Smart Girl Travels Across the U.S. in Ten Months and Earns $32,000

       A ten-month journey across the U.S., combining study with budget travel. One young woman not only explored America’s natural wonders but also came away with a net profit of $32,000. Her wisdom in frugal travel and life management is truly enviable.

　　       In early 2010, Xue Qing, a girl from Hangzhou, came to the U.S. as an exchange student at a business school in Madison, Wisconsin. With just ten months in the U.S., she set herself three main goals: study, earn money, and travel.

 

 

　　       If Xue Qing had to choose between “saving for a home” and “spending on travel,” she would refuse outright: “Being ultra-frugal while still having fun—that’s my life goal.” So while her peers were slowly saving for a down payment on a house, Xue Qing was already packing her bags and flying to the U.S. Abroad, to put it nicely, she was there for exchange studies, but in reality, she treated this trip as a full-blown vacation.

　　       Before leaving China, Xue Qing did a few things: first, she “borrowed” 10,000 RMB in pocket money from her grandparents—even though her parents deposited living expenses into her dual-currency card every two months, having some cash on hand after leaving the country was reassuring; second, she posted her DIY budget travel itinerary online for others to critique; third, staying true to her “frugal” roots, she packed two bottles of her favorite Lao Gan Ma chili sauce.

　　       In February 2010, Xue Qing arrived in Wisconsin along with eight other fellow students. Though they were all alumni, coming from different majors, they were all new friends to her.

　　       In her first week at the new school, Xue Qing fully embraced her playful nature, dragging her Chinese friends to explore every corner of Madison: cheering at the square garden during basketball games, witnessing the wonder of water flowing uphill at a little wooden cabin, attending wild drinking parties at a sister school...

　　       Xue Qing told reporters that at first, the school schedule was fairly packed—four days a week of classes—so she could only find time to hang out around Madison with friends. But after two months, once the transition period ended, she only had two or three classes a week. “I stayed on campus to study on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, but come Friday, I’d go wild and head out,” Xue Qing said. Typically, her school days were jam-packed with classes, group discussions, papers, and research, but on weekends, she’d pack her backpack and hit the road. For the first three months, due to limited funds, Xue Qing never left Wisconsin.

　　       The more beautiful sights she saw, the more she itch to explore further. To fatten her wallet and travel farther, Xue Qing started looking for work.

　　       In the U.S., international students have many job options, and most choose to work in restaurants. But Xue Qing’s first job was quite different. After comparing hourly wages, she chose to work as a hotel cleaner. “For my first job, I just wanted to make as much money as possible. McDonald’s paid $3.50 an hour, but cleaning at a hotel paid $7 an hour. With that kind of rate, I didn’t hesitate to pick the latter,” Xue Qing said. Besides the $7 hourly wage, hotel cleaning also came with tips. She usually worked five hours at a time and could earn at least $50. Though the pay was good, the hard work was too much for someone as pampered as Xue Qing, and she quit after two weeks.

　　       What kind of job offered better value? On a friend’s recommendation, Xue Qing found a new job as a waitress at a Hong Kong-owned café. “That café was pretty well-known locally—it was a ‘Chinese corner,’ decorated with a very Chinese style, and nearly half the staff were Chinese. Aside from regular service, we also chatted with customers and taught them Chinese,” Xue Qing said. The café paid the same $3.50 an hour as McDonald’s, so working eight hours didn’t bring in much. But the tips were substantial—as Xue Qing explained: “Tips are 5% to 10% of the bill, and because business was so good, I often took home over $100 per shift.”

　　       During her time at the café, Xue Qing also taught several students—some as young as five or six ethnic Chinese kids, and some Westerners who were particularly interested in Chinese culture. For her, it was the perfect job: good income and great practice for her spoken English.

　　       Soon, she had saved up a decent amount of cash and began her real cross-country U.S. adventure.

　　       Although her savings were growing, Xue Qing still opted for budget travel. Like in China, the biggest expenses for travel in the U.S. are accommodation and transportation.

　　       “To save on transportation costs, I’d constantly check flight deals online and look for free rides on forums,” Xue Qing said. At first, she found it mentally exhausting to pinch pennies on travel: “Sometimes, going directly from point A to B could be much more expensive than going from A to C to B.” So before each trip, she’d pull out a notebook and spend hours calculating the cheapest route with the most stops. That way, she could spend the same amount and see many places.

　　       When flying was unavoidable, Xue Qing chose tickets strategically: “If flights to big cities were cheap, I’d grab those deals; if the destination was expensive, I’d use frequent flyer miles.”

　　       But her favorite way to travel was hitchhiking: “Just hold up a sign, stand at the highway entrance, extend your arm, clench your fist, and point your thumb up—drivers will get the message.”

　　       To fund her travels, Xue Qing continued to work along the way—at McDonald’s, DQ Ice Cream, and even as a cashier at a Chinese supermarket.

　　       After three months in the U.S., due to high rent and other factors, Xue Qing moved out of the school-assigned housing. Through the internet, she found a remote but well-connected place. Xue Qing said it was a three-story house with four bedrooms. Aside from the one she lived in, she rented the other three to fellow international students. “The whole house cost $250 a month, with utilities included. I charged $80 a week per room, so I only had to cover about $10 a month myself—basically free rent,” Xue Qing said.

　　       And whenever she traveled, to save on accommodation, Xue Qing usually headed to cities where she had old schoolmates. That way, she got a free guide, free meals, and a free place to stay—eventually becoming the most famous couchsurfer among her friends.
　　       A Ten-Month Trip, Netting $32,000

　　       By the end of October 2010, Xue Qing completed her exchange program in the U.S.

　　       Before returning home, she sold everything she couldn’t take with her, spent three weeks traveling to places she’d long dreamed of, and went on a major shopping spree at outlet malls.

　　       Back in China, she returned the 10,000 RMB she had “borrowed” from her grandparents and tallied up her savings—coming in at a whopping 32,000+ RMB.

　　During her ten-month trip across the United States, Xue Qing set foot in places such as Wisconsin, New York, California, Illinois, Nevada, Washington D.C., and Massachusetts. She didn’t dine at any fancy restaurants, but she took in the country’s stunning natural landscapes.