I was recently introduced to Adam Shepard whose memoir, One Year Lived releases today. A few years ago, his debut, Scratch Beginnings gained national attention and the same attention is expected for One Year Lived.

Shepard spent two years saving up to travel around the world, a trip that he ended up spending $19,420, less than it would have cost him to stay at home. Shepard visited seventeen countries on four continents! He doesn’t go too in depth in the book as to how he was able to do this, sorry guys! I know! But he does mention more than a handful of things, especially below and I know they’ll be helpful to you. If you like the essay Shepard wrote below, you might be interested in picking up a copy of One Year Lived, entering to win a physical copy, or getting a free e-book edition (more information after the essay). My thoughts are below the excerpt as well!

A Penny Saved Yields a Journey Yearned by Adam Shepard

When I stepped off the plane and into Asia, I instantly became wealthy. In Indonesia, my ATM receipt alerted me that I was down to my last 117 million; I was buying avocados with fifty-thousand-rupiah notes. In the Philippines, my pockets bulged with fat stacks, and I slung hundred-note bills around like a University of Miami booster at a high school football game. “What do you want? A necklace? A dress? New shoes? A miniature wooden boat for the mantle? What does my baby want? A banana shake? Yeah? Does my baby want a banana shake? Bam. Here’s a five hundred. Get yourself a jumbo. No worries, mate. Don’t even need the change.”

If you wonder whether an odyssey like mine is financially realistic for you, I answer with a resounding yes. My family was never destitute, but we’ve often struggled. My pops will live the rest of his life on a lean retirement allowance, and my mom works as a hostess at Applebee’s. So how did I make this trip happen?

First, as I began my research, and as I started working my way around the world, it surprised me to learn how far an American dollar will go abroad. I departed on this trip in the heart of a recession, arguably the greatest financial crisis since the Crash of ’29, and I still had a year’s worth of rewarding experiences. The trick is to figure out which countries fit your travel budget. A hamburger in Copenhagen costs four times as much as in Prague, and Prague is one of the coolest cities in all of Europe. For the average price of renting a one-bedroom apartment for one month in Raleigh, North Carolina, I could rent my own private room on Ometepe Island overlooking Lake Nicaragua or a full two-bedroom apartment on Útila Island (in the Caribbean) for two months. I could do even better on a white-sanded beach in Thailand. I saved money in inexpensive countries (Honduras), and let my bank account loose in more expensive ones (New Zealand). Japan is pricey, as are Singapore, Taiwan, Norway, England, Australia, and many other countries, so one either figures out how to travel there creatively or dodges them altogether. Forget Switzerland until your rich aunt dies.

Interesting enough, though, I spent less money on this yearlong trip than I would have spent back home during the same year. That is, if I take all my expenses—flights, ground transportation, food, drink, lodging, entertainment, language classes in Guatemala, and hydrogen peroxide to cleanse my bovine-probe finger—and line them up against what I would have spent at home on my car, gas, insurance, apartment, food, entertainment, and two weeks of vacation. I hopped through seventeen countries on four continents for less money than it would have cost me to commute, vacation, play, eat, board, and buy a few cool new technological gadgets back in the States.

A trip like this requires sacrifice. You must sacrifice while you save for your trip and sacrifice while you are spending on your trip. What are your priorities? I essentially had two simple rules before I left, two means of keeping my spending in check: One, no souvenirs. Perhaps a wild idea for you on your own travels, but I already had a bulging backpack that burped something out every time I opened it. I also don’t have a permanent home to start hanging paintings, laying rugs, or displaying hand-carved wooden boats. Besides, more often than not, buying souvenirs is like picking somebody up at a bar at 2:30 A.M.: you get home and wonder, Good Lord. What was I thinking?

Two, moderate spending on alcohol. Alcohol can kill a travel budget. That “one more beer” you just had to have offers a sad substitute for admission to hot springs or an ATV rental up a volcano the next morning. So many people I met—too many people—were passing on fun side excursions because they were “watching their money” while buying drinks by the armful. Alcohol never got in the way of me doing what I wanted to do. I kept my intake manageable and mostly bought bottles from the store rather than in rounds at the bar.

I used disposable razors for five weeks at a time. I checked books out from the library on my Kindle. I slept on whatever surface happened to be available at the time—from bunk beds in hostels, to the beach house in Honduras, to a resort in the Philippines, to tile floors in eight airports, to any of a wide variety of (free!) landing spots via Couchsurfing.

