Hey Youtube World.
It's me, Evelyn.
You have made it to the second part of this video.
I will be giving a few tips, nawwwmsayin, a little bit of my insights into international
travel and how you can finance your trip.
A couple people asked, so here I'm is.
In the video description box, I will provide a link to a series I did on the $ALT blog.
It's the blog of American Student Assistance.
It's a nonprofit organization that teaches college kids how to get their life and not
drown in debt and talks to them about loans.
I'm actually a regular writer for them -- I have been for maybe a year or two.
But I will put a link in the video description box to the articles that I wrote.
Number one: PLAN.
Absolutely nothing about procrastination and international travel go together.
If you are a procrastinator to that extent, you will stay your happy butt in your state.
You have to be proactive.
You have to do your research months, a year in advance.
If you even have the inkling of wanting to leave this country and you don't even know
where you wanna go?
Start planning now.
Put money away!
You don't know what the plane ticket gon' be, where you gon' go - it doesn't matter.
Start saving your monies AGORA!
Right now.
Saving money is difficult, I understand.
It takes everybody in different salary positions different amounts of time to save.
Research far in advance for how much that plane ticket is going to cost.
Spending money on a Starbucks drink when easily 10 Starbucks drinks you well on your way to
a plane ticket.
Some habits you just gotta let bite the dust.
What's more important?
Subpar coffee?
Or a vacation to France?
You could be drinking French coffee.
From France.
In France.
With French people!
Or you can pull through the Starbucks drive-thru.
You make the decision.
You decide.
I'm going to link to Sonia's Travels.
One of my favorite channels on Youtube for quick travel tips.
Every single Thursday, she comes at you with a valuable piece of travel information.
My biggest tip comes from Doyin.
Go to statravel.com.
If you are under the age of 26 -- they have different categories.
They have student, and they have young adult.
Young adult is considered 26 and under, and student I don't know how they verify you're
a student, but you can find cheaper airfare if you fall under that category.
I can vouch for this.
I found a significantly cheaper - like by hundreds of dollars - cheaper ticket to South
Korea, than if I went the conventional way through Expedia or Travelocity.
Because I procrastinated and I didn't just go for it, I kinda missed on that because
I was flying into a not official...not a big city.
Second biggest piece of advice I can give you: get your travel documents in order ahead
of time.
AHEAD OF TIME.
Getchu a passport.
Get that well in advance.
Once you have the idea to go abroad, get a passport.
Passport, a visa, anything you else you might need in order to exit this realm and enter
the next.
A passport is like your international identification.
You get stopped by the police in Russia, don't hand them your Texas drivers license.
What does that mean?
That's nothing!
But how did you get here though?
Your passport.
A visa is your permission to be in a particular country.
It's the immigration process -- "why are you here?".
You can have a tourist visa, you can have a student visa, a business visa -- there are
many different visas.
You have to know the requirements for the particular country you're trying to go to.
Also, how long that process will take because there are only so many consulates and embassies
in the United States.
For example, when I went to Nigeria, they was tryna make me go to Atlanta.
I can't just fly to Atlanta for a visa.
You have to figure out the requirements.
If you have to go for a physical interview.
They're like "hmmm.
who are you?
where are you going?
why are you going?
who are you meeting there?"
Right?
I mean, it's immigration.
You're trying to go across borders, so they got some questions.
I got my visa the day my flight left.
You don't understand!
I throw up under stress -- I was vomiting all day.
I'm over here trying to get to Nigeria and I don't have a visa yet.
Wooo - I chased the post man around north Austin!!
Avoid that heartache.
I wept because I didn't think I was gon' get my visa in time.
For South Korea, you don't need a visa for the first 90 days I think it is.
When you get to immigration in South Korea, they do take your picture and do a thumbprint
or something, but you don't have to pay for a visa.
Next piece of advice is if you are young, or if you're bout that life no matter the
age, you know, try and stay in a hostel instead of a hotel.
Mad cheap and you can read reviews and see the quality of the place.
The hostels that Doyin and I stayed at -- she has an apartment, but when we would travel
to other parts of South Korea we had to stay in a hostel -- and that place was an awesome
facility.
It wasn't lavish or anything, but it was cleaner than most dorm rooms that I have stayed in.
If you've been to The University of Texas at Austin and you have walked the floors of
Jester Dormitory...
If you're staying for long periods of time, and you're staying in a house or an apartment,
or somewhere that has a kitchen - COOK!
It will always be cheaper.
Sometimes you just have to make pasketti.
Youfeelwhatimsayin, sometimes you just need to make a pot of pasketti.
Next big tip is: after a while, you can do all the planning you want, you're just going
to have to press purchase.
You're just going to have to do it.
Once I bought that ticket, it's done -- I'm going!
The rest will work itself out.
All I can do is put aside enough money and get my life together.
You're just gonna have to do it, Youtube.
If you wanna travel, you're just gonna have to do it.
Mmm!
You can achieve your dreams!
It just takes a lot of organization and at the end of the day, some hoodspah.
Some testicular fortitude.
Next?
Next year 2014 Ima claim it in the name of Jesus Christ.
Where I'm tryna go -- Canada for Caribana.
Whose country Ima represent?
I don't know -- you want me to be Jamaican, I'll be Jamaican.
You want me to be Bajan, I'll be Bajan.
I will be whatever you want me to be.
Just let me get my mid section right and it'll be on and popping.
I must go back to Kenya.
Last time they saw me out there, I was 14.
It's been like a decade since I've seen my family, so.
Where do YOU want to go in the world?
Have you ever traveled?
What was it like?
Tell me all these things and more in the comments below, and we'll talk.
See you on the internets somewhere bye!!!
[voice over] Nope!
Hold on.
I also suggest that you watch Kala's videos over on TheKGLifestyle.
She gives a lot of great tips for travel.
She's been everywhere.
Oh my god.
Would you look at that?
I have even provided a free travel planner download in the video description box.
You can go ahead and use it to get your life together and get to traveling.
That's my bougie Nairobi accent by the way.
Bye for real this time.