Wanderlust so bad my toes are curling

The link by fiona is an interesting read!

There's a lot wisdom out there! Thank you for your responses. I do take short vacations abroad with my husband and we have done quite a bit of traveling, but I'm wanting to take off by myself and travel for an extended period of time. How do I tell him? I love him dearly, but this is something I have to do. I'm actually a study abroad adviser at a university and was able to travel quite a bit for my job a few years ago but that all stopped when the budget crunch hit. Now I just help students travel....the irony! I'd love to take leave without pay but am not allowed to....

Let us know how you gave the message?

I've recently started taking solo trips. I'm 53, and while my husband and I have enjoyed travelling together and with our daughters, I've always liked the idea of backpacking and going where the mood takes me. My husband likes a bit more comfort and security.

I was lucky - it was my husband who said "Why don't you do it?", after I'd had a day to myself on a family holiday in SEA, and commented on how different it had been, not having to consider anyone, and just mooching and wandering around. It took him two years to convince me I shouldn't feel guilty about leaving him and the girls behind, but I eventually bought a backpack, headed off to China with nothing but my air ticket planned, had a wonderful time. They were fine, and I'm now planning my third trip alone.

I'm the breadwinner of the family, so I don't feel able to go on an extended trip...I need to earn, and fortunately I'm a teacher, so I get good length holidays. But who knows - my husband thinks we'd cope if I had six months out - but for the moment, I'm OK with 'escaping the real world' for three or four weeks at a time.

My situations' different, so I can't help you explain what you want ...I've no idea what your husband's like, for a start! But good luck.

I can understand your frustration, your desire, your love for your man and your sense of responsibility. Our generation have responsibility ingrained into us. I cant give any suggestions as my situations so different, however one thing I can comment on - if your marriage is working well - dont jeopidise it. Scratch beneath the surface and the travelling world - seen by many as full of the good things in life, is actually well populated by lonely solo men and women who would give anything to be in a stable boring yet working relationship.

The old "the grass is greener " may be truer than you think.

But in saying that also (and Im sure there will be lots who disagree with me), marrying your sense of adventure to your sense of responsibility is not going to be easy.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but I dont see how you can possibly do it without burning bridges that I dont think you want to.

How long until your kids are finished college? Can you not wait until they are independent?

Life doesn't end in your fifties; you will have plenty of time to do what you want to.

Just hang in there until you can, without ruining everything that you have worked for.

Hi would never get rid of my home as I'm 59 this year and would hate to start paying it off all over again - I put all my"stuff" into storage and rented out my home for 12 months. I did save money while planning my trip, however the bit extra I received in rent went a long way. I absolutely enjoyed my year travelling and returned to my own home and there was not much damage - huge garden and lost a lot but all is replaceable. Was so worth it. I had saved up a couple of years worth of holidays as well and then asked for a year off. To my delighted surprise it was given so I even came back to my job. There a ways around problems, you just have to think it all out and have a go. You might just surprise yourself like I did.

Thanks for the responses, please keep them coming and let me know about people who are doing this. Well I started the conversation with my husband..he seems remarkably unfazed by the idea...! Should I be worried! My next step is to approach work with a request for a sabbatical, which might be a tad difficult as we are just hiring a new director and I'm not sure he/she will want one of their three office staff taking off. Still... Money is still not clear, my husband would like to refinance the house to get the roof and some repairs done, maybe I could piggyback on that and take a little out for travel...got to check in with the guilt meter for that one, Kids are at university for at least another two years. Two of my good friends died this past year form 'rare' cancers. So I don't want to wait too long,,,,kind of brings life into perspective.

is there any way you can carry your vacation time over to next year? That would give you 24 days, plus weekends...probably about a month of travel time. I know how hard it is to wait, but you can use that time wisely to save every penny and maybe sell some things to help fund your trip.

Oh I feel for you and can relate to you. I have gypsy blood myself, I don't own a house or even furniture for that matter but I did spend seven years in Europe living in a VW van with my partner and my dog. But, if you want to travel you need to be with people who are on board with it right from the get go. Travelling is always the best option for my partner and I. If you need to convince them I think you might have a problem.

The thing is that itch needs to be scratched. It means putting yourself first and paying the price for doing it. Have no illusions that price will be high in many ways. It means going without, it means doing it with cash not credit. It's buying one way tickets or cheap returns with no intention of doing the return part. It means going for it, riding on the seat of your pants. The way to stay out as long as possible means doing it cheap, cheap, cheap.

I know you've got to go for it you have my full support for what it's worth. You'll need all the moral support you can get if you do this.