Not Luxe ☼ Travel
  • ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL
  • WHY “NOT LUXE”
  • Cambodia
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Not Luxe ☼ Travel
  • ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL
  • WHY “NOT LUXE”
  • Cambodia
  • Australia
  • Travel
  • Teaching ESL
  • Move Abroad
  • Travel Insurance

facebook marketplace

    Raychel standing on a beach in Australia with the wind blowing

    How to sell everything & travel when you’re broke AF

    by Nick & Raychel July 14, 2019

    Can you sell everything you own and travel when you have pretty much, um, nothing valuable? We’ll cut to it – the answer is yes, but you’ll have to get creative. The truth is, you’d be surprised by how much your things are worth, and there’s always somebody who will put them to good use.

    We’ll be straight up: we did not own a car, we did own a house, we didn’t have any expensive jewellery or electronics or really anything at all. Even still, we were still able to save roughly $2,000.00 by just selling everything we owned. So let’s walk through it.


    Prefer to watch, not read? Find our YouTube Channel here.

    Sell EVERY. Little. Thing.

    We sold everything in our apartment down to the last fork. Here’s what we did:

    • Start with the big stuff. We had one couch, a carpet, a lamp and a bedside table to sell. We had a bed at the time, but we lent it to a friend. This furniture sold online for about $40-$80 each.
    • Sell small things in bundles. Even clothes.  If you don’t have very expensive clothing, but you do have second-hand items that are still in good shape, bundle them up! Just because you don’t have expensive items, doesn’t mean you can’t sell everything & travel. Put together full outfits and sell them for $20. You can also do this with household items. Don’t have a full tool kit? Sell the tools you do have in goodie bag.
    • Sell your kitchen all at once. We took all of our sets of plates, mugs, utensils. Put them into bins. Sold the entire bins.
    • Use Facebook Marketplace – especially for the small things. We tried every platform and found Facebook Marketplace to be the most effective. Nick remembers putting a headlamp on there for $2 and meeting somebody at the train station that same night to sell it.
    • No sale is too small. Like we mentioned, we would leave the house to make a $2 sale. If you want to sell everything & travel, you’ll have to swallow your pride.
    • Put your savings in a jar. Ok, you don’t have to do this. But we found it extremely rewarding. Let’s admit it – it can be discouraging going across town to sell a set of plates for $5. If you put all of your earnings in one place however, you will be able to physically see the money pile up. It makes the process of selling everything you own way less draining.

    Make the time for sales 

    We aren’t going to lie to you. It will be time consuming. So make time for your sales. Allocate a couple of months, or at the very least, a few weeks to selling everything. If you’re still working, utilize your lunch breaks. Schedule 2 evenings per week to sell. Organize your week so that you don’t have to miss out on the pleasures in life, but you still have time to get rid of it all.

    Be open to trades

    In Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and New York there is a great resource called Bunz. If you don’t live in or around any of these cities, research Facebook trading groups.

    For example: when we were moving, I would trade small items (worth $5-$15 dollars) for bottles of wine. This helped me save on buying alcohol for all of our “farewell” social events we had planned.

    Just post what you have and name your trade. You could trade your winter jacket for a travel backpack, or something that will be beneficial to you in the future.

    Evaluate your valuables & your life

    Be realistic. Do you have enough income and/or valuables to sell everything & travel without working? If you do, great! We still have tips for you! But if the answer to that question was a big “no”, it seems like you may be in the exact same position we were in.

    We knew we wanted to travel the world, but we certainly didn’t have the income to reach those dreams. That’s when we decided we would live abroad and work while we travel.

    Evaluate your skills

    … and be open to learning new ones. There are plenty of ways to work remotely and/or abroad. If you’re thinking about getting up and running away from home, you’ve probably seen teaching English abroad a million times by now. Yep, us too. That’s what we decided to do.

    Where are you qualified to work?

    For example, we decided we wanted to teach – but neither of us have bachelor’s degrees. That’s one of the main reasons we landed on Cambodia.  Think about where you’re qualified to work, if that’s going to have to be one of your first stops.

    Research what the average-high range salary would be in the country (or countries) that you’re going to, and save up enough to get there

    Let’s use Cambodia as an example one last time. In Cambodia, teachers make 1,200 USD a month, and we knew we were going to work, so we both saved a little more than the equivalent of a monthly salary in order to move there.

    That gave us enough time and money to find jobs.

    We used this approach when we travelled through both Asia and Australia. We knew we’d each need $1,200+ to travel through Bali for a month, and $3,000+ for Australia based on average salary statistics alone. It’s a lot easier than reading through millions of differing travel guides.

