Carnival Of Twenty Something’s Finances: Backpacker’s Edition

I’m honored to be hosting the Carnival of Twenty Something’s Finances today.  For those of you who might be unfamiliar with a blog carnival, this is a great opportunity for you find some great new financial blogs written by people in their twenties.  On the other hand, if you are new to Man Vs. Debt I hope you will take the time to subscribe to daily updates through RSS or by e-mail.  I’m glad to have you here and you can get to know my family and our upcoming adventure a little better on the About Us page.

In less than 4 weeks, my wife and I will be fitting our possessions into two backpacks and setting off to Australia.  Researching and planning this has been on my mind so much that I’ve decided it would make a great theme for today’s carnival.  Be sure to check out all the great articles from your favorite categories.  When you are done feel free to let me know your favorite posts and any backpacking experiences (positive and negative) you’ve had in your life!

Here we go…

Editor’s Picks!

  • The Dough Roller posted a very thorough article entitled Is Budgeting Keeping You Poor? He does a fantastic job of outlining the 7 areas which most often derail budgeting efforts.  I really appreciated that he took the time to add a “the fix” section after each common pitfall.  This is an essential resource for anyone struggling with budgeting!
  • Wren Caulfield presents How to Commute By Bike posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.  This article is absolutely chocked full of information.  It contains 30+ links to specific items, bikes, theories, and other resources.  This is a topic that is near and dear, as Courtney and I will be testing this out in less than a month.  If you’ve ever considered biking even for a second, I strongly suggest you read this!

Basic Rules Of The Road!

Getting Started

Before you pack up your things and hit the road, it’s best to get some basic information.  Backpacker’s need to plan where they are going to start their adventure, what tools they are going to take with them, and have a least some idea how to survive while on the road.

In personal finance, it’s also important we get our bearings straight before setting off.  We need to learn to manage credit, gain awareness on topics like real estate, and become informed on different product options we have available.

Furthermore, backpackers must equip themselves with the proper financial knowledge to prepare for the worst and the best. For instance, you can be eligible for a tax refund if you visited Australia between 2017 to 2020 as a holidaymaker, according to a working holiday tax return advice. Just imagine the amount of money you can save from this information, enough to cover your expenses for your next backpacking trip.

As backpackers, personal finance matters. While we enjoy the backpacking experience, we must also ensure that our finances are doing okay to avoid dealing with dire consequences after the exciting and fun part. We must strike a perfect balance between work and play.

Here are some helpful, information-packed posts:

Managing Credit

Real Estate

Misc. Information

Reviews

Managing Money With A Pack On Your Back!

Managing Money

Some people believe that the backpacking lifestyle would be perfect to avoid to headaches of having to manage money.  This simply isn’t true.  In fact, backpackers in general need to be much more aware of how the manage their money in order to maintain the lifestyle.  Setting a budget, practicing frugality, and finding flexible income solutions all enable you to see and do that much more.  Here are some articles that’ll help you do just that:

Budgeting!

Making Your Money Stretch!

All About The Income!

Investing!

Life Experiences

In investing, the majority have the ultimate goal to build wealth.  They trade stocks, bonds, and other investments in order to maximize their return.  They sacrifice as much as they can in the short-term in order to be able to retire comfortably in the future.

Although investing is important to backpackers, they often times use a different currency.  Most backpackers trade stories back and forth in order to build a wealth of life experiences.  They too make many sacrifices in order to achieve their goals, but most would agree that it was well worth it in the end.  Here are some articles for the investor in all of us:

Relaxing From The Hustle & Bustle Of Travel

Relaxing

Lastly, it’s important to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of a mobile lifestyle.  Backpackers often have the best experiences when they take a break and simply enjoy where they are.  What’s the point of traveling the world if you can’t enjoy the process?

Many backpackers with modern work setups, like remote and hybrid work, tend to forget the true meaning of relaxing. From time to time, they would check their emails and phones for work-related matters. If you’re one of them, separating work and relaxation is crucial. Otherwise, you’ll feel burnout and can’t appreciate the beautiful things around you.

Enjoy your backpacking experience. Travel far and experience the different places’ food, culture, and traditions. Take photos of the magnificent landmarks you pass by on your backpacking journey. Breathe and live life to the fullest, leaving your worries behind.

This is a hard thing for us to do in everyday life, as well.  We get so caught up in the minor details of our financial lives, sometimes we forget to simply enjoy the process today!  Here are some articles that will help inspire you to pause and consider the big picture:

Which were your favorite articles?  Have you ever considered the backpacking lifestyle?  Be sure to leave your opinions below!

10 thoughts on “Carnival Of Twenty Something’s Finances: Backpacker’s Edition”

  1. Great list…there are lots of blogs that I’ve not been to before.

    Be sure to email me if you have any questions about whether or not you should pack something. 😉 Maybe I can shed light on whether you will need it or not or if it’s worth packing b/c it would be too expensive to replace in Oz.

    I moved with just a backpack, but I didn’t have a little one. 🙂

    MB’s last blog post..Get FREE local and organic eggs!

  2. Austrailia! Amazing! I hope you and your wife have loads of fun. I’m sure you will. I love backpacking–I did it for a few weeks in Europe after college–on a ridiculously small amount of money. And it was great. Best of luck on your trip.

    Thanks for featuring my article as an editor’s pick. Let me know the results of your “testing”!

    Wren’s last blog post..DIY Project: Bike Baskets

  3. Pingback: $40 Posters.com giveaway!

  4. Pingback: Religion and Money

  5. Backpackers often need to live off the tightest budgets, sometimes they learn this the hard way after a couple weeks of overspending (maybe over drinking) and may have to work more than they expected. These links would be great for first time backpackers especially.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Scroll to Top