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How My Sister Is Working, Attending College & Traveling

Last Updated: November 21, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 84 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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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

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84 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Travel Tagged With: Budget, Travel

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Kimberly says

    April 17, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    I voted for you.I hope you win!

    Reply
  2. Judy Thomas says

    April 17, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    What an awesome prize, thanks for the chance 🙂

    Reply
  3. Addie F. says

    April 17, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    Oh gosh, your sister is doing something amazing. I’m working and attending school currently, but I’d LOVE to add traveling to it. I’m 23 and I’m thinking about getting a TEFL certification. For her to have done all this by 21 is really incredible! I voted!

    Reply
  4. nicole dziedzic says

    April 17, 2015 at 9:03 pm

    Congrats on being a finalist for IVHQ’s scholarship to teach English abroad! Sounds awesome!

    Reply
  5. maria says

    April 17, 2015 at 10:24 pm

    Have fun on your travels! Thanks for the chance!

    Reply
  6. Barire says

    April 17, 2015 at 10:29 pm

    As a family, we travel cheap by bringing snacks and food in a cooler.

    Reply
  7. Denise A. says

    April 17, 2015 at 10:50 pm

    Interesting way to travel… I never would have thought of this!

    Reply
  8. Rita Corey says

    April 18, 2015 at 12:18 am

    I voted. Good luck, hope you win!

    Reply
  9. Alexis says

    April 19, 2015 at 11:22 am

    Your sister is being an OT to work with children with Autism? That’s amazing! I’m an Autism teacher myself and give serious kudos to your sister and wish her the best!

    Reply
    • Alexis says

      April 19, 2015 at 11:28 am

      Sorry, *becoming an OT (autocorrect)

      Reply
  10. Michelle L says

    April 19, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    wow Michelle, besides sharing the same name, I also lost my dad, in his early fifties from cancer… condolences…

    Reply
    • Michelle L says

      April 19, 2015 at 12:24 pm

      Sorry Alexis, I am more familiar to Michelle:) Been following this blog for awhile.

      Reply
  11. Catherine Shaw says

    April 21, 2015 at 4:19 am

    I wish I’d done more travel “back in the day.” Hooray for your sister!

    Reply
  12. Natasha Mairs says

    April 22, 2015 at 1:44 pm

    just to let you know that the bloglovin link in thwewidget just takes you the bloglovin homepage, not your profile. I had to click on the bloglovin button in your sidebar

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      April 22, 2015 at 3:07 pm

      Thank you so much. I had no idea so I will fix that now.

      Reply
  13. Wanda McHenry says

    April 23, 2015 at 6:39 pm

    Voted! Good Luck!!

    Reply
  14. Shannon says

    April 26, 2015 at 3:03 am

    I voted, good luck!

    Reply
  15. connie danielson says

    April 26, 2015 at 10:46 am

    I voted. Good luck! Thanks for this awesome chance to win! connie danielson

    Reply
  16. DNN says

    September 3, 2018 at 9:31 pm

    The good news about traveling and multitasking is anyone can start a side hustle blog and center it around the topic of “blogging as a travel related side hustle,” and document their travel experiences through accountable blogging, YouTube videos with links in the video description pointing back to specific blog posts, and making a reputable name for themselves while getting closer to achieving side hustle millionaire status.

    Reply
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My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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