My eating varied, too. In Guatemala, Beatríz offered that, “If people can afford to only eat street food, maybe they shouldn’t be traveling.” I disagree. You can find some of the best—and least expensive—food in the world at open-air corner stands. When I wanted to sit down and have a more formal meal, I did. But I knew I couldn’t eat out every day, so I often cooked, although usually with haste and without ingenuity. Maybe one day I’ll be selecting from an extensive wine list, but right now I’m just as happy ordering empanadas from a lady on the street corner with a fryer and a cooler full of cow that got split open over the weekend.

There are two tricks to spending money on the road.

First, be simple. I packed minimal clothes and only those that would wash in the shower and dry quickly, a week’s worth of drawers and socks, a quality pair of shoes, sandals, a sleeping bag, soap, a towel, a washcloth, a water bottle, ibuprofen, Band-Aids, Neosporin, diarrhea medicine, tweezers to keep my eyebrows tidy, a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, Q-tips, a laundry bag, a journal, three pens, a headlamp, a digital watch, a pocket knife, my debit card to keep on me, a credit card to keep separate in case of emergency, a Kindle, my passport, a copy of my passport, and a camera. Everything else, I reasoned, could be found along the way.

Second, be creative. Ultimately, this trip cost me less than staying at home only because I was creative with my planning and execution. In Honduras, tuna orzo Alfredo became a staple because the supermarket in La Ceiba marked the ingredients down on an almost permanent basis. In Granada, I met Evu, who had been on the road for just over thirty years—since age sixteen—earning his money from paintings he sold. Ugly paintings, too.

I shopped around: bungee jumping in Slovakia offered jumps from a higher platform, a more scenic view at one-fourth the cost of the jump at A. J. Hackett’s company in New Zealand.

I also saved money shopping around for flights. To wit:
For weeks I kept my eye on a flight from Costa Rica to New Zealand, because my research showed it would be—by three times—the most expensive leg of my trip. Any over-water flight is expensive, and there’s nothing but a vast emptiness of water between Costa Rica and New Zealand. For eight weeks, starting five months before I was set to take off, I watched this flight, waited for it to go down. I clicked the box noting my travel time as flexible in order to find a lower price. All eight weeks those numbers held firm without any signs of retreat. This flight was going to cost me $1,604, and ready to concede defeat and be put out of my misery, I contemplated buying the damn thing, lest it could go up.

Then an idea popped in my head, born of my previous traveling experience. I once flew from Raleigh down to Atlanta to get over to Charlotte, a ludicrous move, just so I could save the equivalent of dinner money. I considered the application of this same wisdom to my current predicament. What if I flew a little out of the way?

San Jose, Costa Rica is not an airline hub. It’s not a thriving metropolis of the Americas. People don’t fly through there on their way to get anywhere; it’s where they end up or it’s where they begin. It’s a tourist destination for flights coming from the north and the south, sure, but the population isn’t nearly what it is elsewhere in Latin America—Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Mexico City, Mexico. Surely one of these places would have a cheaper flight to New Zealand.

Nothing. All flights from South America filtered through Santiago, while the flights up north went through Mexico City and cost just as much. Most were far more expensive than $1,604. Then I checked Los Angeles: $551 to New Zealand. My heart fluttered as I readjusted my seat. I checked the flight to Los Angeles from San Jose: $263. By combining two segments on my own, I cut the flight price nearly in half in exchange for an extra nine hours in the air and a flyby in Fiji to pick up a few additional passengers.

Too easy. Extra air time meant extra frequent-flyer miles, and since Ivana and I were creating our own itinerary in New Zealand anyway, our flight schedule wasn’t pressing. The extra time meant I had to spend money on two extra sandwiches, but it also meant time to read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

The second way I was able to manage this trip is that I made saving for it habitual and fun, an easy lifestyle change. I sacrificed four fundamental things in the two years that I hustled to save for my journey: food, lodging, car, and clothes. I ate out once or twice a week, otherwise opting to cook my own food at home or at a friend’s house. I lived in a four-bedroom apartment with three roommates, each of us with our own bathroom and a common living and kitchen area to share. I drank Tony’s booze at his apartment before going out, and then bumbled from bar to bar drinking Diet Cokes on the rocks. I drove a seventeen-year-old Plymouth Sundance that coughed fumes when driving under twenty miles an hour and wouldn’t kick out air-conditioning when going up an incline. I tended bar at the Hilton Garden Inn and promptly deposited all my tips in the bank. I sought inexpensive local entertainment—movies at the dolla-fitty, tennis, games of pool—but splurged for occasional weekend trips with friends. And when necessary, I shopped for clothes at Walmart or Target.

