Photo credit: Juxxtapose
I know how it feels to want to drop everything and fly away. I also know that it is scary if you actually make plans to do that. Having a sense of security is important to us, regardless of how much we dream of living our lives in reckless abandonment.
As romantic as the notion is, we will not find meaning in life by travelling the world. We can, however, attain different perspectives, see how others live their lives, open our minds to the existence of different possibilities, and enrich our being by experiencing what’s outside of our comfort zone. But I’m sure you don’t need convincing on that front.
I’m here to convince you that you can do all that even if you are not too keen on leaving it all to live on the road. Yes, we have all read stories of people saving up and then quitting their jobs to take flight. Exciting, yes. YOLO, they say. Well, call me a coward, but how can I leave my job, when my job is the thing that funds my travels?
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If you keep these things in mind, there is really no need to quit your job to travel the world.
1. Know Thy Resources. Know Thy Limits.
The limited resources I had when I was planning my trips were how much money I have, and the number of leave days I can take off work. My job was rather flexible in that I could take up to 2-3 weeks off at a go, provided I had enough leave days left. Yours might be different. In this case, public holidays helped a lot in saving on my leave days, so I often planned my trips around these holidays. In fact, I strongly believed in not taking a day’s leave ‘just to rest’. I conscientiously hoarded all my leave days in order to accumulate them for my travels. Every day counts.
2. Prioritise.
I have friends who have gone to neighbouring countries repeatedly for holidays, and yet dream of going away to countries further out. Yes, it is cheaper to go to countries nearer to your home base, but money and time is a limited resource (see #1). Instead, create a travel bucket list and rank the places according to how much you want to go there. Make plans, eg a week in May next year, to go there. Save the money you need. Don’t get seduced by the dirt cheap promotional ticket to Bangkok, because you’ve already been there like 5 times. While there is nothing wrong with going to a place repeatedly because you like it there, you have to look at the big picture here: you only have this much resources, what’s the best way to use it?
3. Identify and Grab Opportunities.
Business trip? See if your company’s policies allow for the extension of the trip for pleasure. You pay the balance in terms of food and accommodation (you might have to move to a cheaper one), but you save on air travel. If you have friends residing temporarily in a country you would like to visit, fly there before he/she returns so you can save on the accommodation. If you’ve already decided on your next destination, be ever on the look out for air tickets on promotion. (instead of the other way around)
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And in between, while you’re at your job earning the money you need for your travels, you can plan for your next adventure. They say, that planning for a future event makes people happy. I think it’s true. The joy of looking forward to the possibilities of the next trip while reminiscing on the memories of the previous.
Juxxtapose 