Ryan McLean : Slightly Unconventional

Travel The World For Less Than General Living Expenses

Is it possible to travel the world for less than the cost of general living expenses? Tim Ferris from The 4-Hour Work Week has proven this to be true. But can I do it? Can you do it? I certainly plan to find out.

Due to the success of my outsourcing endeavours and the jealously of my friends plans to travel around America for a month I have decided to go on a quest to spend one month overseas for no more than the cost of our normal living expenses.

Currently my sexy wife is on maternity leave. Baby is due on the 24th of February and Kel doesn’t go back to work until August. We are living off savings for her maternity leave so it is the perfect opportunity to test out my cheap but awesome holiday idea. Kel doesn’t have to apply for leave and we already have money allocated for monthly spending. What difference does it make if we spend it in Australia or overseas. If it costs us the same amount then why not travel?

If I was to go to a travel agent like flight centre I wouldn’t have a chance in the world of spending a month overseas in luxury and having the time of my life for just the cost of my monthly spending money.

But with my new found faith in outsourcing I can get someone else to do the research for me. The benefits are that I might only be able to bear 2 hours of searching online for holiday options but for $40 I can hire someone for a week to do research for me. Another benefit is that I come from the mindset that it needs to cost thousands and thousands of dollars for a one week holiday. Hiring someone from a different culture and economic environment means that it is likely that they will be able to find options that are just as good for a tiny fraction of the price.

So my budget will be around $2k for a 28 day trip, including airfares and accommodation. It’s a big task, but it will be fun to try (especially seeing as I don’t need to do the hard work). I am looking to start with places closer to home, it seems the biggest expense will be flights.

I am thinking New Calendonia or any of the French Islands, because I studied French in school and I would love to learn the language properly. If I cant do that then I will look at places like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea or Thailand.

Here is a little list of some of the things I am thinking of doing

That is my list at the moment. I can’t think of anything better than having an adventure with my wife and my bubbi.

Most people use their children as an excuse why not to travel. I want to do exactly the opposite. I want to use my children as a reason to travel. Last night I was talking to my cousin and she was saying one of the best times to travel with your kids is before they are 1.  Because they can’t walk yet so you can take them almost anywhere.

Kids definitely force you to be more creative with your holidays. But I have always wanted to travel with my wife and kids. When I got married early and we got pregnant early people asked “Don’t you want to travel” and my answer was “Of course I do, but I want to travel with my family”. This is my chance to do it.

Whether this is possible or not I don’t know. But finding out is only going to cost me $40 max, so why not. If it turns out it is not possible I haven’t lost much, but if I find out it is possible then the benefits to my life will be incredible.



4 responses to “Travel The World For Less Than General Living Expenses”

  1. Tom says:

    I am loving your creativity Ryan! I’d love to hear what your research pulls up.

  2. i may not have imagined this had been cool a number years back but yet it’s surprising precisely how time adjusts the means by which you perceive unsimilar creative ideas, thank you regarding the write-up it is really good to see something intelligent now and then instead of the popular crap mascarading as blogs on the net, i’m off to play a smattering of rounds of zynga poker, adios for now

  3. consultant says:

    it’s better to go into things with your eyes open plus friendly advice is free but its not worth anything if you don’t take it.

  4. Hahah that is definitely one of many ways to look at it 😉

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