The 3 Rules to Stop Waiting & Start Traveling
If you know me or have been following my blog, you probably know that if there’s anything I love to do in my spare time, it’s to travel.
I constantly hear people in my life say things like, “I wish I could travel like you,” to me. And I always tell them the same thing—you can; you just have to book it and go. That’s what I want to talk to you all about today.
When it comes to getting your travel fix in, it’s very rare that there will be a “perfect time” to do so. There’s always something that will come up; holidays, family obligations, work events, etc. But the fact of the matter is, if you want to travel, you need to make it a priority and stop putting everything else ahead of it—within reason. There are a few things you should do before your travel. Personally, I have 3 key rules.
Here are my 3 simple rules I have when it comes to traveling:
Make sure your bills are paid.
Make sure you plan out your vacation time in advance.
Tell your loved ones that you’re booking a trip and tell them the dates ahead of time—usually 1 month notice will suffice.
These three rules are ones that I make sure to always do before booking my trips. I will not go anywhere unless my bills are completely paid for whatever month I plan to travel and I can afford to go to where I’m traveling to. Coming back from a vacation and having to worry about financial problems is not fun. Do not travel if you can’t pay your bills first. Don’t be racking up debt that you won’t be able to pay off. Pay your bills first, and then take any extra money you have and save for your vacation. Always remember that it's okay to take time to save for your vacation. Personally, I am not the type of person to just put my travel expenses on a credit card and worry about it later. I make sure I have the money readily available. I recommend others to do this too.
I’m very grateful to be lucky enough to have a job with a very flexible schedule. I can usually be gone for a trip without any major issues, but I always make sure to clear it with my bosses first and let them know when I plan on being gone. If your job is not like mine, and you have limited vacation days, make sure to plan out your vacation time in advance. Look at all of the events that you might have going on for the entire year. If you know you are only allowed 14 days of vacation for the year, and you know you have 2 weddings to attend on Fridays months from now, be sure not to take off more than 12 days. Maybe only opt for a trip 5-7 days long so you have extra days left over for the rest of your year. Just be smart about planning out your vacation time when it comes to planning your travel.
The third rule is very important and will save you from a lot of sticky situations. Lets say hypothetically you just book your vacation and don’t say anything to any loved ones, and then a week before you’re supposed to leave, you get an invite for a surprise party for your aunt on one of the days you’ll be traveling. It’ll be a really awkward situation to explain to your family that you can’t be there. Some family members will understand, but some might not. However, let’s say you mentioned it to your family last month at a holiday dinner. You probably won’t get as much push back for not being able to attend your aunt’s surprise party because you already mentioned that you were planning a trip for that same time. Now this situation specifically hasn’t ever happened to me, but I still always like to let me family know in case of something like this. My family is super important to me and I would never want them to feel like I was putting travel before them.
Please don’t let rumors about places scare you from going there. I’ve had plenty of people ask me if I was really going somewhere because they heard it was dangerous. While there are some places that maybe you should visit at a different time, for the most part, any place could be considered dangerous. There’s good places and bad places wherever you go, you just have to make sure that you’re being safe and using your best judgement.
As long as you follow these rules and use your head, you really just need to book your trip. I mean, what else are you waiting for? Travel is a beautiful way to see the world and learn so much. You get to experience different cultures, meet new people, learn a culture’s customs, and discover things about yourself that you might not have realized before. It allows you to grow and become a more well-rounded person.
There’s never a better time to travel than now. Travel while you’re still able. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for everyone and time is the most valuable thing we have.
Thank you all for reading this post. I hope this helped and that you can use it to refer back to if you need. Like all of my posts, this is just my advice and opinion, so please keep that in mind. I am not a financial specialist by any means. I am simply just a girl who loves to travel and wants to share my experience. Also, I apologize for my absence lately with blogging. I am trying my best to get all my ducks in a row and post more content for you. Thank you for being a loyal reader!
