Latest / Making Cents / How To Travel For Years Without Killing Your Career

Transcript

How To Travel For Years Without Killing Your Career · Making Cents

• 0:00
  YOLO versus Stability.
• 0:02
  Ditching your career to go travel sounds like either the best decision you'll ever make or a very expensive mistake.
• 0:10
  And the difference between the two outcomes usually comes down to one thing.
• 0:14
  Whether you had a plan.
• 0:16
  Today's letter writer is in their 20s, doing everything right and honestly feeling trapped by it.
• 0:23
  The career is there, the savings are there, and the world is out there.
• 0:30
  So how do you actually make this work?
• 0:33
  Welcome to Ask the Experts, where each week your questions answered by someone inside the money world to get those insider answers that can help us all out.
• 0:43
  This episode of Making Sense is supported by Revolut, the app that helps your money go further at home and your travel budget go further overseas.
• 0:51
  I want to help as many people as possible build a better life for themselves by understanding and taking control of their money.
• 0:58
  You can be part of how that happens.
• 1:00
  First, make sure you're subscribed wherever you like to listen, whether it's YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
• 1:06
  And then send your favorite episode to a mate.
• 1:09
  Then we can all level up with money together.
• 1:11
  The show grows and I can keep bringing you the money info that actually moves the dial in the hot seat.
• 1:17
  Georgia Grange, Head of Revolut nz.
• 1:19
  Are you ready for the letter?
• 1:21
  Absolutely.
• 1:22
  Let's go.
• 1:22
  Hi Francis.
• 1:23
  Feel like I've done everything right with with money so far, but I'm also starting to feel stuck.
• 1:28
  I'm in my 20s.
• 1:30
  The idea of doing the same thing for the next 10 plus years, climbing the ladder, maybe buying a house, it's fine, but it's also not exciting.
• 1:39
  I keep thinking about taking a couple of years to travel properly before life really hits.
• 1:44
  Problem is I don't have a huge amount saved and I can't figure out how people make this work without either going into debt or, or completely derailing the finances.
• 1:54
  Is there a way to do this that's actually realistic?
• 1:57
  Are there smarter ways to travel long term without spending a fortune?
• 2:01
  Would love your thoughts.
• 2:05
  It is good, isn't it?
• 2:06
  So what's your initial feeling on this?
• 2:08
  Is this realistic or maybe a little not?
• 2:11
  Oh no, I do think it's absolutely realistic and I think like gone of the days that we've sitting here or trying to climb a corporate ladder and I think it's so fair to not be excited by that and
• 2:22
  I think that's probably more common than people striving for that these days.
• 2:26
  The job economy is so different to even 10, 20 years ago.
• 2:30
  There's so many more opportunities out there and so yeah, I definitely, definitely think it's, it's realistic and overseas experience like that is an investment in yourself in a different way as well.
• 2:40
  If you think about the different experiences that you're going to get, like stress management and budgeting, if you're set up with the right toes and you're thinking about it, the fact that you're even asking this question is a
• 2:51
  really great start.
• 2:52
  Having those interesting experiences actually pays off when you go for future jobs as well.
• 2:58
  Like I, very slightly different but did a little stint as a reformer Pilates instructor in America and I was panicking about like taking time off and doing something different.
• 3:09
  But in all of job interviews since then people are always like, first question, why were you a reforming Pilates instructor?
• 3:16
  And it's super random, but it shows.
• 3:18
  Any good manager wants a well rounded person who's interesting, had different experiences and I do think it'll contribute to that.
• 3:25
  So as long as you're looking and setting yourself up with the right tools before you go, you're thinking about the budget, how you're going to manage it, how you're going to manage FX and, and looking at different digital
• 3:37
  tools out there like Revolut to help you manage all of that, then I definitely think it's doable.
• 3:41
  This is the thing, I feel like that you can do the same thing very differently with just a little bit of planning and exactly what you're saying, getting that experience, broadening your horizons.
• 3:52
  I mean, New Zealand is a country where so much of career and business will be about linking into other places, going overseas, meeting new people, having new experiences can be actually a really big career move.
• 4:07
  Even if it's not directly career related, just having a plan in place, right, that, that makes it a little bit easier.
• 4:13
  So if you're talking to this person and saying, okay, some first steps to lay out a plan, what do you think they should think about?
• 4:18
  You can map backwards.
