Travel has been an integral part of my life for as long as I can remember. Between staying with grandparents, visiting family throughout the country, and countless family road trips, the open road feels like a second home. These experiences left a lasting impression on who I am and how I see the world. There’s a familiarity to being surrounded by a mix of cultures and contrasts, influenced by NYC sights and sounds and a bilingual early childhood. I realized when I was younger that pursuing my travel goals would be a fundamental part of my future.
Live in the Now
Life can get complicated. While we focus on earning a paycheck, navigating unexpected twists and turns, and addressing potential health issues, we often put secondary goals on the back burner. We might not always be aware of how much we genuinely want to pursue these goals. At times, we convince ourselves that there will be more time, energy, or money to achieve them later on.
Unfortunately, ‘later’ is not a promise. So many of us spend our prime years working away or believing that we can put off our dreams, but both time and health are fleeting. If you’re healthy and able-bodied and have the opportunity to go after what you want, then why not take the initiative now? Pursue your goals, explore while you can, and make things happen.
How to Balance Travel Goals and Everyday Life
I didn’t want to wait until traditional retirement to begin traveling, and I think many others can relate. Whether you’ve loved travel from an early age or have only recently begun to appreciate it, you may be wondering how to prioritize travel in a busy schedule. Incorporating wanderlust means learning to balance the logistics of travel with the demands of everyday life. With an open mind and a bit of planning, routine travel is absolutely possible.
Here are 6 steps to achieving balance between your travel goals and everyday responsibilities:
1. Set Specific Travel Goals
We all have general hopes and dreams that simmer quietly in the background, occasionally surfacing in random moments. But more often than not, they’re stored away as ‘someday’ goals, where they get lost in the shuffle of life. However, by setting specific travel goals, we can turn our daydreams into concrete plans.
Start by identifying what travel means to you. Is it exploring new cities abroad, finding adventure in the great outdoors, or relaxing on sun-kissed beaches? Or perhaps it’s trying exotic foods, discovering nearby hidden gems, or taking spontaneous weekend trips?
Jot down specific destinations or experiences you’d like to try in the next year or two. Defining specifics and setting a timeline unlocks a sense of purpose and direction; it ultimately helps make your travel goals more tangible and provides a guideline to get started.
2. Prioritize and Plan Ahead
Once you’ve set specific travel goals, rank them based on practicality and your current life circumstances. Consider expenses, paid time off, and your overall schedule to find the best opportunities to travel. For instance, do you have the flexibility to take a day off for a long weekend trip, or are you able to plan a longer vacation during a slower work week?
Maybe you even have the option to work remotely and can turn your workweek into a workcation. Balancing work and travel isn’t for everyone, but for those who can, it opens up a world of possibilities. Brian and I have made workcations part of our lifestyle; they’re how we prefer to explore while still maintaining some routine. From Alaska and Hawaii to more local destinations, we are truly thankful to be traveling and earning a paycheck!
Whether you plan to work on the road or venture off on a weekend, the key to balancing travel is to figure out how it fits into your schedule. Use a calendar to highlight less hectic times for your adventures. In fact, I recommend using a physical calendar since I find that writing things down helps me see my plans clearly.
Whatever your method, take a close look at your schedule to find ways to turn your adventures into reality. By planning ahead, you can realistically maximize your travel goals for your own unique circumstances.
3. Embrace Values-Based Budget Traveling
Treat yourself in the areas that are most important to you! By applying values-based budgeting, you’ll find that travel doesn’t have to drain your bank account. Determine what you are willing to compromise on. Do you truly want to spring for 5-star accommodations, or are you more than happy to rough it in the city center? Is it important to you to splurge on fine dining experiences, or are you more interested in budget-friendly street food that gives you a taste of local culture? Consider what truly matters to you in your travel experiences.
For Brian and me, staying in accommodations with full kitchens (or at least a mini-fridge and microwave) allows us to prepare some of our meals, which not only saves money but also gives us a chance to explore local grocery stores and markets.
There are plenty of budget-friendly alternatives for items you’re willing to compromise on. Being open to savings in certain areas can make travel much more accessible.
4. Romanticize Mini Adventures
Not every trip has to be a fancy getaway or long vacation. Local travel offers opportunities for weekend road trips, day hikes, exploring community attractions, and discovering hidden gems. By romanticizing the tangible options available to you, whether it’s exploring within a 30-mile radius or making the most of a weekend, you’ll find adventure is always within reach.
When Brian and I started traveling together, we had limited vacation days and worked on-site 5 days a week (sometimes 6!) and 8 to 11 hours per day. We got creative in our search for adventure, using day trips and weekend getaways for quick escapes. Discount travel sites with mystery hotels and low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier took us both near and far in our mini adventures.
Abbreviated travel is travel all the same. It provides a valuable way to experience new things, even if just for a brief time. Sometimes, mini adventures are all that our schedules and circumstances allow. Enjoy them for what they are and celebrate the memories created, even in just a couple of days.
5. Let Go of Perfection and Be Open-Minded
Life is unpredictable, and plans might need to change. This is especially true considering factors we can’t control, like bad weather, travel delays, or unexpected closures. It’s rare for trips to go exactly as planned. Being flexible and learning to adapt your travel style allows you to embrace spontaneity and discover experiences you might not have originally considered.
Whether you take a quick detour or find yourself completely off the beaten path, you may discover that by being open and flexible, you can add more spontaneous travel experiences into your routine.
6. Cultivate a Spirit of Exploration
Keeping travel at the forefront of your mind encourages you to explore and seek out experiences even in your everyday life. By seeing the mundane through a curious and playful perspective, you begin noticing unexpected finds and hidden gems all around you.
Treat your daily routine as part of a larger journey. Try incorporating travel themes into your life by trying different cuisines, attending cultural events, or exploring nearby neighborhoods you haven’t been to before. These small explorations invite you to add adventure into your everyday life, serving as gentle reminders for exploring your travel goals.
Make Your Travel Goals a Priority
Don’t let your travel goals fade into the background of everyday life; instead, find ways to integrate them into your schedule. By intentionally setting aside time and energy for exploration, whether through local wanderings or planning future trips, you keep your motivation alive.
While the steady hum of routine carries us through obligations and mundane moments, it’s all too easy to let our goals slip away. Tomorrow slips into next year, eventually becoming sometime in the next five years. And five years quietly turn into someday.
…I don’t want to lose my chance to live the life I want while it’s still possible. Do you?
Prioritizing our hopes and dreams ultimately gives us the chance to experience life to the fullest. If you’ve set aside your travel goals for someday, start working toward them today. Start planning, start saving, and start making your travel goals a priority. You’ll find the balance of travel and everyday life in no time.
What’s one compromise you’re willing to make to incorporate more travel into your schedule?
