Page 2 says this is a horrible idea.

1/5/2010 10:38:54 PM

^ what Duke said. I've done all kinds of goofy shit (Appalchian Trail - 6 months, Mississippi River 2.5 months...) but don't recommend getting into debt to do so. That said...

You've got 3.5 months till April (when you can take a week) or about 4.5 months till the end of the semester when you can take however long off. I'd say, starting right now, decide on what you want to do at the end of the semester. Tell every damn person you know for extra pressure.

Then, go on an extreme austerity budget till that time. It'll build character, and the lessons learned will serve you well for cheap traveling. Save every damn dime and put it into a savings account.

No sodas, cigarettes, eating out, nothing. Maybe, at most, budget $10/week for going out or something, but that's it. Work at any temp bullshit job you can do (cash is best) to build up the travel kitty. Sell shit on ebay, etc. Cut off your cable. etc.

If it's really important to you, you'll make it happen. I'd say gut it out this semester, than travel in the US/Canada for 2 months this summer. You'd need no more that $1,500 to do that if you play your cards right and learned anything in the preceding 4 months.

You only live once. Make it count.

More stuff about this at:

http://sourcetosea.net/thru-hiking-on-the-cheap/
http://sourcetosea.net/seven-tips-for-adventure-travelers/
http://sourcetosea.net/fifteen-ways-to-save-money-for-a-thru-hike/

[Edited on January 6, 2010 at 6:02 PM. Reason : .]

1/6/2010 6:01:20 PM

^thanks for that post, at least it was inspiring and telling me it could be done, albeit not with personal loans, which I realized is not the way to go now. Im going to try and work for my dads friend who runs a contracting firm during the day when Im not in class (wed, fri) and put 100% of that into the trip fund, seeing as how i dont have that money now i wont really be missing it. That and have a giant yard sale and get rid of a lot of my shit i dont need anymore, and if I make the money Im anitcipating Im looking at about 14 weeks to obtain my monetary goal, and an end of the semester trip to South Africa as long as I can get in with my dads friend, which isint a certainty right now though.

1/8/2010 1:14:40 AM

that's a much smarter way to do it, and I think you'll enjoy the trip more if you know it's paid for and not hanging over your head.

1/8/2010 1:18:38 AM