A 31-year-old who's been traveling the world for 5 years explains how she affords it

She had been living in Tampa, Florida, preparing and saving for open-ended travel for the past two years. During the day, she worked as 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.