I am very fortunate.  I’ve spent years of my life in countries that are not the United States.  I’ve gone abroad for work, for education, for leisure, and for love.

Of course, especially when I was younger, I had financial help for many of my adventures.  (Thank you family, godparents, and friends!)  But when people ask me questions like, “You’re going to Europe again?  How can you afford this?” — especially equally privileged people — I want to smack my forehead.

My friend gets the same question a lot (#besties), and when she read this great piece from Gloria Atanmo, she sent it to me immediately.  (My friends just get me.)

Gloria gets me, too.  She gets that travel doesn’t have to break the bank.  She gets that if you are flexible, and you do your research, and you make travel a priority (financially and otherwise), and especially if you can find a way to study or work abroad, you’d be surprised how very far you can go.

Jet set life on a backpacker budget?  Heck yes, it’s possible.  Happy trails!

Read Gloria’s Huffington Post article here, and find her blog here: TheBlogAbroad.