Book The Flight

“What do you do to manage to travel so much?” 
“I wish I could, but I just can’t afford it.”
“It costs an arm and a leg to fly these days.”

You’ve heard these before. Right as I mention any upcoming trip, I can almost sense these lines on the tip of the other person’s tongue.

I learned long ago that planning and paying for a trip, especially one abroad, is best done in parts. I almost like to them of them as acts in a play.

In Act One, the most important thing I took away after more than a decade of travel is to worry about getting the flight first. The plane ticket is usually the most expensive piece of the pie, but focusing on this first allows you to tackle the biggest barrier, which you’ll discover isn’t as much of a hurdle as it seems.

In Act One, you’re also not bound to buy the return ticket right away. You can just buy the one-way ticket first. Thinking about those days where I couldn’t imagine paying for a $1,000 plane ticket at once (and those days haven’t went away), paying for half of the journey makes the trip even the more real. It allows you to set a realistic goal, a timeline and a budget for paying for the journey home. 

With that in mind, head over to Cheapoair.com or Google Flights and see what one-way deals you can find, or download the Hopper app to guestimate what rates will be during a specific period. As with most things, a trip is an investment, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. With this insight, the right attitude and a willingness to make your travel hopes a reality, you can handle all of the other parts step by step (such as accommodation and entertainment), skipping ahead to the Final Act and boarding the plane.