The Thrifty Traveler

Justin Moore has been traveling on a budget for over fifteen years, visiting seventy-three countries while spending an average of forty-seven dollars per day. His philosophy is simple: you don't need to be rich to see the world—you need to be resourceful.

Justin started his travel career at twenty-two with a one-way ticket to Bangkok and $1,200 in savings. What began as a three-month experiment turned into a lifestyle. He spent two years traveling through Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, supporting himself through freelance writing, English tutoring, and the occasional bar shift in exchange for a bed. By year three, he had refined his daily budget to under thirty dollars and was covering longer distances with fewer mistakes.

He returned home to write his first guide, a zine called *Packing Light, Living Cheap* that sold a few hundred copies through a local bookstore. From there, he began contributing to budget travel publications and building an online following through practical, no-glamour advice—no sponsored hotel stays, no fluff, just the real numbers behind how he kept moving.

Today, Justin writes full time and leads small-group budget travel workshops in Southeast Asia and Central America. He doesn't accept sponsorships from airlines, hotel chains, or gear companies. His recommendations come from personal experience and nothing else. The *Thrifty Traveler* series, which includes this book and companion budget guides for specific regions, has helped over thirty thousand readers plan their first long-term trip.

Justin currently lives out of a forty-liter backpack and spends roughly eight months of the year on the road. He maintains that the best travel advice he ever received came from an elderly woman he met on a train in Myanmar, who told him, "You don't need to see everything. You just need to see what matters."