A lot of people want to travel more, or start traveling for that matter. But they don’t think that they can. Because of lack of money and thinking they can’t afford it. Or they don’t have a lot of vacation days from work, nobody to travel with or just are afraid to go. But there are definitely things you can do, or NOT do, which can make you go on a trip.
1. Stop buying things you don’t need
This sounds pretty logical, but is still a really big reason why a lot of people don’t travel as much as they would like. Whether you’re a student, just finished school or whether you’ve got a partner and own a house. When it comes down to money, the pretty obvious thing to stop doing is buying stuff you don’t really need. All those ‘nice to have’ things, that you use for a week or a month and then will be tossed aside. Or those amazing expensive jeans that you ‘must’ have.
Besides the expensive clothes, shoes and nights out, just think about how much a day will cost at your favorite travel destination. For example, my favorite country to travel to is Thailand. Which is really cheap, when it comes down to daily spendings. Like food and transport. So when you have to make a decision about buying that $25 pair of jeans or that $150 jeans, just think about the fact that for that $125 difference, you will be able to spend like 3-4 days in Thailand! If you think about it that way, traveling will definitely become possible. It’s just a matter of setting priorities and saving.
2. Don’t keep it a secret that you want to go somewhere
When you tell other people of your wishes and plan/desire to go somewhere, it will make it more real. And people will keep asking you when you will go and maybe give you that extra push you need to actually book those tickets.
By telling other people, you may feel more pressure to actually do it, because you’ve already told people. Just like when you want to lose weight and go on a diet. Just tell your coworkers and they will definitely prevent you from taking a piece of a coworker’s birthday cake. You feel ashamed if you cheat on your diet and they will encourage you to stick to your diet. And when it comes down to traveling, it comes down to the same thing. The more you talk about it, the more they will also encourage you to go.
3. Don’t be afraid
In almost every country nowadays there’s something going on. Over the last 20 years, every year when I told my mother I was going to a certain country, she says ‘be careful, because this or that.’
There can be environmental issues, like past tsunamis or hurricanes or volcano eruptions. Or it’s something like high crime rates, or religious issues, you name it. If you let all those things keep you from traveling, you will never get anywhere. I don’t mean you don’t have to be careful. And of course you always have to check your government’s website to check whether certain countries are safe to travel to or have a travel warning. But I mean, don’t let single incidents around the world frighten you and keep you from traveling. The world is a great place, with often great and friendly people and beautiful places to discover.
And you don’t necessarily have to go to another country. I can imagine that if you live in the USA, just going to another state can mean a completely different nature and scenery. Or you can just start by going away for a weekend city trip. Which for instance is great for people who live in Europe. Go on a weekend trip to Barcelona or Paris or Amsterdam. Don’t be afraid and just go somewhere.
4. Stop dreaming and start planning
It’s great to look at all those amazing Instagram pictures of travelers. And going on Pinterest and pinning everything you would want to see. But if that’s all you do, then you’re only dreaming. Instead of taking action to actually GO somewhere. If traveling is something you want, just start planning. If you don’t know where you want to go yet, but you want to travel somewhere, go to Skyscanner and type in ‘everywhere’, and you will get an overview of cheap flights to different destinations. And then just book a ticket. Go out into the world. It doesn’t have to be far and expensive. Depending on where you live, you can buy an airline tickets for less than $100 that goes to another country. So just book it and go!
5. Stop listening to what society thinks you should do
The most common expectation when someone graduates school/university, is to get a job, get married, build a career, have kids and work till you 65+. Over the last couple of years it has become more common that people travel between their graduation and their first real job. But in my days (OMG, now I sound really old ;-), 20 years ago, it wasn’t something I considered. Unfortunately. But my point is: don’t listen to what society thinks you should do.
If you’re really passionate about traveling, about learning about new cultures, seeing amazing places, learning to be on your own (or with a travel companion), see the world or lay on a beach somewhere, just go for it. If it’s something you really want, start saving money as soon as possible and go out into the world. Before you get caught up in your career and have a ton of other obligations.
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