How do you travel abroad frequently?

For those of you who travel abroad frequently...How?

• I'm in college and I know so many people in my classes who travel constantly. Example: taking off to Equador for spring break. Not all of them are rich. How do they do this? I would LOVE to do this. How do you even start out for the first time?

• Answer:

  I used to travel constantly in my 20s. I made between $12-18 an hour when I traveled a lot. I have never been good at actually saving up my money, which is one of the ways many people travel. If you can save just $100 a month you can take a nice trip within a year. But that wasn't my style. What I used to do was pay up my bills on one check and then use the next check to buy my airfare. I'd be broke for a month but it was worth it. I searched for the cheapest flights and only traveled in spring and fall when airfare was the lowest. I took advantage of Northwest's frequent flier program. (All airlines of course have this but I only few NWA back then.) So I'd pay full price for one trip, and then on the next trip I'd cash in my frequent flier miles, add a little cash, and get a ticket. This is a great system and so many people don't take advantage of it. For example, when I flew to Frankfurt I got around 10,000 miles. And then when the airline had their big cash-and-miles sales, I cashed in the 10,000 miles and added $500 for a ticket to Istanbul. Very simple and cheap. Use it. Don't fly ANYWHERE without collecting miles. I spent a lot of time researching the cheapest and cleanest hotels before I'd arrive anywhere. I've spent $20 a night on a cute little place in Egypt, and only $15 a night at a traditional Korean inn (yogwan) in Seoul. I also ate very cheaply and didn't buy much while I was there. I've been able to travel everywhere and spend around $50 a day on hotel, food and sightseeing. Keep it simple. Many countries are just naturally cheaper than others. Once you get the airfare, China is super cheap, so is most of South America and Africa. You just have to get that airfare. Good luck to you. It's easier to travel than it seems! You just have to do it.