Orgeon student lives in roadside slums and cooks over open fires while touring world

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Orgeon student lives in roadside slums and cooks over open fires while touring world

Posted by travelling-blogger on Tuesday, December 9, 2014 Label:

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An American student has proven that holidaymakers don't require a six-figure salary in order to travel around the world.

Shirine Taylor survives off just £2,000 while touring some of the world's most fascinating destinations on the seat of her bicycle.

The 21-year-old, from Oregon, has had the adventure of a lifetime while cooking dinner over an open fire in Georgia and staying with a local family in a roadside slum in India.

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Shirine Taylor lived with a family in a roadside slum during her travels around India, where she lived on just £4.50 a day

The 21-year-old university student, from Oregon, cycles up to six hours a day and spends most nights sleeping under the stars

Shirine Taylor prays while seated next to a Hindu holy man in India during a trip that she described as 'the adventure of a lifetime'

Having a ball, Shirine Taylor travelling across Georgia

Exhausting: Shirine Taylor is surviving off just £2,000 while travelling around the world on her bicycle with her boyfriend, Kevin

WORLDWIDE TRAVEL ON THE CHEAP

An approximate breakdown of costs for Shirine Taylor:

Flight from San Diego to Delhi: £550
Flight from Delhi to Georgia: £306
Transport for bicycle: £130
Visas: £306
Lodging: £300
Food: £515
Bike maintenance: £9.50
US West Coast: £2.87 a day (38 days)
India: £4.18 a day (97 days)
Nepal: £2.83 a day (177 days)

Shirine has travelled more than 7,000 miles with her boyfriend, Kevin, while limiting herself to an average budget of up to £6.50 a day (including the cost of the initial flights and other expenses, including food, bicycle maintenance and toilet paper).

She is also relying on freebies from strangers she meets along the way or monetary donations through her blog.

Shirine and her partner have been on the road for 17 months and are currently touring Turkey.

She said: 'I'm an energetic and happy young gal with a passion for adventure, the mountains, and life on the road.

'I've always loved nature and the adventures which come along with it - skiing, mountaineering, cycling, and trekking.

'I've always been very curious about our world and how other people live in it. After just one year of university I decided that my formal education could wait. So I set off at twenty years old to cycle around the world.'

'The decision to leave came naturally to me as I strongly believe that the only way to live your life is to live the life of your dreams.'

Shirine Taylor washes her clothes in a river during her trek across the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, which was her second stop

The young American woman has travelled more than 7,000 miles while limiting herself to a budget of up to £6.50 a day

Miss Taylor wears traditional clothes while posing with a woman she encountered during one of her two treks across India

The 21-year-old describes herself as an 'energetic and happy young gal with a passion for adventure, the mountains, and life on the road'

Shirine embarked on her epic journey in July last year and her five-figure budget includes her flights to India and Georgia, visas and vaccines.

She wakes every day at sunrise, cycles six hours per day and sleeps, washes and cooks in the open air.

She said: 'I have kept my costs low by simply realising that I don't need a whole lot of money.

'I live nearly every single night in my tent, except for when I occasional arrange to stay with someone in a larger city when I can't camp.

The young adventurer decided that her formal education could wait after attending one year of university and being bitten by the travel bug

Miss Taylor says she lives 'as cheaply as I please' by staying in a tent, cooking meals in the great outdoors and relying on help from strangers

The student, who has started to accept donations from her blog readers, says she believes that travel is 'the best form of education'

Shirine Taylor and her boyfriend, Kevin, are currently travelling across Turkey, where they have spent the night in a cave

'I have also worked in many different hostels for a free room, and I have been taken in by hospitable and amazing families.

'I eat local foods, street foods in cheap countries such as India, and lots of bread, local produce, and pasta everywhere else.

'By living in my tent and cooking for myself I am able to live as cheaply as I please.'

It has been a challenging journey with a dangerous and dramatic trek through India's Spiti Valley, a Himalayan region with some of the world's highest and most difficult roads to travel in.

However, Shrine maintains the secret to continuing her shoe-string trip is keeping her good humour.

Local women dressed Shirine Taylor in their clothes during her stay in Nepal, where she survived on approximately £2.85 a day

Language barrier: The 21-year-old has had to cluck like a chicken in small shops to let employees know that she wants to buy eggs

Shrine Taylor likens her shoe-string trip to a television sitcom and says the secret to continuing it is keeping her good humour

She likened the trip to a television sitcom.

'Funny daily situations include me clucking like a chicken in small shops in order to convey through the language barrier that I would like to buy some eggs, to explaining to bewildered city folk that yes, I really do live in a tent.

'I believe that travel is the best form of education, and I simply couldn't imagine my life without it.'

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