Traveling can have great benefits to your life, it helps a person disconnect from their normal routine and get exposed to new ways, activities, and lifestyles.
As a Rwandan saying goes, ‘Akanyoni katagurutse ntikamenya iyo bweze’ translated as “Wisdom cannot be harnessed from within”. The saying encourages people to move from their usual environment, and learn something new.
For so long, many people have thought of traveling as costly, and they would wait, work and save up just to go on one trip.
Currently, we are hearing and seeing pictures of even young people with low income jobs going to different places and enjoying it, making us wonder how they are making it.
Gloria Kiiza is a 23-year-old young girl who has traveled to more than seven districts in Rwanda with a job that pays her Rwf100,000 per month. She has found a way to use this pay cheque to pay for her trips and bills.
“Traveling for me is a passion. It is not something I have to force. I feel happy and at ease seeing new places, meeting new people and this influences me to find ways that allow me to do so,” says Kiiza.
She explains that her mother is the first person who influenced her love to travel.
“Growing up, my mother would talk about the days she was young, traveling from country to country. Today, we still bump into people knowing her wherever we travel together across the country,” says Kiiza.
Socializing becomes part of traveling, not only with the people you choose to travel with but also the people in the place you choose to travel to.
As Kiiza explains, her mother learnt different languages because she traveled so much. Her confidence is something to behold and those are the things she wants to experience as well.
Kiiza says that she chose travel within her home country, Rwanda, before she can go beyond.
Besides, she lives alone, pays her bills and manages to travel. This means, every penny is accounted for.
Staying with family and friends
Kiiza says that she considers traveling as her way of reconnecting with family.
Most of us have families that live in different areas of the country. It is good to travel as an opportunity to get to know more about our roots.
As Kiiza says, she has learnt a lot from staying with her family, even learnt about some funny stories about her mother which she uses to tease her.
“When I stayed with my aunt, she told me about how my mom and her would skip school and do all this crazy stuff. When I got back home, all I did was to bring up this story over and over again,” she says.
Kiiza further observes that staying with your family is not all that glamorous as it has its downs.
She puts forward the idea because these people are still strangers for the first time. Not knowing what they are thinking, and adjusting to how they live has sometimes become a challenge but it is all worth it.
“Staying with people you are not used to, is challenging but I learn a lot. I know that when I’m staying with people on dad’s side, I have to wake up early because that is what is considered,” reveals Kiiza.
She also says that another thing to consider when staying with relatives is your personal safety.
With traveling, there are security risks. So, make sure that the family member or family friend you are going to stay with is someone who is trustworthy.
Learning to cook
Whether you are staying with someone or by yourself on your trip, it is important to know how to cook, so you can make your own food and spend less money eating in fancy restaurants.
Kiiza says that when she is staying with her relatives, she occasionally offers to cook, just so she could show her gratitude.
Even when you are staying by yourself, it is cheaper to stay in, buy a spaghetti packet, and mix with some tomato paste and if you are feeling fancy throw some minced meat in there and use the rest of money to explore more of the area you traveled to.
Learn the language and slang of the people in the area
In Rwanda, the national language happens to be Kinyarwanda, but you can find people conversing in other languages including French, English or Kiswahili, depending on the area.
So yes, even traveling within the country it is important to know what language the residents commonly use.
This will benefit you, since there are still some sellers who raise the price of their goods or services when they think the buyer is a traveler.
Make it a workout
We all need to workout, to stay healthy and get blood moving in the body.
Why not kill two birds with one stone? Walk from one area to another and save yourself some money while pushing your body and develop a new habit that is good for your body.
Walking is good for the body; it is a simple exercise that is beneficial not only physically but mentally and emotionally.
It boosts energy levels, reduces stress and anxiety, improves sleeping routines and so much more.
You get to meet different people and learn various roads and streets that you would have not known, had you traveled by car, bus, bike or plane.
Remain financially disciplined
Kiiza says that she often sees different things, when traveling, that she wants to buy and it is not easy to walk away from them but the moment she buys it, she will fail to buy essentials.
“I once saw these really pretty hand-made earrings. I desperately wanted them, but I had not planned on buying earrings. So, I had to leave them,” she reveals.
Being financially disciplined is something that we learn slowly but have to master to make sure that we are financially secure.
Once a person is financially disciplined, he/she can make a small budget work because they know what are priorities and not.
