There are many excuses not to travel. If you are a travel lover, you’ve probably employed most of them. Whether it’s work, finance, lack of travel partner, or your home/apartment situation, anything can be turned into an excuse – just as anything can be turned into a reason to go.
The problem with decision-making when it comes to taking a leap of faith and just going, is the misconception that traveling out of the U.S. is complicated and expensive. It is not. First, you need a passport. You probably have one of those… if not, make a trip to your local post office. Second, you need a destination. Now, contrary to common belief, you don’t need to have a specific destination in mind. Let’s start with a continent! For example, Europe. So, you want to visit Europe and there are a few destinations you have in mind: maybe Amsterdam, Paris, and Barcelona. Start searching for flights to Europe, not these specific cities. You may find some real gems. I recently bought a $130 flight from Chicago to Barcelona – I’m eventually returning to Brussels, but for that price, I’ll happily experience all that lovely Spain has to offer.
Plan your trip around your flight, not your flight around your trip! If you need to take off work, try to find a great flight and accommodations first, and then ask for the time off. Don’t take time off first, possibly forcing yourself into a corner with flight and accommodation prices.
Do you want to take a long journey into the unknown? Perhaps a one-way flight to Europe, South America, or East Asia? Props to you. Here’s how you do it. If you’re lucky, your work can be done remotely. If you have a remote job, perhaps as a writer or web developer, there’s no excuse not to explore the world. If not, you may have to quit your job or take an extended period of time off. Either way, as a travel junkie, it helps to establish some sort of freelance presence on the side, whether it’s writing, programming, development, photography, design, or just about anything else that you could turn into a mobile source of income. It’s not as hard as you think and could supplement your savings nicely when traveling the world.
These are just a few tips that I’ve followed in my travel experiences. The best tip, however, is this: if there is a hunger inside you to go somewhere, be it to see a certain place or just explore what the world has to offer, then find a way to do it. Obstacles like work and money are small compared to the benefits that one can reap from travel.
Guest Author: Keegan Roembke
I am a student and writer from Indiana currently living in Ghent, Belgium, working on a Master’s in Global Studies. My passion for writing and poetry stems from travels and constant curiosity about the world. I write poetry, social commentary, and travel pieces on Medium and Vocal, and recently graduated from the University of Southern Indiana, where I studied German and International Studies. I have travelled to 22 countries throughout Europe and Africa by train, bus, and foot. Read poetry and commentary at https://vocal.media/authors/keegan-roembk
