with a new host some time before Of the stay. When I meet him for the first time, I do it in a public place , to be able to feel if I feel comfortable with him or her; if not, this gives me a chance to back out, though I've never had to ", she recalls.
TRAVEL VERY SLOWLY
"The slower you travel, the fewer planes, trains or cars you will have to pay for and the more money you will save . The ** slow travel ** also has the added benefits of providing you with a more immersive cultural experience , to give you the possibility of save on accommodation that you need when you have to do, for example, scales, and power cook yourself ", affirms the Canadian, who still gives us one more confidence: "If I need to take long haul flights I have another secret: do it first class , for the same (or less) money than the equivalent of a tourist ticket. I do this **using frequent flyer miles** as well as making use of the not so well known mystery shopping technique ".
That strategy consists of work with the quality department of a travel company which, in exchange for providing you with accommodation and flights at a very low price, requires you write an inform about their status. The author explains how to access those jobs here.
WORK WHILE YOU TRAVEL
In 2006, Nora left her career in financial planning to become a full-time traveler and, at the same time, dedicate himself to her passion: writing. She ** she Earns money thanks to sponsorships, advertisements on her blog and the books she has written **, but in addition, sometimes she also carries out volunteer projects that, as we saw before, provide her with free accommodation . This translates into jobs where she has painted murals, she has taken care of retreat centers and she has even been a guide in ecological walks on llamas!
However, the possibility of adapting to so many types of employment may not be easy for everyone: "I think a particular type of personality is required to carry out exchange volunteering successfully , just as it takes a certain type of person to open their home to strangers in order for them to live and work with them for lodging. It is important be very flexible, be easy to deal with and be willing to carry out any adventure that crosses your path. It is also crucial that both parties be very clear about your expectations , so that there are no disappointments or misunderstandings", explains the traveler.
DO NOT DEPRIVE ANYTHING
"My annual expenses in the years that I travel continuously have ranged **from $17,000 to $40,000**. In general, I spend an average of 20,000 a year , and that without depriving myself of much: When I want lobster, I eat lobster!" , she tells us. However, what really keeps your spending pace within manageable limits is his traveling will : "Everything I own must fit in a suitcase , which distances me from the consumer economy for mere reasons of space and makes me much more conscious about money I spend," he says.
On the other hand, when he stays for a long time in a place, he also manages not to blow his budget: "For starters, most of the places I've lived in for a long time have had relatively low cost of living compared to the currencies in which I earn money, which has allowed me to get difference advantage ", he explains. "And even when I lived in more expensive places, like Australia and New Zealand, ** I lived rural **, which comes with inherent savings (I usually spend more money living in a city), "he says the writer.
HOW CAN YOU DO IT?
If you're reading this with a bug in your stomach, if you've had the idea in your head for years and still haven't dared to start, Nora has a couple of tips for you. "For starters, if you're thinking of creating a job to finance your travels, I highly recommend laying the foundations of your job before you start traveling. Building a career while juggling starting a start-up is absolutely daunting ( believe me, that's what I did!)"
And to finish, a more atypical piece of advice, also taken from her own experiences: "Now, I would think twice before getting entangled in a romance with a partner who is not financially stable . I have had two relationships during my travels with men who depended on me financially, which not only pressure on my own finances , but in the end, it affected the relationship a lot in ways I hadn't anticipated. Sometimes things happen to the people we love, and I am always in favor of supporting them in their bad times, but in these two cases, should have seen the warning signs and having made different decisions," she recalls.