I LOVE to travel, but really have not experienced much. When I have the money I don't have the time and when I have the time I don't have the money. Isn't that how it always is?
Matt and I want to do alot of traveling before we have kids, but I really don't know how to make it happen. First off, I can't even take a day off at my job without having to work overtime the day before or after to keep up. I can't imagine ever taking a week off... And we've always had to work around Matt's semester schedule.. I had this problem at my last job as well when I tried to schedule my honeymoon in the winter between semesters but my job would not allow it. So instead Matt failed his classes that semester we got married.. Its just really impossible to take a week and a half off in studio courses. We loved our honeymoon and it was so worth it. But even then we didn't pay for that trip..so how do you save up?
We want to go 1) skiing in Colorado 2) to London 3) Canada 4) I want to go somewhere in the Carribean 5) Italy 6) actually pretty much all of Europe
I started a Savings account with SmartyPig.com (which is how we saved for our house) and set it to save $25/month (LOL), but with the thought that I would add to it whenever we have extra cash. I guess we haven't had any.
So now Matt is graduating and I have always wanted to reward him with us going to Europe or at least on a ski trip. There is just no way. Unless something changes our budget will always be tight, my job will always be too stressful to take time off, and I feel like we should pay off loans before we start saving up for unnecessary vacations.
Thinking back to "vacationers"--isn't the typical traveler the older, retired couple or the young singles? Did we miss our time? For how long and how much do you have to sacrifice and juggle around just to enjoy 1 week in your life?
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I think you just have to do it if its important you. I am currently paying off debt from my last big trip (even though my boyfriend paid for most of it, I still ended up spending about $1,500). But totally worth it, so were the thousands I spent in the years before. I always save by staying in hostels, but we are getting a little too old for that now. I did it last time and it just wasn't fun sharing a bunk with your SO in a room full of strangers. But there are always cheap ways to travel...it just takes a lot of research. I would like to make a rule about taking 1 big trip every 2-3 years. But I might have to put my Southeast Asia trip on hold so I can buy a really good mattress. My back is so messed from the one I have. But $25/month adds up. You can do it! And thanks for the smartypig.com link. I am using ING but maybe I should switchover.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add that my philosophy is to work to live not live to work. Now I am really passionate about what I do, but I believe my career contributes to the greater good, a larger society. And seeing and participating in culture will only help me to do my job a lot better. But others would say "but you just draw lines all day."
ReplyDeleteMy point is, its important because it really grounds me to what is really important.