Take a vagabond vacation
By Melanie Chambers • Bankrate.com

After a couple of years teaching English in Korea, Kansas native Rolf Potts thought he had travelling out of his system.

He was pleasantly mistaken.

During a nine-month stay in Thailand, he wrote "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel," which outlines his unique travel philosophy. "It's not about being irresponsible or dropping out of life, it's just a different way of living life," he says.

Not surprisingly, many vagabonders are seasonal workers, who travel during their time off every year, or travel writers such as Potts. Many are also young, single and mortgage-free. But don't let that stop you, says Potts. "I've seen families with four, five kids -- people of all walks of life travel. You're just not going to be out until 2 a.m. doing rice wine shots with Laos tuk-tuk drivers with kids."

And for the skeptics who think long-term travelling is too expensive even to consider, you're in for a surprise.

Plan ahead
Researching your trip not only helps figure out the practical aspects, such as costs, destinations and safety issues, but it can also provide inspiration. "It gets you into the buzz of the trip," says Potts, who at the same time warns against over planning.

"If you're travelling for six months, and you have every day planned out, then that's probably a bad idea." Unexpected adventures are part of the experience, he says. "If you're not open to that spontaneity, then you're missing out."

To start researching your trip, Potts suggests checking out travel sites such as Travel Library for advice and travelogues of other vagabonders. World Travel Guide also includes city and country guides similar to guidebooks.

Saving up
Saving for a trip that will last between six weeks and six months requires a strategy. Your plan will depend on your saving style and your spending habits.

Potts's experience suggests that your money never goes as far as you think it will: If you think you have enough money saved for six months, plan on travelling for four.

One way to figure out how much money you'll need is to map out a flow chart of your spending. Toronto resident Mark Del Ben used suggested budgets from guidebooks such as Lonely Planet and Rough Guides to calculate a daily budget, not including transportation costs, for his vagabonding experience.

For his eight-month around the world trip, he estimated he would need $22,000; it took him a year to reach his goal. Looking back on his trip, he says it's important for other travellers to keep in mind that your budget will vary from country to country. "When I got to India, I recall spending $1 for a hotel one night, it was a straw bed, while I spent $12 for breakfast in Australia," he says. "It all balanced out."

Savings support
Whatever your method for saving, you will need to make lifestyle sacrifices to build your travel nest egg. Potts recommends cutting your current discretionary expenses in half and setting aside the savings. This kind of saving requires real discipline.