Most people have had the unfortunate experience of postponing trips, canceling flights and putting adventures on hold for a while. No matter the reason, it’s never a good feeling when you can’t carry out your travel plans. But putting travel on hold can give you a great opportunity to start budgeting for future international excursions. 

Imagine your dream vacation. Instead of trying to pinch pennies and cut down on costs at every destination, you could be saving the money to take the trip of a lifetime. Here are some ways to start budgeting and saving for your next big adventure now, while you may be stuck at home. 

Start planning your trip  

First, do your research on places that you may want to travel. Pick a destination and look at specific costs related to that trip, including roundtrip flights, hotels, rental cars and transportation, museums and ticketed tours, and other excursions. Record your findings to estimate the base price for your trip. From there, you can estimate how much you might spend on food and drinks, souvenirs and other incidentals along the way. 

By setting this budget early, you can figure out how much you might need in total to go on your ideal international trip. Write down your savings goal and keep track of your progress as you put money aside. 

Decide how much is realistic to save 

Saving money takes time, so it’s important to stay realistic when it comes to deciding how much to put aside each month. Figure out how much you need to cover your monthly rent or mortgage, bills, groceries and other necessary expenses. Then take into account the amount of money that you’d like to be able to spend on unnecessary expenses like going out to eat or buying a new outfit. Once you’ve calculated your regular expenses, you can figure out how much you can afford to put into a savings account each month. 

You might also consider saving anything extra that you don’t spend at the end of the month. Even if it’s $10, this is a great way to reach your savings goal early. There are even some banks and banking apps that will round up your debit card purchases and put the change in your savings account automatically, so you can save incrementally without even thinking about it. 

Stick to your savings plan 

Once you decide how much to save each month, stick to it! It can be so easy to see extra money in your bank account and want to spend it on something immediately—this is where having a separate savings account comes in handy. Schedule an automatic transfer each month so you don’t have to think about actively saving the money. 

Motivate yourself to keep saving by creating a vision board with your dream destination. Print out pictures of the sites you’d like to visit, the food you’d like to eat and the activities you’d like to do while you’re there. 

Book your trip! 

Motivate yourself to continue saving by booking your trip. Once you have some money saved for your trip budget, go ahead and book your future flight or hotel stay. Having a definitive deadline for your savings will be a great way to stay both accountable and excited about setting aside money for your trip.