Originally from New Zealand - so yes expensive to get anywhere from that part of the world! I worked two jobs - my full-time day job which paid the bills, then at a restaurant a couple of nights a week. All my pay from the second job went straight into a savings account which I didn't touch. It did take me 18 months to save for each trip. Between trips I would just try to see parts of my own country. Now living in Banff I am managing to get short trips in - I went to New York for 5 days, and I'm heading to Comic Con in San Diego next month.