Travel Financial Rule #1: You Are Not a Tourist

Financial Rule #1: You Are Not a Tourist

Financial Rule Number 1 when you are determined to travel the world, chase your dreams, and make a living while doing it: You are not a tourist.

We drove from Pensacola to Panama City Beach that morning to join up with the Dive Pros dive club—the 3rd Coast Divers—to dive the St. Andrews jetties. I had been wanting to hit the jetties, just like I do with almost any shore dive I hear about, so I booked a decently priced hotel near the state park and loaded up the family.

I have two young kids. When my four-year-old daughter saw the massive Ferris wheel towering over Panama City Beach, her eyes lit up. "Dad, can we go?!"

Of course, I said yes. It’s just a Ferris wheel, right? Couldn't be too expensive. I told her as soon as I was done filming a few things for the site, we could get on it. She talked about it all day.

The Fatigue Trap

We drove, we checked into the hotel, and I filmed some of the fun areas around town. But then… the kids got hungry.

We normally always have food on hand for them, but the driving and the filming were taking a toll on our time and our energy. Being tired is the main culprit for blowing your budget when traveling. It is simply easier to pay someone else to feed you. The fun of a restaurant also takes off some of the added stress that comes with surviving unfamiliar environments. Your kids don’t have the comforts of home; you can't just open your freezer and thaw out something you purchased last week.

So, we did what any tourist would do. We went out to eat.

We ended up at a restaurant sitting right on the water where you can actually feed the fish. The kids went absolutely nuts. When your kids are having the time of their lives, you don’t want to stop them. So we ate.

$100 later, I was already thinking: Why did I give in to that?

We finished filming the rest of what I needed, and finally, we reached the Ferris wheel. My son was young enough to ride free, which was fantastic. I walked up to the booth.

"Three tickets, please."

"That will be $64."

WHAT?

How could I let my little girl down after promising her all day that we would do it? I paid the $64.

The Cost of Future Drops

The next morning, before we drove back to Pensacola, I finally hit the water with the 3rd Coast Divers. We dropped in at the St. Andrews jetties. The visibility was so-so, but the site itself was fantastic. It was exactly the kind of dive I want to be doing all over the world.

But as I was packing up my gear, the math from the night before was eating at me. What should have been a $250 dive trip ended up costing close to $500.

Now, I am a seasoned traveler. I have learned how to eat salads straight out of a grocery bag with free chopsticks. I know to never eat out, and to never walk into a tourism hub when you are hungry. What I didn’t expect was to be so easily persuaded by a four-year-old. (It was so much easier to say no when she was two.)

I gave in. But that was it. When I got home, I had to open up my spreadsheet, recalculate my financial runway, and cut back on spending in other areas to compensate for my slip-up.

That extra $164 spent on dinner and a five-minute ride? That is the exact cost of future boat charters. It is the cost of Nitrox fills. It is the literal currency of our runway. I realized that if we don't control these random tourist impulses, we are taking away from future dives, and we will eventually be forced to sit out on incredible drops because we didn't control our spending when it mattered.

The True Value of the Mission

On the drive home, my wife and I had a serious discussion. We cannot be tourists. We have to teach our kids that the mission we are on is far more valuable than the fleeting, overpriced distractions we might pass along the way.

There is something deeply satisfying about making a deliberate decision to teach your kids budgeting, travel logistics, and self-control. And yes, it is absolutely okay to have fun every now and then—but not at the expense of giving up a lifestyle everyone dreams of having.

I ultimately believe in being a good steward of the gifts we have been given. We shouldn't squander our resources on shallow things. It's not that giving my kids fun memories is shallow, but my kids are getting to travel to places most people have never been. That overarching life experience is infinitely better than a so-so $100 meal and four rotations on a $64 Ferris wheel.

You have to be willing to sacrifice some things for others. Ultimately, those sacrifices open you up to an even better life. One where you can sit back in amazement at what God is bringing you through.