Welcome to Josie Wanders!

Here you can expect a blend of travel stories, tips, and advice designed to make exploring the world more accessible and enjoyable, regardless of your budget.

You will learn how to enjoy luxurious experiences without breaking the bank. The focus is on how to travel smart, combining budget-friendly tips with occasional splurges to create memorable experiences.

I know you’re not a 20-something backpacker living on ramen, sleeping in dorms and spending your time bar-hopping.

Instead, you are likely a Gen Xer or an empty nester who now finds themselves with more time to explore the world. You have a little more disposable cash, but you still can’t afford to always travel 5-star.

I get it.

You’re looking to take longer trips that offer deeper, more meaningful experiences, and you want to make every dollar count without sacrificing comfort or enjoyment.

It’s all about balance! I’ve spent years learning how to travel cheaply but still have some amazing bucket list experiences, and so can you.

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Josie’s Story

Hi! My name is Josie (she/her). Not too long ago I was an accountant. I would sit at my desk all day….and dream of faraway destinations!

It wasn’t always like this. I grew up in a small country town in South Australia with parents who didn’t exactly encourage travel. I barely ventured out of the state until I was an adult.

Travelling internationally was not even vaguely on the radar for me. There were no thoughts of “one day I’d like to go to…”! No one I knew had ever been outside of Australia.

Once or twice a year we would travel the 800km to our state capital of Adelaide and that was our grand adventure.

I went through life on the usual path – high school, university, job. I married young, and had my first taste of overseas travel, with my new in-laws giving us a few days in Bali for our honeymoon.

We came home, bought a house and didn’t think about going anywhere again. Our honeymoon was that once-in-a-lifetime trip to us then.

By the age of 25, I was a stay-at-home mum to two girls. Our passports gathered dust as we contended with the day-to-day struggles of a young family with one income.

Twelve years after that trip to Bali I had my eyes opened to travel again in a fairly major way – my husband Simon was offered an opportunity to move internationally with his company to Dubai.

There was a long and convoluted process for us to go through, and we were on the roller coaster for ten months before finally deciding, with regret, that we could not accept the position.

In hindsight, it was the best decision of our life financially, because two months later the GFC hit, and it hit Dubai in particular with a vengeance. Who knows what would have happened if we moved?

But I also felt sad about the experiences I was going to miss.

During the months of working through the process, I had read and learned everything I could about Dubai, expat life, Muslim people and lifestyle, and even started learning a little Arabic.

We travelled to Dubai for nine days, not just as tourists, but looking at houses, and schools and meeting expats who were living the life. Somewhere in the process, the travel bug bit – bad!

My dreams had begun.

Back in Australia we made decisions that would again put travel on the back burner. Our children were about to start high school and we chose to send them to a private school.

We knew this meant I would also have to work in a full-time job for the eight years we would be paying those school fees. I could not see a way we could even remotely afford to travel.

But I was hooked. I had to find a way.

Without understanding fully, we got a credit card that earned frequent flyer points. I figured all of those school fees may as well be helping in some small way towards my travel.

My goal then was to take my eldest daughter on a trip for her 18th birthday, still five years away.

I scrimped and saved, and two years after that trip to Dubai we were able to go to New Zealand for ten days. This trip was a big first for me because I had a strict budget and had to change the way I thought about holidays to make this happen.

There were no fancy hotels or eating out. We stayed in cheap places and bought food from supermarkets. It was absolutely brilliant.

We cruised the Bay of Islands, saw giant kauri trees, floated on an underground river through glow worm caves, watched rabbits being shorn, blocked our noses in Roturua, attended a traditional hangi and rode horses on the beach. Now the rest of the family was hooked on travel too.

Another two years passed before we did our first backpacking trip (with our kids) to Singapore and Malaysia. This was followed the next year with Vietnam.

On our return, a friend introduced me to travel hacking. My whole world was turned on its head. I could now find ways to travel for longer and further.

Those few meagre frequent flyer points I had earned over the years soon grew exponentially. I met many other travellers and learned more than I ever imagined.

We then travelled overseas multiple times, heading back to New Zealand (twice), Dubai (twice), the UK, Thailand, Hong Kong, Turkey and Greece.

It wasn’t long before I started to talk about my urge to travel long-term. I decided that our youngest daughter could not have a year off when she finished high school – both girls would need to stay home and look after the house while Simon and I went on a gap year.

I joked that we deserved it after all those years of working to pay for their school fees.

Since then we have made it a reality. I left my job at the end beginning of 2017, and Simon had 55 weeks of leave approved.

He has been at his job for a long time, and has been able to amass a substantial amount of leave so was luckily paid for most of the time we are away. He also had a job to go back to on our return.

In April 2017 we left Australia for twelve months of backpacking through Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

During this year we visited forty countries and experienced so many different aspects of not only the places we visited but long-term travel in general.

