A month before her 26th birthday, Nina Ragusa landed in Bangkok, Thailand.
She had been living in Tampa, Florida, preparing and saving for open-ended travel for the past two years.
During the day, she worked at a foreclosure law firm, and a few nights a week, she moonlighted at bars and promotional events.
About five years later, Ragusa has only been back to the US twice.
In the meantime, she told Business Insider via email from her current home in Darwin, Australia, her adventures have included:
"hiking down through a volcanic crater to see blue flames coming out of the ground in Indonesia, drinking coconuts and jetskiing at a lagoon in Mozambique, rock climbing on some of the most incredible karsts in Krabi, Thailand, snorkeling with blacktip reef sharks in Malaysia, wandering ancient temples and seeing a friend's father and brother become monks, eating everything as you walk down the chaotic market streets, and hiking with orangutans on Sumatra."
You can follow her adventures on her website, Where in the World Is Nina, or through her Facebook or Instagram.
Below, Ragusa told Business Insider what it's like to stay abroad for five years, what everyone gets wrong about long-term travel, and how she affords it.
SEE ALSO: A couple who ditched their 9-5 jobs years ago to travel the world explain how they afford it
In the two years of working before she left, Ragusa saved $16,000. She used $10,000 of that to pay off credit-card bills and prepay eight months of her ~$30,000 student loans.
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In Chiang Mai, Thailand.
She arrived in Bangkok in May 2011 with $6,000 in her pocket and a newly minted TEFL certification she'd gotten in the US, certifying her to teach English.
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In Bangkok, Thailand.
"I'm not rich, but I definitely want to stay longer than a couple of weeks, longer than a few months," she said she had realized. "I decided to teach English so I could make money while living abroad and traveling."
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With English students in Thailand.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider