My love for traveling started ever since I was a kid. My parents would take me to a new destination every summer. I would go on different excursions and tours, learning about the area I’m visiting. Now that I’ve “grown up”, I started traveling either with my boyfriend, gal pals, or a group of friends. When I travel abroad, I always find it interesting to learn bits and pieces about how the government and its citizens operate. Since I’m coming from NYC, I like to see how other cities are constructed and how their metro train system works.
A lot of people may say, “But traveling costs a lot of money!” Traveling can fit everyone’s budget but it’s your job to figure out what you can and cannot afford. People who know me in real life, know I like talking about good deals and vacations. I hope that by writing about my adventures and the costs associated with them, everyone else can enjoy traveling too.
Why Minimalism?
My definition of minimalism is surrounding youself with only what is useful, beautiful and makes you happy, so that there is more room for the important stuff in life. Everyone who partakes in the minimalism journey has their own understanding of what minimalism is to them because your feelings or usage of objects are subjective. I need to make an emphasis on the word journey. It’s not like you can get rid of all your stuff, live out of a backpack and say “new year, new me”. That’s because it is most likely not your dream to live this way, so you will end up feeling sad and re-buy your stuff back.
Minimalism, for me, is about designing your life in a way that makes things simpler, meaningful and enjoyable. The mere act of getting rid of stuff isn\’t what makes life more beautiful, easier, simpler, etc.; it is what you do with the time you just saved by simplifying your life.
Why Money?
It doesn’t matter what you are majoring in college, if you ever went to college, or if you are employed; everyone needs to understand personal finance. For those of you who think it’s not necessary to understand how to be fiscally responsible, you may say “Why not just hire a financial planner?” or even say “I don’t have time for that, it\’s not my priority”. Those are the people who are kidding themselves into trouble. Of course you can hire a financial planner but they are not going to be monitoring your spending to make sure you don’t get into debt. You can think of them as your financial doctor who you can go once a year (or more), depending on the life goals you set for yourself. They are not there to do all the work for you, they are there to guide you. The poor habits you create now will haunt you in your old age. Such as …… student loans ….
I am passionate about personal finance. If you want to know more about what I have done, check out HandsOnMoney.com.
Why Travel + Minimalism + Money?
These are my main interests, so naturally I’d like to write about them. However, they also are intertwined.
If people think about what they want out of their life, they might say they want to be financially secure so that they are able to do the things they love with the people they love. While travel (a hobby/interest of mine) is where I prefer to spend my money, it may not be the same for you. Maybe what travel is to me, art and music is to you. That is where you derive your joy. If you are financially stable you don’t have to spend as much time working, therefore you have more time to do what you like.
When your style of living combines on all three elements, there can be a harmony in life – or what I think is happiness. I arranged the elements in this order because it relates to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I know my comparison with Maslow isn’t 1-1 with my ideas of what The Three Elements of Life are, but it’s to give you an idea of the steps that need to take place.
1. Money, or “Basic Needs”, should be met before working on…
2. Minimalism, or “Belongingness and Love Needs” and “Esteem Needs”, should be met before working on …
3. Travel, or “Self-Actualization” , should be the last step.