• 4:20
  So if you've got a little bit saved and you still might want to save more and you know you're not sure about how much money you want before you go.
• 4:28
  If you're sitting there and you're thinking cool, what really lights me up?
• 4:31
  What am I interested in?
• 4:32
  Is this like a Southeast Asia backpacking trip?
• 4:35
  Is this cool?
• 4:36
  You're a little bit more luxurious trip, what are you wanting and what type of experiences are you wanting over there?
• 4:42
  Because it's not just about the flights and the accommodation and a festival ticket.
• 4:46
  It's thinking about tipping.
• 4:48
  It's the country you're going to, going to include tipping, thinking about food Drink, public transport, all of that, what do you want then the map back, how much is that going to cost you?
• 4:58
  And then you can decide, you know, how comfortable are you going with the current minor savings you've got and figuring it out and doing it on a little bit more of a budget or does that motivate you to
• 5:09
  maybe get a part time job before you take off or what have you and earn a little bit more before you go so that then you make sure you're turning up to get the experiences that you want.
• 5:19
  That's not to say you have to have it all planned out before you go as well.
• 5:22
  If you're managing your money right over there, you can use like Revolut.
• 5:27
  I get notifications if I've spent over my coffee budget for instance.
• 5:30
  And so I'm also.
• 5:32
  I need that.
• 5:33
  Yeah, exactly.
• 5:34
  Like if I start to spend more than what I'd planned for that week, I get a notification to like give me a hint.
• 5:40
  Like okay, we might need to reset things here.
• 5:42
  Greater than granite and grain.
• 5:43
  Exactly.
• 5:44
  And so if you're like, oh cool, met these really cool friends, had a few too many April spritzers that night and it was a little bit out of the budget, you want to change it for the next day,
• 5:52
  then that's fine.
• 5:53
  Tomorrow might be like a supermarket instead of like going out.
• 5:56
  And so if you've got the plan before you go, you can then know like what am I wanting to hit before I leave and then how do I manage it when I'm there as well?
• 6:05
  I love that.
• 6:06
  Is there anything that often goes wrong?
• 6:08
  You think when someone is planning this sounds like sort of a long term travel plan.
• 6:11
  Is there anything that can go wrong on those?
• 6:14
  There's many things I think it's always important to have obviously like some incidentals pocket there as well.
• 6:20
  If you don't think about things like tipping and then you get there and it's going to be a whole lot more expensive or you don't think about what debit or credit card you're going to take and what effects
• 6:29
  fees are slapped onto that.
• 6:31
  Or if you're going somewhere and you know you want to go to the market and you go to the ATM and you get cash out.
• 6:36
  All of these different experiences you can end up paying so much more.
• 6:40
  Like I've had a friend who went overseas and spent about ten grand I think it was, and they didn't check the effects rates with their card before they left and they ended up spending yeah like 3% more, which
• 6:50
  is $300.
• 6:51
  Like that's an internal flight around Europe or a few of them.
• 6:54
  So it definitely adds up if you're not thinking about the tools that you want to use while you're there and looking at some of the other digital players like Revolut to help once you're over there.
• 7:07
  Yeah.
• 7:07
  And do you think in terms of planning this out, I mean I know you mentioned maybe get a little part time job before you go, stash some extra cash.
• 7:15
  Love that.
• 7:16
  Do you think it needs to be sort of a decent lump sum before you go or, or maybe some people could consider even earning a little while they're traveling.
• 7:24
  Is that something that's worth thinking about to make the money spin out a bit longer?
• 7:28
  100%.
• 7:29
  I think it totally depends on what kind of experience and what kind of timeline you're wanting to go on.
• 7:34
  And something I'd also recommend like coming back to that first question around the boring corporate ladder, those type of working experiences in different countries, with different cultures, with different people doing different types of jobs are going to open
• 7:46
  your horizons and help you figure out what.
• 7:48
  Okay, great.
• 7:49
  Absolutely love doing this.
• 7:51
  And if you finding different tasks or problems you like to solve in work, whether you're here or abroad, you're going to learn more about what you like.
• 8:00
  And then whatever you apply in your, your job or career, when you decide that that's the time to focus on something like you're going to be better at it.
• 8:07
  If you're enjoying it.
• 8:08
  It's not about the job title, it's about enjoying what you're doing day to day.
