Having a stable full-time job and being able to travel frequently can be difficult to accomplish. It’s a known phenomenon for weekend warriors who go traveling or backpacking…And simply keep traveling. And never go back to the rat race. How do they do it?
Well, it’s certainly not easy, but it’s far from impossible. With excellent time management and good communication with your employer, it can be possible to travel even weekly!
The Proper Work Arrangement
Before including traveling in your weekly program, make sure all the proper arrangements have been made with your job.
First of all, evaluate all the hours required to do your job every week. For example, if you need to work 40 hours every week, you can condense your week to 4 days rather than 5. This gives you a three day weekend to travel. And if you needed to add a fourth day, you could take off Monday the following week.
| Sun. | Mon. | Tues. | Weds. | Thurs. | Fri. | Sat. |
| Off | 8a to 6pm | 8am to 6pm | 8am to 6pm | 8am to 6pm | Off | Off |
| Off | Off | 8am to 6pm | 8am to 6pm | 8am to 6pm | 8am to 6pm |
Of course, this plan and its regularity would need to be approved by your supervisor. But, if they do approve this scenario, you could hypothetically take 2 or more 4-day vacations every month.
Make a General Plan
Make sure to create a plan that you can reasonably follow. Judging from how much time you spend on your job and other obligations, you should decide on how many trips you want to take monthly.
It goes without saying that not all months are the same. You might be too busy in September but when Christmas comes you will probably have a lot more time to spend on trips!
A suggested plan is to travel twice a month. This allows you to still have a healthy work-life balance. For example, you can take one long trip to someplace maybe 3-5 hours away from you—a sort of semi-local trip.
Another important aspect of your plan should be the expenses. Trips can be expensive. But, if you plan on traveling two times a month, your trips should be frugal and cost-effective.
So, to prepare for this amount of weekly travel, make a trip travel budget. A traveling budget will be very useful in keeping your trip cheap and not throwing off your expenses when you return home.
Be Flexible
Even though we all want to visit Paris or the Taj Mahal, there are a lot of places in the world we can see. Keep an open mind and travel to cheap destinations as well. It is the experience that matters, not just the destination!
Tips for Traveling on a Budget
Here are some tips to take into consideration when going on low-budget, semi-local trips!
- Prefer public transportation instead of trains or airplanes. When traveling to destinations close to your home, prefer to take a bus instead of a train. It is more affordable! Or, if you can manage it, drive your car!
- Choose hostels. Hostels are a very good solution for when you don’t want to spend too much money on accommodations. If you are sightseeing properly, you should only be in the hotel for sleep. So, find a low-budget option that is clean and no-frills.
- TravelZoo / JetSetter / SniqueAway. Don’t forget to check these sites too. They usually offer vacation packages, on discount.
- Credit cards. If you take an international trip, you don’t get charged a fee when you swipe your credit card and the currency converts! This could save you a lot of cash!
Paid trips
It might seem strange but. depending on your job, you can find out if there are any paid opportunities to travel. For instance, if you are an investigative journalist, you can travel and investigate foreign companies.
Remote work and Final Thoughts
If you have a chance to work remotely, you should take advantage of it. By working remotely you can travel to a city of your liking and work from there! For instance, you can still work normally if you are staying in Europe. You can explore the city in the morning and work during the evenings.
After all, it is possible to combine a steady job and travel. Take into consideration all the above, you will be able to find a balance between your job and regular traveling. Safe travels!
Image by Atlas Green
