15 Insane Trips You Can Actually Afford

In theory, travel bucket lists are fantastic. Lists of adventures and places that inspire you and encourage you to explore the world more intently? We're totally on board.

After all, bucket lists are all about fulfilling dreams and conquering the odds before it’s too late (i.e., when you “kick the bucket”). And, they’re also about motivating you to take action toward checking off those little boxes. All good things.

Except that there’s nothing fun about going through life with an unchecked list of unattainable experiences you’ll probably never be able to afford. Trekking across Bhutan, climbing Mount Everest, and traveling through space with Virgin Galactic all sound amazing, but the odds that you’re one of the fortunate few who can easily dole out the dollars for those expensive dreams may not be in your favor.

That said, we believe in the mystique of “what if.” What if we saved a little bit every day and then set off on that dream trip to Africa? What if a music producer heard our brilliant driving vocals and sent us on an all-expenses-paid tour of Europe? What if we overcame our crippling fear of sharks and surfed the massive but fin-infested waves of Cortes Bank? They're all beautiful ideas, aren't they?

Definitely — but there's more to life than just dreaming big. We want to experience adventure now, which is why we're talking about dreaming attainable, instead. That means, we've pulled together 15 amazing, budget-friendly bucket-list trips you could actually afford. As long as you can swing for the flight, you're there. And, it just so happens we can help with that, too.