It was truly life-changing in more ways than one.

That, though, is not the end of my journey – in fact, it is more like the start. When I left my 9-5 accounting job I did not plan to go back. Not to that job, or any other like it.

I planned to become location-independent. I can still see us living in Adelaide for the foreseeable future, but I would love to build freedom and options. I was not sure of the path I was going to take yet, but I was so excited to start the ride towards living the dream.

And then, as with all good stories – life threw a curveball.

In October 2019 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was very lucky to have found it early, so I did not require chemotherapy or radiation, but I did undergo a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction to hopefully ensure the cancer did not return.

Just as I was recovering from the multiple surgeries, the world was changed by Covid-19.

It also encouraged me to put all my travel dreams on paper. I would soon be fifty, so I gave myself three years to get through my Fifty Before 50 bucket list.

No one could predict that for two years international travel would be impossible for those of us here in Australia.

But I believe travel is a mindset, so I explored my city and state just like I would if I was in Europe or Asia. This led to me building a second blog all about my home state, Exploring South Australia.

Eventually, those international borders started to open, and it wasn’t long before I was back on a plane, “enjoying” another 14-hour long-haul flight. It was like my first real trip all over again, to the same destination too, Dubai! The excitement made my stomach flip flop and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

Since then I’ve added more countries to my tally, ticked off all 7 continents, and now I am working on my Sixty Before 60 bucket list.

Sadly my travel stalled again, with the return of breast cancer, so I will be spending the last half of 2024 doing chemo. Prognosis is great, and I’m already planning new and exciting adventures for 2025.

In the meantime, this gives me a great opportunity to share even more inspiration, tips and advice with you, so that you can enjoy some amazing travels too.

Quick Facts

Favourite country? Horrible question 😂 I love the mountains, so New Zealand, Canada, Austria, Norway. But I also love cities, like Singapore or Dubai. And I will never forget my time in Jordan, Vietnam or Argentina.
Beach or mountains? Can I say both? I love the mountains, but I can barely go a day without seeing water, so I love the beach too.
Carry-on or checked luggage? Mostly checked, but it could probably go as carry-on
Most memorable travel experience? So many! Seeing Antarctica was pretty special. The Northern Lights too.
A travel destination you’re dying to visit? Japan. I can’t believe I haven’t been yet. It’s pencilled in for 2025.
Window or aisle seat? Window, always. I need to see those views, even if it’s just cloud. It never gets boring.
Most underrated city you’ve visited? Sarajevo. I loved it there, and I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about it.
Top travel tip for budget-conscious explorers? Take public transport. It might be terrible in our home countries, but in much of the world, it’s cheap, efficient and safer than a random taxi.
Favourite travel snack? Hmmm…I tend to choose whatever is popular in the local country. I love to try new things.
One thing you never travel without? My phone. No surprise there, I need it to take thousands of photos 😂
Hotel, hostel, or Airbnb? Definitely not Airbnb, but I will happily do hotels and hostels.
Most challenging trip you’ve taken? I guess our gap year – simply because it was so long, and I spent 24/7 with my Simon. That would test anyone. (We are still married though 🙂)
Solo travel or group travel? I almost always travel with Simon, and occasionally other family members. I don’t love group travel and have not yet travelled solo (at least not internationally)
Early bird or night owl while travelling? Early bird, always
Best travel advice you’ve ever received? Probably that first advice that got me into the world of points and miles (thanks Graeme)
Favourite way to pass time on long flights? I read, play mindless games on my phone and listen to podcasts. I can’t remember the last time I watched something on in-flight entertainment.
Dream travel companion? I have to say myself. I would love to travel solo one day, to prove to myself that I can.
Most adventurous thing you’ve eaten? Frogs? Snails? Sea Anemone? Tripe? Reindeer? Squid Ink? Nothing too adventurous.
Favourite city for street food? Singapore
Travel gadget you can’t live without? Not really a gadget, but my universal sink plug always comes in handy in the most surprising places.

Ready to dive in?

Start by signing up for my weekly email here

Now read some of these posts to get you started on learning how to travel more cheaply and begin planning your trip.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Trip
Think You Are Too Old for Hostels? A Gen Xer’s Guide to Budget Travel
How to get Foreign Currency for your Travels
151 Inspirational Ideas for Your Best Travel Bucket List
What to Do When Your Flight Gets Cancelled

Are these popular destinations on your itinerary? I have plenty of tips for you.
Australia
Singapore
Dubai
Spain
See all the countries I have written about here.

And a couple of my favourite gap year posts
Travel Diaries – Brno
Travel Diaries – Porto
Travel Diaries – Vietnam

Some of my other posts you might like
Six Months of Travel – Curious Facts & What I Have Learnt
Our Ten Biggest Gap-Year Failures
Santiago to Buenos Aires via Antarctica