None of these were real sacrifices, though. Being a miser is not a sacrifice; cooking your own food is not a sacrifice; driving an old car is not a sacrifice. Leaving a wife and newborn to go fight for your country is sacrifice; two jobs while raising a son and a daughter without assistance is sacrifice; donating a kidney is sacrifice; handing out ramen noodle flavor packets to trick-or-treaters after the bag of candy is empty is sacrifice.

Saving for this trip was simple. Delayed gratification. It’s simple to favor your own cooking or pass on a shiny car when you’re surveying with wanderlust the world map on your wall. Your roommates aren’t that bad; the dolla-fitty shows the same movies as the real movie theater, just a month or two later. The anticipation of your trip is very real, as is the prospect that this could actually happen, so you tolerate those niggling forfeitures while visions of daiquiris and the sunset on a Thai beach appear in cloud bubbles over your head. “Just six more months to save,” you say.

MY THOUGHTS
This is a wonderfully written essay. But we love travel and we don’t need to be won over to do it…so I honestly wasn’t sure about sharing this with you all, especially without acknowledging a certain something. And then he did in the final two paragraphs and I was okay. You see, the middle class opening didn’t move me the slightest because I am middle class. And you and I have sacrifices that weren’t mentioned until…the final two paragraphs.

That holds all of the weight when we’re talking about travel. I am SO tired of people saying, without even knowing a person and their circumstance that they aren’t traveling because they don’t really want to and/or they can afford it if they actually try. That’s true for many but that is not my audience. We’re a step ahead of that and I love you all for that! Souvenirs and alcohol…sacrifices? If you were lost after that, I encourage you to go back and finish reading. He’s got some good tips after that, he does! And then the ending…that’s really when I thought to myself, “Okay, this guy knows what message he wants to get across but he is also grounded enough in reality to know that there are people out there who DO want the most out of life but have certain struggles that require priority sacrifice at the moment. He understands that.” Had he not mentioned the more serious struggles and sacrifices that I know many of my readers face, you know I would not have even dared to put this on the blog.

There’s a reason the blog is called Hollywood the Write Way. “Write” is a play on “right” since I am a writer but I chose “right” because I want everyone to do what is right for them. What makes you feel like a star, what makes you feel well accomplished and fulfilled? Take care of your responsibilities and do it and you’re on the right path. My blog is not about sitting around wondering and/or complaining about life and not doing anything about it. It never has been. The main reason I started this blog was to stop wondering about how certain people do certain things and ask them, hence the interviews. My favorite part about the Blu-rays and DVDs that I review are the special features and you know that I hate when the special features are not in depth or worse, there are no special features.

How I operate on the blog is how I operate period. I’m not the wondering, complaining type who sits around doing nothing about it. I never have been that kind of person. I talk to people, I love learning, absorbing information, and I love getting things done. I graduated a year early from high school and soon after, moved to LA, the place I’ve wanted to live since I was in second grade. I did all of this and more with serious sacrifices along the way but it doesn’t end there. It’s about living the best life you can live with the cards you’ve been dealt (and sometime disregarding some of those cards). Longtime readers know this and most of you have the same attitude. Newcomers, welcome to Hollywood the Write Way.

So if you are living comfortably or semi-comfortably and don’t have any serious sacrifices to make you can start planning a trip like Shepard’s now. If you do have serious sacrifices such as legal fees, medical fees, rehabilitation fees, taking care of a disabled sibling and/or a sick parent, etc… on top of college and rent and the necessities, especially if you have no one helping you, don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not traveling because you don’t really want to. Be an adult and take care of your responsibilities, and if you have money left over to put aside now for a trip like this, do so. If not, don’t lose sight of your goal but DO NOT stress yourself out. Your time will come. You’ve shown discipline already by taking care of your responsibilities, you’ll have no problem having discipline when you do have money to save for a trip like this. That said, there are some tips of my own below for saving money no matter what stage you are at. I’m not going to go into going green and DIY projects since y’all are already aware of all of that. Let’s take a look at some things that many might tend to forget or gloss over while planning that will really help you so much!

I love that Adam starts out with stressing the importance of research. I’d suggest making a list of all the countries you want to visit and as you do that research, that list will be cut down for the purpose of this trip, some countries might be traded out for other countries, you may discover places you never knew existed, etc… and after all is said and done, you’ll have your list of places that you’ll visit. How many places that is of course depends on how long you plan to stay in each country. Are you traveling for a year straight, do you plan on doing this just every summer, etc..? Are you dividing your time evenly? What’s the best time to visit each country? How long will it take you to get from point A to point B if you take a train, bus, or boat instead of a plane? Do you know any family or friends who know people in these countries that would be open to having you in their guest room or home for a week or two?

