The Biggest Myths About Traveling and How to Prove it Wrong

The Biggest Myths About Traveling and How to Prove it Wrong

The first thing a lot of people say when they hear that someone is traveling is “Oh my that must cost so much money, how can you afford that?” “How much did that trip cost?” “Are you still saving money?” While obviously traveling isn’t the cheapest activity in the world by any means, often times price isn’t even the biggest factor when planning a trip. You can still splurge on a vacation and have money allocated towards traveling, while you’re still saving money for your future self. But as I said, the reason most people can’t travel isn’t because they don’t have the money, it’s because they don’t have the time. 

The point of this website, while of course is to provide helpful tips, hacks, travel guides  etc to people wanting to travel, but it’s also to show and inspire people that work a full time job that you can still travel the world and live your dreams without having to leave your job or blow through your paycheck and PTO. 

I work a 9-5 and I am still able to take 4-5 good size trips a year. With strategic planning of my PTO days, smart budgeting and the passion to travel, all these things are entirely possible to do. I’m living proof! You always have more time than you think! So if you find yourself in a 9-5 job right now and you’re using that as an excuse as to why you can’t travel, let me tell you a few tricks that will make this possible. 

1. Use PTO around holidays

This is a very simple and easy to do hack if you give plenty of notice for your time off. Use your PTO days around holidays such as Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all the other holidays that you get off as well. I know some people get off for Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Juneteenth, Columbus Day etc. or if you’re outside of the US, whatever holidays you get off as well! Know your companies recognized holidays and use your PTO around it. 

For example, I have planned a trip to Banff National Park on May 26th – June 1st. I am using 4 days of PTO and the trip we planned is 7 days long! We are turning 4 days of PTO into a 7 day trip! By simply stacking our days around Memorial Day we have technically given ourselves 9 days off including the weekends. Think of the things you can do and the places you can go by only using 4 days of PTO!

Stack your PTO around your company holidays for added time off without burning through your PTO

2. Make the time!

If you’re someone that works remotely or has that option then you’re in luck for this one. Let’s say you can’t take PTO or don’t want to use it, you can always work remotely from another part of the country! 

Book an Airbnb or hotel in a new city that has stable Wi-Fi connection and a nice area where you can work and work your normal day and travel / explore the area as soon as you get off work. See if you can start work earlier and leave earlier as well to maximize your time you have in the evening. This will still give you a good 4-5 hours to explore your new surroundings, get a bite to eat, take a tour, go for a hike etc! 

If you’re flying, fly in the evenings to avoid having to take off time, utilize the weekends as well for full day adventures on Saturday and wake up bright and early to explore as much as you can on Sunday before heading back home Sunday evening. 

3. Change your mindset / Be grateful

I know a lot of people, myself included have had that feeling before when on a vacation that FOMO (fear of missing out) at work. That you feel guilty you’re on vacation while your coworkers are still there grinding away, or that there is something at work that you know you could be doing right know if you weren’t away. We need to ditch that mindset. 

You are given your PTO for a reason. So you can use that time to be off of work and do whatever it is you want to do without any thoughts of work. There is no reason to feel guilty or have FOMO, because all of your coworkers are probably wishing they were where you were right then and there and not cooped up in a stuffy office or working from home. 

Look at the bigger picture, think about where you are, what you’re doing, the things you’re seeing, the food you’re eating and the people you’re with and you will soon have a smile rise across your face as you realize how truly blessed you are in that moment. 

Say for example you just thought of a project you could be working on, or a client that is probably wishing you were at work right now start to get those feelings of guilt and FOMO. But you take a minute to be present of exactly where you currently are, and realize you’re outside in nature taking in gorgeous scenery of mountains, waterfalls, lakes or beautiful architecture having the time of your life and suddenly, you don’t feel so bad do you? 

My point? Change your mindset, be grateful for where you currently are in life and you will love your life so much more. You will also appreciate your 9-5 much more as well, because without it, you wouldn’t be able to fund the life you want to live.

4. Stop caring what people think

When I was in college I thought traveling so dumb and a waste of money. I’ve heard of people traveling and the first thing I thought of was why? That’s such a waste of money! Man if I could go back and slap my past self in the face I would. Because now, I love traveling so much I started a travel blog and all the doubts about it that I told myself and others, just turned out to be misconceptions. 

Right after high school one of my friends spent the summer backpacking through Asia. All the money he saved up from his high school and summer jobs went to that and I thought that was such a ridiculous thing to waste your money on. But now looking back, I envy him, because he got to have some amazing experiences and met some incredible people as well that he can always look back on. What’s he doing now? He got that money back and he is working a steady 9-5 job, saving up his money and still traveling as much as he can. 

Most of my friends are not travelers whatsoever, when I told them of my first trip planned to Iceland they asked why? How much did that cost? Are you saving money? 

And at that point it kinda made me ask those questions to myself as well. Was it really going to be worth it? The short answer it 1000% YES

I went on that trip and then many others as well. Not caring what people thought, maximizing my PTO and saving money at the same time. All the money I’ve spent on my trips has come back and looking back on the trips, I don’t think about how much money I’ve spent, I think about how amazing the experience was. And that’s what really matters. 

One of my favorite quotes is “Travel, because your money will come back, but your time won’t”

You have the money to travel, you have the time to travel. It’s right there in front of you. You just have to see it. For more in depth guides on how to utilize your time and PTO check out the FREE eBook HERE. 

For an article on how to save money and still afford to travel, check out my article for that HERE. 

If you don’t have anyone to travel with, travel alone! I will be making a blog article for that as well 

Don’t let your 9-5 hold you back from your travel dreams!