As many people already know, traveling can be costly. Whether you take a train, plane, or automobile, people can spend a substantial sum of money on transportation costs. However, if you keep a few things in mind, traveling while paying off student loans does not need to hurt your bottom line.
During my student debt repayment saga, I needed to travel a ton to get to school, back home, and for other reasons. I rarely went on vacations (as mentioned in a few prior articles) but I still needed to shell out a substantial sum of money each time I traveled. However, I tried to cut costs every time I needed to pay for transportation expenses.
For instance, I usually used the cheapest mode of transportation available when traveling while paying off student loans. I went to school in the Boston area, and attended law school in the District of Columbia. As a student, I was based in the New York City area, and I was only around 200 miles from both Boston and DC.
People can use several different modes of transportation to get from New York to Boston or DC, including cars, trains, and airplanes. Although it may seem like a train ticket to Boston or DC would be cheap, train tickets could run into the triple digits, especially if you do not book in advance or travel during peak times. In addition, airfare is extremely expensive, even if the flights are super short given the small distances between New York and Boston or DC. I never had a car while paying off student loans, and even if I did, cars can be expensive because of maintenance, gas, tolls, and other costs.
When traveling while paying off student loans to more remote places, I usually took the bus. There are a number of bus routes that travel throughout the northeast, especially between New York and Boston and New York and DC. Bus tickets are extremely cheap, and they could cost as little as $15 (and some companies advertise fares even lower than this).
Traveling by bus has a number of benefits. Buses typically have free Wifi (even the economy-brand buses), and this is not always the case with other means of transportation. In addition, buses sometimes make a stop in the middle of a trip, and this can be a good way to get some food, use the bathroom, and stretch your legs in ways not possible with other transportation methods.
However, when traveling while paying off student loans, buses also have a number of disadvantages. Buses typically run behind schedule because of traffic, so it is harder to predict when a bus will arrive than it is to typically predict when a train will get to a destination. Of course, flights are routinely delayed, and cars can be stuck in traffic, so this is not the end of the world.
In addition, buses can be extremely cramped. I am 6’9” and I had a lot of trouble sitting in bus seats at times. I hate to admit it, but I usually sat in a bus seat closest to the aisle, and put my bag on the seat next to me so I could get more space. Sometimes I would pretend I was sleeping so that no one would sit down next to me! In any case, taking the bus is still better and more economical than other modes of transportation despite these disadvantages.
Another way that I saved money when traveling while paying off student loans was to bum rides off of people. When I was in school or headed to a conference, I usually knew other people who were also traveling to the same place as me. Oftentimes, I would use social media or word of mouth to get a ride, so that I did not need to spend money on more expensive forms of transportation.
It was especially important to bum rides with people when headed to places that could not be accessed by train, bus, or other methods of transportation. For instance, once during my student debt repayment saga, I was headed to a conference out in rural Maryland. I did not have a car, and it was nearly impossible to get to the conference with public transportation. I was able to ask around and bum a ride to the event with some friends of friends.
In addition, while attending my first law school in rural Virginia, I also bummed rides to get to and from school. The closest airport was an hour away, and the closest train station was at least 30 minutes away. Since I did not have a car, getting rides was the only economical way to get to and from that school.
Of course, I always volunteered to chip in for tolls, gas, and the like when traveling while paying off student loans. I usually also offered to buy lunch for the driver if we stopped for food during our trip. This was the right thing to do, and any money I shelled out to pay for these expenses palled in comparison to using other modes of transportation to get to my destination.
In the end, it is impossible to avoid spending money on travel costs while paying off student loans. People often need to spend money to travel to school, head back home, and travel for any number of reasons. However, by keeping a few things in mind, traveling while paying off student loans does not need to substantially impact your bottom line.