Have savings, will travel
There’s no reason why, with a little saving, you can’t be here./ bigwavephoto
Being a student is no reason why I can’t go jet-setting.
Author: Kaitlynn Nordal
The first time I ever got a passport was when I was in fourth grade. My parents had saved up what little extra income they had and took my brother and I on a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I will never forget my first time being in a plane, that feeling of being scared but excited and the butterflies a person gets in their stomach during take off and landing. Since then I have used my passport to travel to countries like Costa Rica and Cuba, to name a few. I also went to Europe twice on a school trip.
My trips to Europe did not come without a lot of fundraising and babysitting hours to help pay for my half; I was still in high school at the time. Growing up in a small town, everyone called me names such as ‘trust fund kid’ and ‘rich’. They did not pay attention to the fact that my parents did not drive a new vehicle every year; we also did not eat out lots and other things like that. We put money toward going on a family trip that year instead. The summer before my 21st birthday, my mom suggested we go to New York City for my birthday, since I did not do anything when I turned 19; my birthday is always Thanksgiving, so I never do anything truly birthday-related. That summer, I started working a few more hours and putting away all the income I could so that I could afford it, as New York is a city I had always dreamed about going to and I had just over a year to save. The day before I left for New York, it was a good thing I had put away a little extra money, because my mom surprised everyone who was going on the trip with tickets to the Wine Amplified Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada that Friday night. I had an amazing time in Las Vegas and New York.
Right now, I am currently saving money to go to Costa Rica again for my sister’s first birthday. Of course, all this traveling does come at a cost. Depending on location and size, the average cup of coffee cost $1.50. So, if you buy one coffee a week for a month that is roughly $45.00 a month just for coffee. That does not include eating out, which, according to Statistics Canada’s CANSIM Table 203-0028, the average Saskatchewan household spent $1,936.00 on takeout food in 2013.
Of course, I am not the only student who chooses to travel while they are in school. Just like me, they know the glances of turning down a night of going to the bar, or turning down a concert so they can afford to go wherever their heart desires. It is a matter of deciding what is more important to that individual. If you are the type that would rather go out for a night on the town, have fun; I do not judge. All of my fellow students who travel agree that working the extra hours while going to school and sitting at home a bit more is not always fun, but they would not change going on their trip for anything, not for all the world.
