Check this out. I’m living in an apartment with roommates, working 9 to 5 and spending many evenings watching pirated TV shows. I guess this is everyday living, only somewhere different.
All summer I have been in “travel mode.” I may have been on a budget, but being in “travel mode” still means “vacation mode” which for me at least means spending money.
Even though I was staying in the cheapest hostels or hotels, eating inexpensive food and doing little drinking, it still all adds up. Sometimes the process of travel seems like one neverending spending spree.
I am trying to adjust to a more day-to-day mode now, because spending like I’m traveling is just not sustainable. I want to be here for six more months, not just two.
Actually, it’s pretty easy to live cheaply when you stay in one spot. The tricks are the following:
1) Live and hang out with locals and long-term foreigners. Short-termers are fun, but the are in “travel mode” so they spend a lot more lavishly. Hanging out with those on a budget makes it much easier to be on one too.
2) Stop feeling like you have to “do something” every night. You live here now. Take it easy.
3) Cook at home.
That’s right. Suddenly, I am spending almost no money.
I might just be here until March after all.
Post a Comment