• 8:12
  And so yeah, I think working overseas helps to broaden that.
• 8:16
  There's so many different jobs you can look at.
• 8:18
  There's can pick up multiple little part time pieces or contracts online.
• 8:23
  There is obviously the classic oh we work in a bar situation.
• 8:26
  I've had friends work on yachts before and it's a help hand on that.
• 8:30
  I've got a stepbrother who has a farmhand and then they help by letting him stay there and give him food and what have you.
• 8:38
  So there's so many different ways you can do it but I think whilst you're doing it like have a think like cool.
• 8:43
  What am I loving?
• 8:43
  And when is time going nice and quickly because I'm just in present in what you're doing.
• 8:49
  Yeah.
• 8:50
  And I think again I think some of this will come back to what are your goals.
• 8:53
  Right.
• 8:54
  But I certainly know I had friends who one of them went and worked at the bar in the hostel.
• 9:00
  She was staying at.
• 9:01
  And then she kind of didn't mind doing the work.
• 9:03
  Cause she was still hanging out with all her friends.
• 9:05
  She's just serving them drinks.
• 9:08
  And so it still felt super social and she didn't feel like she was missing out.
• 9:11
  I know other people who've done a little bit of the digital nomad thing where they've had some clients that they're working with that are still in New Zealand, but they're working from their laptop overseas.
• 9:21
  So they don't really feel like they're missing out too much.
• 9:23
  They're still getting a little bit of that actual relevant career work.
• 9:28
  Do you think there's a preference there?
• 9:30
  Would it change how you set up your money?
• 9:32
  Or is it really just about what do you want and then make it work?
• 9:34
  I do think it's about giving little bits a try as well.
• 9:37
  I don't think there's necessarily one set way for.
• 9:40
  For each person.
• 9:41
  If you've found a job that you like doing or tasks that you enjoy and get a little bit more flow state in, then lean in like I think keep exploring that.
• 9:50
  But it's not to say you shouldn't try little bits of other pieces as well.
• 9:54
  For instance, Pilates instructing was banking before.
• 9:58
  I don't know why I picked that.
• 10:00
  But I enjoyed moving.
• 10:01
  I found it so fulfilling to help other people like fix their injuries and things like that.
• 10:05
  But I would have never thought that sitting at my desk talking about term deposits before that.
• 10:09
  So I mean, I think it's all about giving different things a go as well.
• 10:12
  There's no right or wrong way either way you're going to.
• 10:15
  If you're.
• 10:15
  If you're tracking your spending, you're diligent with that.
• 10:18
  You're becoming more resilient when you're traveling and something goes wrong.
• 10:21
  Like all of those are such viable skills.
• 10:24
  No matter what type of job you're in.
• 10:27
  I think you're going to be set up for success either way.
• 10:29
  This episode of Making Sense is supported by Revolut because they're all about getting smarter with your spending when we're planning a trip.
• 10:37
  Pretty common to obsess over things like flight prices, but sneaky expenses on the ground can be what actually ruins your budget.
• 10:45
  Roaming fees the second you land.
• 10:47
  Terrible exchange rates at the atm.
• 10:50
  Revolut can bring your entire trip into one place.
• 10:53
  They've got clever features like pockets, which you can use to stash money away for flights or your Euro summer fund.
• 11:01
  When you land, you can grab an ESIM data plan from just $7 right in the app.
• 11:06
  No need to hunt for airport wi fi.
• 11:08
  You can split dinner bills with your mates and their exchange rates go a lot further than what the major New Zealand banks offer, up to eight times cheaper than major competitors.
• 11:19
  It's not just for overseas.
• 11:20
  You can use it in New Zealand too, to help you split bills and categorize your spending.
• 11:25
  Then just switch it to travel mode when you're ready to go.
• 11:28
  Join over 75 million users worldwide.
• 11:32
  If you want to check it out, use the link in the podcast description to sign up.
• 11:36
  Spend and Revolut will give you $40 to get you started.
• 11:40
  Fees and terms and conditions apply.
• 11:42
  You mentioned before about fees as well, and I think this is one of those things that can actually trip people up more than they expect, where you get all these little like percentages or fees and you're trying to
• 11:53
  travel and everything is just a little bit.
• 11:56
  It's hard to stay on top of the life admin a little bit.
