not your average side hustle
A year ago yesterday, I left the country and embarked on a three-month trip to Southeast Asia.
(Happy one-year anniversary to me!)
I still remember saying goodbye to my pup the day before and seeing my mom's face resemble Kim Kardashian's cry face as I said goodbye and walked away.
If someone told me two years ago that I would quit my job and take this trip without putting myself in even more debt, I would have fallen on the floor laughing. But looking back, I now see the passion and desire I had to save the money to take this adventure.
Throughout my journey, I had so many friends say they wanted to do the same thing but couldn't afford it. Can you afford going out every weekend? Probably yes... so you can afford traveling. But how?
I'll let you in on a little secret: It's called side hustle.
Even before I decided to take this trip, I was working three jobs -- and still do to this day: My regular 9-5 job, a bartending gig and instructing a barre class. Instead of spending most of my side hustle money on clothes or going out every weekend, I decided to put every penny toward my adventure. I split my 9-5 paycheck 60-40 and cut my monthly spending down by… well, a lot.
Is the side hustle worth it?
If you enjoy staying busy and like the people you work with, your side hustle will open up a lot of great opportunities for you aka being able to save & travel or save to buy a boat. *I'm on a boat bitch*
Do you know anyone that has complain about having extra money to spend? Nope.
But how you use your extra money is where your desire and passion come into play. My extra money from side hustling has allowed me to pay off my debt, pay for half of my trip and, now, it's allowing me to save after coming back to the country broke AF.
One thing people rarely talk about when it comes to a side hustle and the goal of traveling long term are the sacrifices you make along the way. I bet you this is the main reason many of us don't travel today.
People don't want to make sacrifices. Plain and simple. I have friends who complain about not having enough money to buy music festival tickets or go out to dinner, let alone go grocery shopping. If you want something badly enough or hell just don't want to be broke, you're going to make sacrifices along the way to get what you want. If you don't then maybe you didn't want it as badly as you thought.
I wanted to travel long term but didn't want to be in debt while gone. I decided to work 6 days a week sometimes 7 and put my money away. Yes, I missed out on things with my friends. Yes, I couldn't buy into the latest fashion trends. I even had to limit my spending on concert tickets which I never thought I would do.
Was it all worth it to be able to travel? Mother Fucking Hell Yes.
The experience I had traveling was unlike anything I've experienced in my life, here in Atlanta. I grew as a person, I went outside my comfort zone, I made friends with people I never would have met otherwise and I learned about myself. Note if you travel with me – I have learned I am a very grumpy human being after traveling on the road longer than 5 hours.
And how did I achieve all of this?
That side hustle