African travel

Because travel is so important. Whether your budget is small or big, learn to put travel as part of your lifestyle. There is so much to gain from travel and it also relaxes your mind. Before you say you can’t afford it, hold. I will give a few tips on how to afford travelling even if there is not much money available. Because I believe you should make an effort to travel a little if that’s all you can afford and a lot if the opportunity is there. First, let us explore why I think travel is so important.

Because travel is so important. Whether your budget is small or big, learn to put travel as part of your lifestyle. There is so much to gain from travel and it also relaxes your mind. Before you say you can’t afford it, hold. I will give a few tips on how to afford travelling even if there is not much money available. Because I believe you should make an effort to travel a little if that’s all you can afford and a lot if the opportunity is there. First, let us explore why I think travel is so important.

• It is very relaxing especially when you grind through the months at work and only get to be on annual leave to go on holiday like once in a year. Seeing new places, new cultures, new environments and new does something really amazing to you. It does to me at least.
• Seeing new cultures makes you more open to new ways of doing things and new ideas. It grows you in some way. Those experiences with other cultures make you understand a bit about their story and where they are coming from. It helps you have more reasonable discussions with people in that culture. I remember when I went to Kenya, when a Kenyan speaks about Nairobi, how fast life is in that city, I know what they will be talking about because, I have been there.
• Travelling helps you to appreciate what you have, and you’ve been taking it for granted all along. Especially when you travel to some African countries that have less than sophisticated facilities. I went to Malawi in November last year. Which is my home country by the way and where I was born. The fact that we in November, which is quite summer this side of the equator did not help. The arrivals space was so small and so packed and yet in that hour, only the flight from South Africa had landed. There was a fan in the room which was blowing more of hot air than cooling the travellers who were perspiring in the 5 or so queues that had formed but not clearly demarcated for one to know which counter they took the so eager to leave arriving travellers. In that moment, I appreciated even more O.R Tambo International airport and was reminded of what a great facility we are privileged to use in South Africa.
• Travelling also helps you to appreciate other cultures and widen your view on other people on how to engage with them. They say the culture of a people cannot be learnt from watching them on TV or reading about it in a book. When you share the same spaces, live, eat and sleep in their midst, that is when you really understand their culture or at least some of it. Some many years ago, I was involved in a youth exchange program and I was posted to Namibia from Zimbabwe where I was staying at that time of my life. I lived in their houses, ate their food, went to work with some of them and all. That way, I had a better glimpse of their culture than if I had read it in a book. When they talk of the dynamics of different cultural groups in Namibia, I have an idea of what they will be talking about.

Here is how you can afford to travel even if you think your funds are limited.

• Save up for it. Even if it takes you a year or 2 to save for travel, save the money you will need so that you don’t get into debt just because of travelling. If you will need to borrow, then make sure it is less than the amount that you saved up already. That will indicate to you if you will be able to pay off that debt.
• Plan your travel in advance and book your flights and accommodation way in advance so that you can take advantage of cheaper rates. If you sign up to receive newsletters from travel companies like TravelStart, you will also receive emails on specials that different airlines may be running to certain destinations and if your travel is well planned, you will then book for tickets when there is a special running. That’s what I do all the time. I keep checking those emails to see if my desired destinations is on special yet.
• Choose to travel in off peak periods or off season periods. That is when the flight rates and accommodation rates are at their cheapest as well. I saw on TravelStart earlier this month that flights from Johannesburg to Durban were as low as R399. Even Mango airlines is running a special on flights to Durban from R399 one way from Johannesburg only for the month of June. Travelling at this time will save you big bugs. It is also off season for hotel accommodations so you can take advantage of it now.

So, before you say you cannot afford to travel, look at how you how you can do this well in budget by being a bit organised. Breathe some new air, go out and live a little. When only get to live once so, make the best of it. Travel. Tell me, do love travelling? What destination have you been to and you simply want to go back and explore more? Mine is Namibia, Swakopmund

This post was done in collaboration with Travelstart