    Buy your ticket – this is the hardest part

    Once you have your ticket, you kind of have to go. This was, by far, the hardest part of the entire process for us – and it may be hard for you as well.

    The good news? Once you have your ticket, you have a deadline to meet.

    —

    The point is – travelling isn’t just for people who have it all figured out. If you are open to working hard to sell your items, and open to working abroad, you are already on the right track to making a big change in your life.


    Thinking of moving to Cambodia to teach English? Our full step-by-step guide is here.

    Not sold on teaching English? Still considering it? Read: 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Teaching ESL Abroad

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Nick & Raychel
Nick & Raychel

In 2018, we sold everything we owned and moved to Cambodia to teach English.

Let’s make this clear: this journey didn’t start with money. This journey started with a desire to see the world and to do something different for a change.

We’re not going to fool you with photos of floating breakfasts and private jets. We know what it’s like to be on a budget. Although we like to take pretty pictures, we aren’t going to wake up at an ungodly hour to give you unachievable travel jealousy. We aren’t going to censor ourselves or lie to you.

What we are going to do is stay in cheap hostels, find ways to make money, give the advice that we would want to hear, and share our experiences with you honestly.

Are you in?

Not Luxe

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ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL

About Us Hi! We’re Nick & Raychel, the Canadian travel couple behind the brand ‘Not Luxe’. Far before we were married (and on a mission to see the world), we were working…

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  • Full-time travel: rapid-fire answering the most common questions about having no fixed address (PART 2) 

* Language Barriers: English is our first language, but we learn key phrases before visiting a new country, use language apps, and rely (pretty heavily lol) on Google Translate for help.

*Bank Accounts: Our primary bank account is in Canada, and we open accounts in other countries if we stay for more than 6 months. We use WISE for fund transfers.

*Safety Overseas: Yes, we feel safe by using common sense, learning local laws, and staying informed about local news.

*Budgeting and Saving: We work on the road, choose affordable accommodations, and keep travel costs low.

*Routine: We’re still figuring this out, ngl. 

*Belongings: Sold everything in 2017, traveled with just a backpack, upgraded to a van, downsized AGAINA and now have a $100/month storage locker (!!!) 

*Handling Change: Honestly? Online therapy and staying connected to friends help, but we’ve learned to embrace the constant change of our nomadic lifestyle.

Any questions about living on the road? 
Drop ‘em here.

➟ follow @nickandraychel // slow travel & alternative living

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  • It’s official – we’ve quit our jobs once more as our journey takes us abroad again. Over the past 5 years, we’ve been travelling & working temp gigs along the way. 

With just 5 weeks until we touch down in New Zealand, we’ve checked off step 2 on our to-do list. Selling our trusty van, quitting our jobs, securing visas, booking flights, snagging travel insurance, updating resumes, job hunting, finding accommodation, packing our bags, and saying our goodbyes.

This marks our third move to a foreign land without ever setting foot there before. There’s no turning back now, but we’re ready for the adventure. 

So here’s to another wild ride.

➟ follow @nickandraychel // slow travel & alternative living

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  • I think I’ve found my people on this side of the pond. 

➟ follow @nickandraychel // slow travel & alternative living

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  • Suddenly you’re in a tiny floating cabin in Europe and everything makes sense? 

📍 @paekaldapuhkekeskus 

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  • One of the biggest misconceptions about affordable travel is that it has to be uncomfyBUT there are ways to *actually* enjoy economy - so let’s chat about it. 

Here are our main tips for enjoying saving money on travel:
Follow @porterairlines and sign up to their email list (link in bio) to get first access to their biggest sale of the year so far.
Off season travel. Trust us. It doesn’t hurt the bank account and guess what - travelling in the off-season means shorter lines, more affordable accommodation and less crowds.
Add some spontaneity into your life & be flexible (if possible). 
Porter Airlines has had our backs as savvy travellers for YEARS and we absolutely love them for elevating economy air travel. 

If you haven’t had the chance to experience Porter’s Actually Enjoy Economy experience - Now is your chance.
 Free, fast WiFi (included for all on the new Embraer E195-E2 aircraft)
 No middle seats
 Free beer, wine and cocktails served in glassware
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+ more (!!)

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  • Travelling in comfortable silence >>>

On long travel days, we love being together but we definitely don’t want to talk lmao. There is something amazing about being *with* your person, but not needing to say anything at all.

Anyone else?

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