5 Steps to Create the Ultimate Travel Budget

Want to travel but find yourself financially constrained? Do you find yourself asking questions like "how do they afford to vacation so much?" or "how can I travel more?" The answer is create a budget, a travel budget. 

Creating a travel budget can be fairly simple. Here is how you do it:

STEP 1- PLAN EARLY
The first step is to actually plan. Simple right? You must plan your travel budget. You should start planning for your vacation early so that you can research, budget and save enough money to travel.
STEP 2 - RESEARCH
Planning must include research. It's impossible to plan without research. It is best to research possible locations and cost before selecting your destination. However, if you have your dream destination in mind then plan and research accordingly. No matter how you choose your destination or where you are traveling to you must research to create a meaningful budget. If you are on a tight budget a open destination approach may help you get a bigger bang for your buck. 

A lot of people get stuck on only selecting one vacation destination, but that choice might not make the most sense depending on many factors including time of the year, climate, or how much time you have off. 

Research flights, hotel cost, transportation and all the information regarding tours and experiences available in each possible destination so you can chose your travel destination. 
STEP 3 - BUDGET BRAINSTORMING
This step, Budget Brainstorming, requires you to have chosen a location. Before you start to build out your budget, you need to know where you are going, price range and how much you can afford. Budget STORMING is the process of considering these things before creating a vacation budget.
Your budget should start and include every possible expense. Take out a sheet of paper and write down every single expense that comes to mind. Research continues, if you do not know costs, then research them. It is time to go online and find out a ballpark price. 
Budget STORMING is very important. Unconsidered expenses that are left off a travel budget that can cause ruin your budget and possibly your vacation. Often missed expenses that should be included are: Checked baggage fees, Airport Parking Fees or Airport Transportation, Tips (It's always nice to tip shuttle drivers and housekeeping and should be included in your budget if you will be tipping), Souvenirs, Phone and Internet Charges, Travel Insurance, ATM and Credit Card Fees.
STEP 4 - CREATE YOUR BUDGET
You have selected your vacation destination and researched all possible expenses and now it's time to build your budget. Consider all expected costs and determine what your vacation will look like. Consider what you can afford and where you can cut cost. Most importantly consider where the money coming from? 
It's time to build your budget. You can easily create your budget in Excel, on paper, or even in a budgeting app that you currently use. Unlike your monthly budget, you won't have an income column in this budget. Rather, it will be a giant list of all of your expenses. Once you add up all of those expenses, then you can easily back into how much money you need to have available at the start of your trip.
For instance, if you plan to travel in six months and spend $4,500.00 you would need to save $750.00 each month to reach that goal. 
STEP 5 - PULL IT TOGETHER
You're almost there. Your budget is complete and you even know how much you need to save before you go on your trip. Now it's time to put it all together and explore the world!
Remember Plan, Budget, Save, and TRAVEL