• 12:00
  And so I think getting on top of that stuff before you go so that you've got a system and you kind of know ahead of time you're not trying to work it out on the fly can be really
• 12:08
  important to not have unexpected costs stack up.
• 12:11
  So are there any places that you think people should be aware of where there are these unexpected costs that can trip them up?
• 12:16
  Oh, 100%.
• 12:17
  Like the FX example before, if I had 3% on my debit card thing, oh, okay, that's not ideal, but 3% is fine.
• 12:25
  It's nothing.
• 12:25
  But then you put into context $10,000, that's 300 bucks.
• 12:29
  It adds up so quickly.
• 12:30
  And our effects rates are on average eight times cheaper than the banks in New Zealand.
• 12:35
  So that's definitely one worth exploring.
• 12:37
  ATM fees, they can creep up really quickly because there's not only your card fees, but also that atm, wherever you are in the world can also slap an extra charge and fee on if you're using your card in
• 12:50
  another country.
• 12:51
  Some slap an extra fee on just for that before we're even looking at effects.
• 12:55
  It's like you say setting yourself up with that system before you go is so important and doing the research because once you're on holiday, every day feels like a Sunday.
• 13:03
  Like you're not exactly going to be in the mood to sit down and do some effects percent research.
• 13:08
  So it's definitely worth spending like a couple of hours on before you leave to find like the the method that's going to work for you.
• 13:16
  So also once you get there, you don't get overexcited and, you know, lean into too many apples for it and then regret it the next day.
• 13:24
  And financially.
• 13:25
  So I think, yeah, definitely having a system before you go just adds up so much better.
• 13:28
  So then those hidden fees don't get you.
• 13:31
  Yeah.
• 13:31
  And reading between the lines a little bit on this letter, but it does sound like what she's wanting is sort of the classic oe, which often entails going between a few different countries, more than one, which can also
• 13:42
  then mean more than one currency.
• 13:44
  Again, the life admin.
• 13:46
  Right.
• 13:47
  Is there a good way to keep track of that and to keep that a little bit more visible and easier to manage?
• 13:54
  The digital tools, I think it's just important you've got one that's got analytics and it's telling you that where's the different spend going?
• 14:01
  It's categorizing it for you.
• 14:03
  I remember when I was trying to save money back in the day, I have my spreadsheet, I'd be writing in every day what I spent and then trying to put like, okay, cool.
• 14:11
  Which does that come out of my food budget?
• 14:13
  Does that come out of my transfer budget?
• 14:15
  Like, find somebody that does all of that for you.
• 14:17
  You don't need to worry about that anymore.
• 14:20
  When it comes to the, to your different currencies, you also want to make sure that you've got a tool that's going to be intuitive with that as well.
• 14:27
  So, for instance, with Riverloop, if I've got my one card, either physical on Apple Pay, I could load that before I leave with a certain amount of euros on it, or pounds, what have you, I can use the
• 14:40
  exact same card no matter what currency I'm trying to spend in.
• 14:44
  And even if I'd run out of pounds, but I had a few more NZD dollars in there or what have you, it'll automatically exchange it for me with no extra fees and what have you.
• 14:52
  So there's tools in there that help you once you're moving from currency to currency, that have thought about this experience and genuinely want to help make that a whole lot more seamless for you.
• 15:03
  And it also means that if you did end up with some side gigs or, or jobs that you want to stay in for a couple of months overseas, you know, no matter what currency you're in, you're earning in,
• 15:12
  you can have that in there and then comes with you to the next, the next currency that you need.
• 15:17
  So, yeah, there's so many tools out there that can help these days.
• 15:20
  It's definitely worth doing the research as.
• 15:22
  You flit around enjoying life.
• 15:23
  Yes, I'm quite jealous.
• 15:25
  I know.
• 15:27
  It's giving me absolute fomo.
• 15:29
  This is truly for the service of the listeners here.
• 15:31
  Cause I'm like, yeah, that sounds great.
• 15:32
  Take us with you.
• 15:33
  Can I come?
• 15:34
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 15:36
  We'll give them the advice if we.
• 15:37
  Can, like, come along.
• 15:38
  Yeah, we budget that one.
• 15:41
  If someone is looking at this and it sounds like she'd be on quite a limited budget, she's not wanting to totally derail the finances.
• 15:48
  Got that.
• 15:49
  Let's live the best life possible for the cheapest price.
• 15:52
  How do you make sure.