If traveling with someone under the age of 18 or someone with a disability, would it be safe to stay at this particular hostile and is everyone comfortable with couch surfing for said period of time? If traveling with someone with a disability, does every place you are staying at cater to their needs? When you’re traveling with one or two healthy and able adults, it’s easy to go with the flow. But you have to be practical and even more aware of safety depending on who you’re traveling with. You also need to educate yourself on the countries’ laws and social taboos beforehand. There are so many questions to ask yourself as you go into planning a trip like this, so take your time with it because it will be so worth it!

When saving, some tips…well, if you don’t drink alcohol, you’ve just saved a load. If you do, just ask yourself, “How important is this drink? Really?” While you’re at home saving, I recommend watching The Chew or going on their website for recipes, they’ll save you loads of money! If you have room for a garden, now is the time to get it going! Grow your own fruits and vegetables. Grow a lemon tree if you can and save on the amount of drinks you buy. Who doesn’t love homemade lemonade? With a fruit garden, you’ll also be able to make homemade soda (way healthier and cheaper than regular soda) with seltzer water and fresh fruit. If you don’t have room for a garden, do your research on local farms and farmer’s markets rather than large chain supermarkets or invest time into couponing.

As far as food goes when traveling, make sure you know what everyone is allergic to. It’s NOT a good idea to travel to a country that eats seafood all the time and has it laying out in the open everywhere while traveling with someone who is allergic to seafood. Speaking of health concerns, make sure you go to your doctor and get whatever shots you may need before you visit certain countries. Also, there might be a few of you out there who don’t even know of all of the pharmaceuticals you could be getting at the end of the year through your health insurance and work benefits. Look into that! You paid for it, don’t let that money go to waste each year. Get the items you may need for your trip!

I don’t have to tell many of you but for any new readers, instead of discount chain stores, go to a thrift store! Get shirts, jeans, etc… for 50 cents, $2.50, at most $7.50 if you’re going to a good thrift store. Some thrift stores have jeans that are the same price as jeans at Walmart and Target. So do your research on thrift stores in your area and surrounding areas. If a really good one is an hour or two away, it might be worth the trip since you’ll be getting 10x more clothes than what you’d get at discount chain stores. Some thrift stores might even set aside one day each week or each month where everything in a certain section (like right outside of the store or set out in the parking lot) is a dollar. Research people! Some clothes at the thrift store still have the original price tags on them (crossed off) so some clothes will be brand new for 50 cents!

In regards to entertainment, ask for things like a Kindle or yearlong Netflix account for your birthday or Christmas for example so you don’t have to spend money on it. Be mindful of the many free e-books and lending library ebooks on Amazon, public library books through Amazon, and Kindle Daily Deals rather than buying e-books at $10 and more. If you have a cell phone that supports apps, get the Overdrive app and get ebooks of books that are at your local library right on your phone. There are plenty of fun things to do for free but if you find yourself watching a ton of television, consider using Viggle (check into the TV shows you watch, get points for each check in, points lead to gift cards for CVS, Travelocity, etc…). I’ve used it for Barnes & Noble gift cards. But for practical things for a trip like this, there are a few gift cards you’d find handy! While saving at home, instead of going to the movies, make a list of all of the movies you’ve never seen and always wanted to see and hit up your local libraries. Get through that list! You don’t always have to do it alone either. Instead of going out every weekend, invite your friends over for movie night and tell them to bring a movie, snacks or drinks with them!

If your commute to work is 5 miles or less, consider walking or biking instead of using the car. If your commute is a little longer, look into public transportation – a one month bus/train pass might end up costing less than you spend in one week on gas! Instead of taking a beginner’s language class or buying a beginner’s program, go to the library! And if you want to start right away, use memrise. I could go on but I think you get the point. Whether you are planning a trip like this right now or will be planning a trip like this in the future, I encourage you to read One Year Lived and let me know what you think about it! I’d love to hear your thoughts! Which brings me to the giveaway…

GIVEAWAY DETAILS
* E-BOOK: If you like the excerpt above, Hollywood the Write Way is giving away a free e-book to every person who requests one today and tomorrow, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Email me melodysimpson (at) hollywoodthewriteway (dot) com before 7pm ET tomorrow for your copy!

* PHYSICAL COPY: Hollywood the Write Way is also giving away ONE signed paperback copy of One Year Lived. All you have to do is retweet this tweet OR make a comment on this post by Friday, April 26th 12pm ET and I will pick one winner at random later that day!

One Year Lived by Adam Shepard is available now.