Student Travel

Since you’re reading this I know you’re broke but you want to Travel. Your parents may tell you being a Student and travelling is just not possible. They might say things like work hard, get a job and then you can go traveling once you can afford it. Well I’m here to say, screw that. Life is short, way shorter than anyone wants to admit and if you want to go and see the world then go do it. Student Travel is great, you’re young enough to really benefit from the experience, the only trouble is funding it. Hopefully a couple of these tips might help you to save the tiny amount of money you need to escape, even if its just for a few weeks.

1. Why buy food when you can catch it?

One of my major expenses day to day is Food. I love food, I love good food, but unfortunately it costs a lot. If I stop eating meat, and survive off pesto pasta then I can save a lot of money but the problem is that I sacrifice my health. Cheap food makes me bloated and tired and not to mention it’s really boring. Well fortunately there is one way to get amazing food for free and that is stealing it from your parents! No not really, you can catch it! I live by the sea and so fishing or freediving for food is one of my favourite things to do. Its great fun and it gives you fresh air, exercise and a wicked dinner!

Don’t worry if you’ve never tried it before, fishing is really easy. Vivian and I bought a rod, a reel and a couple of sets of hooks and weights for less than £20. That £20 can feed you for as long as you can catch fish. I would recommend getting a set of “feathers”  (hooks with feathers for attracting fish) but don’t get the real feathers, get the silver sparkly ones instead. They look fantastic but more importantly mackerel love them. From late spring to autumn, you can go to the sea, cast into deep water off a pier or quay and catch mackerel, often a lot of them too. Once you’ve hauled them in be sure to kill them quickly so they don’t suffer; gut ‘em, fillet ‘em and cook ‘em. They are really good on the BBQ with a squeeze of lemon and very good for you too, omega-3!

If you’re like me and have a wetsuit or if you’re not like me and love the sensation of being plunged into ice cold water, another alternative is freediving. Freediving for food is  like a game of Supermarket Sweep but the time limit is how long you can hold your breath for. Dive down, swim about until you see something you recognise from the fish mongers and grab it. Things you might win include scallops, crabs, muscles and octopus. Its much more fun than fishing but it takes a bit of luck.

2. Sell Everything

Saving up for student travel isn’t just about saving money, its also about making it. Do you need that? Nah you don’t. You’ve got loads of junk, sell it! It’s worth more than you think and you will feel better once it’s gone. I think gumtree is the best way, I like it cause it takes no effort. Someone comes to pick the stuff and up and gives you a load of cash just like that. No postage and packaging or any messing around, its great. Less is more, declutter your life and raise cash for your travels.

3. Bomb proof piggy bank

Any change you get put it into piggy bank. Anytime you think about getting a takeaway instead of cooking, cook and put the money you were going to spend in the money bank. For ever beer you drink put £3 into the piggy bank. You get the idea, soon this thing contains a load of money but the secret to doing this successfully is making sure you can’t open the thing. Its too tempting just to take a pound or two for the bus, before you know it you’ve spent half of it. Make sure you can’t get into it without a hacksaw and don’t be tempted to open it to count until its time for your trip. This is our Star Wars money bank, it really helped us save for some student travel this year.

4. Presents

Birthdays, Christmas, Valentines Day, etc etc, all year we spend money buying stuff that no one even wants. Your auntie has no clue what you want so she buys you a book on Russian poetry, it sits on your bookshelf for 3 years before you can give it Oxfam without feeling guilty. You buy your gran a mobile phone and she keeps loosing it so she ends up cable tying it to the table, making its mobileness redundant. Just tell people you don’t want stuff, if they want to get you anything they can make a small donation to your student travel fund. Likewise stop spending money on oppressing others with clutter. Make something, brew beer, knit a hat and send them out with homemade cards. Its much nicer and is costs a lot less. My favourite is brewing beer, for £16-£20 you can get a kit that will make you up to 40 beers. All you need is bottles, caps, capper and a big plastic bin or container.

5. Cycle everywhere

Don’t take the bus or train, cycle or walk instead! It’s free and you get fitter. For students travelling a long distance into uni cycling is a great way to get about but getting a bike does cost money. Adding up all those bus fares though, you will save money in the long run, especially if you end up at uni for 5 years like me! One great way to get a bike very cheap or even for free is do up a scrap bike. For more info you can check out a project we did over in Denver where we brought Stanley the single Speed racer back to life. Alternatively lots of cities have started bike pick up and drop off schemes like the boris bikes in London. We tried this in Paris but actually the system was rubbish and it didn’t work, although I’ve heard the London and Glasgow systems are good so perhaps its just the French who need to sort it out. 

If you’ve got any tip for saving up for student travel don’t be shy, comment below!

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