Collectively, she earns enough rewards for multiple free flights each year. To do so, she pays attention to bonus categories on each of her cards and puts in the effort to maximize rewards by using certain cards for specific types of purchases. She doesn’t stray from her primary goal of free travel and doesn’t feel like it’s worth it to redeem points for cash back. Instead, she gets more value by using her rewards toward airfare.
To stretch her budget, Hsu always flies economy. She sleeps well on planes and claims she doesn’t need extra legroom. After arriving at her destination, she continues her frugality. “I’m a very simple traveler,” she admits, explaining that she’s saved costs by doing work exchanges abroad, sharing tour costs with other travelers when possible and staying in hostels. “You’re not going to die if you live without comfort for a short while.”
Hsu also made sacrifices at home to achieve her goal of visiting every country in the world. For years, she spent nights and weekends tutoring, teaching music lessons and delivering for Shipt as extra sources of income. She was highly motivated to achieve her travel goals and wasn’t afraid of hard work to make it happen: “If someone as ordinary as me can attain this goal, then anyone can plan a trip to go somewhere.”