Stephanie Barry-Woods from StephMyLife on how to travel the world on a shoestring

Want to save money to travel the world and do it all for just €50 per day? Cork-born influencer Stephanie Barry-Woods from StephMyLife shares her top budgeting and travel hacks for aspiring digital nomads.

Stephanie Barry Woods: the digital nomad getting around the world on a limited budget

As far as aspirational lifestyles go, Stephanie Barry Woods is ticking all the boxes. In spite of looking as accessible as having all your teeth replaced with diamonds, a chat with Stephanie reveals it’s actually quite the opposite.

Cork-born Stephanie and her husband were in £40,000 worth of debt (mostly accrued from Tim’s student loans in the UK) when they decided to start saving to travel. They set themselves a goal: Clear the debt, and save €100,000, not an easy feat whilst living in London on a wage of about £40,000-£50,000 each.

“A lot of people skip meals and drinks but they don’t even know how many subscriptions they have. We saved so much money swapping utility providers. We started a budget for groceries and entertainment.”

Stephanie and Tim didn’t want to scrimp on their social life since they’d be leaving their friends and family behind.

“It didn’t make any sense for us to save money by avoiding birthdays and nights out because we can’t get this time back. In London, there’s loads of apps to get a drink for free and websites where you can book 50% off meals.”

While Stephanie and Tim saved £100,000 in just under four years, she says long-term travel can be done for a lot less.

“It was more like a safety net for us because we didn’t know how long we were going away for.”

Kickstarting their travels with a jaunt to Thailand, the intrepid couple developed a love for experiencing different cultures and they started travelling to neighbouring places.

“We didn’t work for about 10 or 11 months as we went through Southeast Asia. That was very cheap to travel around.”

Know your comfort levels

Decide before you go away how you want to live and budget according to your needs, Stephanie says.

“I’ve seen people travel for months on €12k. It’s really dependent on your comfort levels and whether you’re cool with hostels and street food or whether you need aircon and private rooms.”

Set yourself a daily allowance

Once you have decided where you’re going to travel, do some research into the accommodation, food and living expenses, says Stephanie, and plan for a set amount of expenditure per day.

“If you’re backpacking along the banana pancake trail to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, you could probably do it for €30 a day including accommodation.”

Steph My Life's Stephanie Barry Woods and husband Tim in Lankawi. Picture: Stephanie Barry Woods

Guesthouses can often be the same price as hostels

Stephanie and Tim have stayed in many types of accommodation and she says that it pays to do your homework.

“We found that in some places, the price of a guesthouse was the same as two hostel beds but it would be super basic. We’d stay in hostels when we wanted to have more of a social life and meet people.”

Have a financial safety net

Stephanie and her husband started travelling long before remote working was the norm and her blog, which now has a combined social audience of over 89,000 followers, had really taken off.

“I think that’s why we saved an excessive amount. We did have a lot of fear around how long our money would last. It was 2016 and the whole digital nomad working lifestyle was definitely more of a pipe dream.”

Stephanie Barry Woods in Amalfi. Picture: Stephanie Barry Woods

Use travel cards

Having travel cards is a good way to avoid getting scammed whilst abroad, says Stephanie.

“You can switch off transfers or withdrawals over a certain amount. You get a notification every time you spend something, so if your card is scammed, you know immediately.”

While most people Stephanie’s age are thinking about getting on the property ladder, it was the last thing on her mind.

“Some people think we’re crazy because we didn’t buy a house with the money and travel on the rent.”

Open a savings account with high interest rates

While in Australia, Stephanie contrasted and compared the rates on different accounts in the local banks and found the one with the highest possible interest rates.

“We found this savings account and they doubled your interest every month if you didn’t take anything out. We lived on Tim’s wage and we saved mine because I was contracting.”

Stephanie Barry Woods: scrimped and saved for ling-term travel and getting out of debt

Travel blogging can be a lucrative career

Like most travel influencers, this started out as a hobby for Stephanie but soon became a way of life and her primary source of earning. “It may seem risky and temporary but it can be a lucrative and stable career option and there’s actually a lot of work out there.”

What is the one piece of advice she’d give someone hoping to get into this line of work? “Figure out what your strengths and your skills are. Find the person who will value and pay for those skills.”

Invest in basic tech equipment

While the myth of working on the beach is exactly that, Stephanie says you really don’t need a huge amount of equipment other than a laptop and phone to create top quality content. 

“The only thing you really need is SIM cards and a range booster. You get them on Amazon because the WiFi in places can be pretty poor but you can pick them up really cheaply. Portable batteries for your phone too — so you can work on your phone if needs be.”

Respect the local culture

Suss out the written and unwritten guidelines around employment, says Stephanie before taking up casual work as a taxi driver or similar. “There are rules about casual work because you’re going to take jobs away from someone who’s local, in Thailand, Cambodia or Indonesia, which isn’t good.”

Carry small amounts of cash

While many establishments take cards, there are still some that don’t, says Stephanie. “You’ve got to use cash a fair bit. You’d always need to have €40 or €50 cash with you for food — stuff like that. In Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Kuala Lumpur, you’d get away with a card, but in Penang, you need cash.”

So, where is the cheapest place she has lived?

“It blows my mind how cheap it is in Vietnam. It’s definitely becoming more of an up-and-coming place for digital nomads. You can get a nice bed for €7 in a private room of a guesthouse.” 

In contrast, the most expensive place is Singapore which is “outrageous” — rooms in hostels can cost upwards of €400 for two adults sharing per night.

Stephanie Barry Woods in Bali

Swap the car for public transport and taxis

Investing in a car can be an unnecessary expense and Stephanie recommends using one of the many transport apps available. The base fare in Bali starts at 44c and most trips cost less than €3.

“They have a lot of taxi apps, the main one is Grab and I feel it’s the most safe taxi app in Southeast Asia. Other than that we’d ride scooters (one day rental can be as low as €1.23) or we rent cars, which are both pretty cheap to use.”

If you’re spending on anything, make it insurance

Invest in a reputable travel insurer, Stephanie says, and make sure you’ve read up on their claims policy.

“If you’re going to spend your money, spend it on good insurance. We use World Nomads — they pay out and they’re easy to deal with. You need to seek out good reviews from those who have claimed.”

Avoid getting duped

It’s very easy to get hoodwinked when you’re abroad and Stephanie has learned the hard way.

“You’ve got to be streetwise. In Thailand, there’s a scam where people come to you and say ‘Oh, we’re from the government and we’ll help you buy a holiday’. A lot of people lose money with that scam.”

Stephanie has made a business out of her travel insight and offers one to one travel planning for clients.

“I talk them through all their options and then after a phone call, I write up a guide or itinerary for their trip — how to get there, where to stay, food, safety, insurance — all that stuff.”

Stephanie Barry Woods on Cheow Lan Lake in Thailand. Picture: Stephanie Barry Woods

Plan your travel

It helps to pinpoint exactly what you want to see while you’re travelling.

“You might want to try a certain dish or see a certain animal and travel planning helps you figure out which place is the right place for you.” Stephanie urges anyone with wanderlust to bite the bullet and go, even if it is with your kids, with an acquaintance or by yourself. 

“If it means you get to go and do something that you really want to do, go and travel. Rather than wait for the perfect person to travel with, just go — you’re never alone as a solo traveller.”