{"id":1089,"date":"2018-09-27T20:54:48","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T03:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefundfamily.com\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2018-09-27T20:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T03:54:48","slug":"how-this-couple-gamed-the-system-and-traveled-to-europe-for-2-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trevorrumsey.com\/thefundfamily\/how-this-couple-gamed-the-system-and-traveled-to-europe-for-2-months\/","title":{"rendered":"How This Couple Gamed the System and Traveled to Europe for 2 Months!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past we’ve done interviews<\/a> about personal finance and financial independence, but we wanted to start a new interview series about travel<\/a>! Being a bit of a finance nerd and travel lover, I always wanted to know more of the tips and tricks of traveling on a budget<\/a> and hearing other peoples’ experiences on how they are able to accomplish that. So, we are now going to interview people to find that out for everyone’s benefit! Today we have an awesome interview with Phil and Hannah from www.bankbonus.co<\/a>, a couple who have gamed the credit card and bank system to help save money on travels!<\/p>\n

PERSONAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Name<\/b>: Phil and Hannah Kirkeiner<\/p>\n

Age<\/b>: 25 & 21<\/p>\n

Your home\/airport location<\/b>: We\u2019re both from Fishers, IN, but currently live in Provo, UT. So our go-to airports are IND & SLC<\/p>\n

Career\/Source of regular income<\/b>: I\u2019ve sold pest control during the last two summers to pay for school and trips, and then Hannah works part-time during the school year performing at ComedySportz and ImprovBroadway which are improv comedy clubs in Provo. Besides that we make a few grand a year by taking advantage of bank account bonuses like the ones you can find on Bankbonus.co.<\/p>\n

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GENERAL TRAVEL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do you like to travel? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Travelling is awesome because (1) it motivates me to take action, (2) it\u2019s exciting, and (3) the memories last longer.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t travel much outside of the Midwest growing up. So to think of California, Europe, Asia, Central America, as real places that I could actually get up and go see whenever I wanted was completely foreign to me. But then I served a mission in Honduras and I could not BELIEVE how different it was from everything I had experienced before! And then ever since I got home I looked at other places on the map and decided I could just GO if I wanted to. And I did, and have since been to loads of places by myself and now with my wife. So basically travelling is a constant reminder that nothing is stopping me from going where I want to go both literally and figuratively. Plus, when you travel with friends the memories last forever and the bond is a lot stronger than when you just hang out at home or in class. I love it.<\/p>\n

Where have you been? What was your favorite vacation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We recently wrapped up a 2 month trip to Europe which was an absolute dream! We travelled through 11 countries – Iceland, then Scotland, England, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Slovenia, and finally Italy. We went this last summer from early July to late August after having worked hard the previous few months before.<\/p>\n

We lived on a very modest budget, often in private rooms through Airbnb and hostels. Occasionally in more expensive places like Iceland we camped or slept in our rental car. This trip was unique in that we did not plan the whole thing out beforehand, we only planned about a week ahead of time. When we started out we had our flights to Europe and back booked with points but nothing in between was set besides our first night in Iceland and our rental car for that week.<\/p>\n