• 15:53
  Is there something that can help in terms of making sure you don't blow that budget in the first couple of months?
• 15:59
  Yeah, that honeymoon period is definitely a sticky one.
• 16:03
  I think having that system, like you were saying before, around the daily spend and thinking about those categories of spending, holding yourself to it, setting up notifications for all of that can help immensely.
• 16:15
  But I think also being aware of who you're traveling with, what type of activities you're going into, and being like, just owning your situation.
• 16:24
  I think when people are traveling, it's quite an open discussion about where everyone's out with money.
• 16:30
  And I think people are actually really forgiving and welcoming of people at different points with that.
• 16:36
  And so it might be that your friends or you make a new friend in a hostel, what have you, and you want to go do a picnic from the supermarket.
• 16:45
  I know I've done that with friends and had just like a can of tuna and some rice and fruit and snacks.
• 16:50
  But, like, we had a great time.
• 16:52
  And so it's talking about, you know, being open and honest about what you want to achieve that day or that week and making sure that you don't overdo it in those first two months.
• 17:02
  I know it's very exciting once you get there.
• 17:04
  And you might want to go to this festival or this restaurant or this museum or these two tours and maybe space it out a little and just be conscious about what you're spending per day so that you feel
• 17:16
  present and you're not stressed, you're enjoying it, but you're also getting to do all of the activities that you want.
• 17:22
  Yeah, 100%.
• 17:22
  And I sometimes feel like when you are forced to be a little bit more creative like that, you actually can end up having a better time overall.
• 17:30
  Like, I remember, I didn't travel as much as I wish I did.
• 17:32
  I was way too career focused in my early 20s.
• 17:34
  So I love the subtle.
• 17:35
  I'm like, yes, go, go, you good thing, do it.
• 17:38
  But I did a little bit of travel and it was super on a budget and we would do things like walking tours was like our go to so much cheaper.
• 17:47
  It would be like €10 instead of 50 to 100 for some fancier thing.
• 17:52
  Getting stuff from the supermarket and then picnicking elsewhere.
• 17:55
  You're experiencing more of the culture because you're actually having to live a bit more like the locals do.
• 18:00
  And I think that's, that's actually really great and helps you get under the skin of a country.
• 18:04
  It can sometimes be a strength but you just have to put a little bit more brain power into it.
• 18:09
  So if someone's thinking, okay, I've got a limited budget, I really want to stretch it further.
• 18:12
  Do you have any hot tips on.
• 18:14
  Great ways to stretch a budget?
• 18:15
  Getting creative, like, you know, you don't have to go out to bars every night.
• 18:20
  You can have drinks yourself.
• 18:21
  You can plan different activities that are free.
• 18:25
  There's so many blogs, you know, social media, I guess influencers that will map out like what are the free activities in a certain city each week.
• 18:33
  It's so worth having a look at that and enjoy.
• 18:37
  Like embed yourself into the day to day culture.
• 18:39
  Whether that's just walking down the street and maybe getting a €2 coffee and sitting there and people watching, reading your book.
• 18:44
  Like how I would love to do that right now.
• 18:47
  That sounds so relaxing.
• 18:48
  How cool.
• 18:49
  I would be entertained by people watching anywhere in the world.
• 18:51
  And that's always free.
• 18:53
  It's fine, it's the best.
• 18:54
  I won't maybe want that one as one but you know, there's so many different ways that you can get, get entertainment and soak your, soak up the culture with just like a little bit of thoughtful planning of like
• 19:06
  what do I enjoy, how much time do I want to put into the system and managing it while I'm over there?
• 19:12
  Having an idea of what your limit is for both of those before you go would just mean yeah, once you're there, you're just present and enjoying it all.
• 19:20
  Beautiful.
• 19:21
  I love that.
• 19:21
  So much great tips.
• 19:22
  Thank you so much.
• 19:23
  Georgia Grange Head of revolutionz Now I know that a lot of people, I mean I've got travel FOMO after this and I know a lot of people would love more hot tips like this.
• 19:31
  So send us your questions, we can do a deep dive into them.
• 19:34
  Askranciscook.co.nz is the email to send it to.
• 19:38
  Until next time, have a great day.
• 19:41
  This podcast can only give you general information about how things work.
• 19:45
  In most situations, it's not individual financial advice.
• 19:49
  If you're after that, a financial advisor is always the best bet.