How My Sister Is Working, Attending College & Traveling

Hello! Here is a post from my wonderful sister who blogs over at FITnancials. She is getting ready to leave for the summer for a volunteer trip in Peru. I’m a proud sister! Also, don’t forget to enter the $100 cash giveaway at the end!

Hello everyone! My name is Alexis and I’m the blogger behind Fitnancials.com. I am also Michelle’s younger sister!

She inspired me to create my own blog since I’m so incredibly passionate about fitness and saving money. I not only talk about fitness and budgeting, I also talk about traveling and how I plan on earning a living while seeing more of the world.

As you may know, our dad passed away due to lung cancer a few years ago (it will be 7 years on Saturday). My dad was just over 50 years old, but he spent his entire life traveling the world. He is a big reason for why I love traveling so much.

His wanderlust transferred over to me and I know he would be so proud to see all of the traveling I’m doing. I can’t wait to pass on this travel bug of mine onto my children as well.

I have traveled more than ever in the past several months, and with that I have also received many questions about how I’m doing this. I want to say that it is possible for anyone to do what I’m doing, if you truly want it. It might take a little hard work, but it’s mainly about good planning and time management.

Below are some of the questions I often hear. Hopefully this will help you be able to travel more as well.

 

How can you travel while staying in school?

I recently moved to Chicago to go to a university here, but I have since realized that it is not for me. I am transferring to a different university now that has an online option so that I can travel more. While this may not work for everyone and for every major, it does for mine (yes, it is properly accredited) so I am going with it!

This allows me to travel the world while finishing my degree. Yes, school is important but I am able to do both this way.

If you really want to travel now but you are working towards a degree, I highly recommend using any school breaks or even searching for a more flexible course schedule. Of course, still make sure that everything is properly accredited so that your degree is worthwhile.

 

How do you travel on a college budget? 

There are SO many ways to travel with a low budget.

Aside from all of the normal ways you hear of people saving money when traveling (using credit card rewards, Airbnb, etc.), I’m a participator of Couchsurfing.com and that really helps me save a lot of money.

If you haven’t heard of Couchsurfing, I talk about Couchsurfing plenty on my own blog. It’s basically staying on someone’s couch for free, but you get SUCH a better experience from it than staying at a hotel. I’ve met amazing people from couch surfing.

If you haven’t yet, definitely check out Couchsurfing.com.

Would you ever couch surf?

 

How do you plan on earning a living?

Right now to save and earn money, I am a Behavioral Therapist for children with Autism. I’ve been working in this area or something similar to it since I was 16. This has allowed me to save money to fund my frugal travels.

I also recently obtained my TEFL, which allows me to teach English in a foreign country. This is something that I have been thinking about doing full-time more and more.

Depending on where you go, you can make a decent amount of money and save a lot of it. This job also allows you to travel the world and immerse yourself into an entirely different culture.

If you don’t feel like being a teacher though, there are other opportunities. You can go through organizations like Workaway or WWOOF and do a wide variety of jobs. These jobs can range from working at a hotel to working on an organic farm.

Traveling and earning a living has never been easier than it is now!

 

Why do I want to volunteer? Why do I want to spend the rest of my life traveling?

First off, I want to do my best to make even the slightest change in the world. A part of me wishes I could help every person in the world and create a strong foundation for all children to strive on.

I know that isn’t possible, so I would at least like to try my best to do what I can. I also love traveling, so it makes sense to travel to different countries that are in need of assistance.

Traveling by myself has allowed me to become the best version of myself. I get lost in a city, but while finding where my destination is, I’m also finding myself. I believe traveling by yourself is something everyone should partake in, at least once.

If you are a new reader and haven’t been following my blog, I am about to depart for a summer long stay in Peru. I will be in Cusco volunteering at a special needs orphanage. I’ll be volunteering in an orphanage that has about 50 kids to only 2-3 teachers/helpers. It’s an area that is definitely in need of help.

Also, I am a finalist for IVHQ’s scholarship to teach English abroad in a foreign country that really needs it. So this means in addition to going to Cusco, I could possibly be chosen to volunteer abroad in a different area.

If chosen, I will be given 2 weeks to spend at a school that really needs assistance. I’d be so eternally grateful to be given a chance to make even the slightest impact on these children’s lives.

So if you can please vote for me, it only takes 5 seconds! Steps:

1. Click here to vote.
2. Enter your email.
3. Confirm your vote in a link sent to you.

Done!

You can vote 1 time per email. After 7 days you can vote again, which would really help me out a lot!

Thank you for reading.

How do you travel for cheap? Have you ever participated in TEFL, a volunteer program, or an organization like Workaway?

 

Giveaway

Today, I’ve decided to host a $100 cash giveaway to go along with my sister’s post. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway