Travel
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How Much I Spent Travelling The UK For 2 Months
I took the first 72 days of my gap year slowly and spent half my time housesitting across my home country and the rest spending quality time with friends and family. My schedule was so jam packed throughout my entire last year of uni so this was a perfect way to slow down. It was also a great way to begin travelling as I never more than 3 hours away from my base incase something went wrong plus I’d never been on an extended solo trip so I wanted to do a test run in a country I am very familiar with. Housesitting in the UK took me to places…
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Complete Guide To Housesitting
I have been housesitting almost full time for the last four months and whenever I mention it I always get a tonne of questions. Trust me, I was exactly the same when I first heard about it. Like, you can stay in someones house while their away for free? Crazy!! Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links meaning if you go through them to make a purchase I may earn a commission. This comes at no extra cost to you <3 In the past four months I have spent a week in Chicago, a month in Seattle, two 5-day stays in Portland, a week in Cambridge…
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£5k Budget Update – December 2022
December, month four of my gap year and the first month I’ve spent fully abroad and zero nights crashing at my parents house 😂. As I’m following where the housesits take me to save on accommodation costs, I spent all of December in the Pacific North West. I’m here until mid-January then I’ll be flying over the east coast for the remaining 3 weeks of my time in the US. Disclaimer – This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you use them. This comes at no extra cost to you <3 New here? Let me give you a little context... I graduated from uni…
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£5k Budget Update – November 2022
November has been an absolute whirlwind of a month! I surprised my parents, saw my first West End show (by myself 😱), slept in an airport, spent two crazy days in NYC, took a 48hr train cross country just to name a few things 😂 But how has this craziness affected my £5k budget, let’s break it down and see! Disclaimer – this post may include some affiliate or referral scheme links. This means I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you <3 New here? Let me give you a little context... I graduated from uni this past summer and have chosen to take a gap year…
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2 Nights in NYC – New York Money Diary
I recently spent two wonderful nights in NYC but as the budget conscious traveller I am, I was a little concerned about its spenny reputation. If you’ve read my plan to only spend £5k on my gap year, you’ll know that I only get £10 per day spending money. Obviously this wasn’t going to cut it in NYC. So I started hoarding little amounts each day in the two months ahead of the trip. By the time the trip rolled around I’d amassed a nice little pot of money and was ready to explore. So here we go, my New York money diary. Exactly how much I spent during my…
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£5k Budget Breakdown – October 2022
Well, October has been a spenny month! Only two months into my year-long gap year and I have already spent over 20% of my £5k budget. Just writing that percentage down is a little panic inducing BUT surprisingly my projections have me still in budget! New here? Let me give you a little context... I have just graduated from uni and have chosen to take a gap year before deciding what to do next, career wise. I will be spending the entire year travelling and have set myself a strict £5k budget which needs to cover all costs and last the entire year! Seem a little tight? Check out this…
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Travel Hacking a £145 Flight to NYC
Yep, you read that right, £145!! For a flight from London to New York worth £1,800. Do I sound smug? I’m feeling a little smug. But getting a deal like this has been twelve months in the making. How? Two words – travel hacking. Disclaimer – This post may contain affiliate or referral links which means I might receive a commission if you follow them. This comes at no extra cost to you! What is travel hacking? Travel hacking is the art of collecting points (such as BA’s Avios) which are then redeemed for discounted travel. Travel hacking is very popular in the US but there are deals to be…
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Tips To Secure Sits on Trusted Housesitters
In the 50 days since I joined Trusted Housesitters, I have applied for 33 sits, had 4 zoom calls, been rejected 12 times, been ghosted more times than I can count, withdrew 7 applications and finally I have secured my first international housesit! I’ve actually got two 🎉 Disclaimer – This post contains some affiliate links meaning that I may receive a commission if you use them. This comes at no extra cost to you <3 Words cannot describe how excited I am that my plans are finally coming together – one piece of the puzzle at a time. Whilst, I have only just secured my first international sit, I’ve already…
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How I Plan To Only Spend £5k On My Gap Year
Yes, you did read that correctly! I am planning to spend only five thousand pounds on my gap year. Which will be a yearlong round the world trip. That works out to just over £13 per day! Want to know how? Keep reading. In this post, I am going to share five things that will help me stick to budget and still enjoy every single moment! Disclaimer – This post includes some affiliate links which means that I may receive a commission if you use them. This comes at no extra cost to you <3 Firstly, I must acknowledge that I only feel comfortable setting such a tight budget because…
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Wowcher Mystery Holiday – How Much It Actually Cost!
Back in January 2020, yes a lifetime ago, my mum and I embarked on a Wowcher Mystery Holiday. I paid for the holiday the previous August as a birthday gift for my mum. We finally got the call in September telling us where we were going and the dates. Incredibly by chance, we got assigned Venice, a place which had been at the top of my mum’s bucket list for decades and we were travelling the weekend before her birthday 😱. It couldn’t have worked out better!! I wrote a full review back in 2020, weighing up whether it is actually worth it for the £99 price point. To follow…
