So we've all been there, twiddling our thumbs thinking "I wish I could travel the world!"
Well why can't you? Who's to say you can't have your cake and eat it too?
People associate travel with expenses and quitting a life you once owned.. well that's not the case.
Wouldn't you give anything to see the world and explore the wonders behind those images you dream about? It's much easier to reach them than you think.
My boyfriend and I thought the same; "Could we give up our full time jobs? Can we sell our home contents? Will we ever have enough savings to live on?".. Well the answer is yes, yes you can and it's a lot easier than you might think.
We began our adventure by planning. Planning really does help keep track of your budget. Then it goes without saying the next step was budget, being able to know how much was roughly needed and also how long it would take to save.
This brings us to time, we needed to plan enough time to make sure we could achieve everything we needed in order to have enough in our savings and organise life before we left.
We found pre-booking a lot of our accommodation and transport a big help. This helped us to spend money before we left which meant less worries about hotels when we were out there. Planning a route made choosing accommodation much easier, and also booking in advance helped save some of those extra pennies.
This might not be everyone's cup of tea but this way allowed us to split our savings and relieve some worries about our upcoming adventures.
The main key we found throughout the planning, savings and spending was organisation. We made a plan and documented our whole trip into a spreadsheet. This made a path clear and we could visibly see the space we had to explore. Again this might not work for everyone but so far it's treated us well.
Another aspect we found useful was research. Finding which locations were worth the trip made certain areas stand out. This helps to create a route and also gives you adventures to look forward to, as travelling can sometimes be kind of unexpected, having a few planned highlights can add some depth to your trip.
If there's anything we learnt whilst planning was always expect the unexpected. Some hostels are not as they appear online and vise versa. Excursions and locations may not live up to expectations, but take everything with a bit of salt and a smile. Life really is too short to worry about stress and useless anxieties.
If there's any advice I can offer would be to try. Don't be afraid to try and live outside the box. The biggest step you'll take is leaving your home comforts, and once out you'll never look back with regret. Only forward to make your own path and memories.
~xoxo~
Written and edited by Kit Shepherd
