One of the questions I often get is how I get to travel so much and what I do for work. The reality is that for the majority of my life I didn’t travel like I do now. While I always enjoyed going on a vacation or two during the year, I never had a passion for traveling. Honestly, it was because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. It wasn’t until I traveled to a place that was very different than any place I had ever seen.
Interestingly enough, that was Patagonia, Chile, my parent’s home country.
Before Patagonia, my vacations had always been beach vacations. While they were beautiful places, seeing a place like Patagonia really opened up my eyes to the beauty of this world.
As far as what I do for work, I’ve worked in Human Resources for the past 15 years. I’m fortunate to have years of experience in a field that allows me to have a “good” job overall. My drive for my career was there when I first started out but the truth is that I lost that drive many years ago.
Things changed for me when I was told in early 2022 that my job would be fully remote. I knew I needed a change so I decided to take the leap to start solo travel internationally.
How you can travel more
You might want to travel more but are not sure how to go about doing that with a job that requires you to be in an office among other reasons. Use these tips below on how to travel more and make it a constant in your life.
1. Make travel a priority.
If you’re serious about traveling, it should become a priority. This means it might mean saying no to spending money on certain things if that’s not towards saving for a trip. It could also mean saving money each month towards a trip you’ve been wanting to do but have been putting off. Remember, tomorrow isn’t promised. If there is a place you’ve been wanting to visit, do it while you can.
2. Request your job to be remote.
The experience I have in Human Resources for the past 15 years shows me a lot of what is possible in Corporate America. Start by knowing your company’s policy around working remotely. It’s important to know where your company stands as it relates to working from home to know how best to approach this request. If you think your role can be done remotely, put a business case together and talk to your manager. A business case isn’t just saying you want to work from home, but it’s including information about how you will handle meetings and deliverables that are typically done in person for example. Read more about how to ask for a remote job in your company here.
3. Find a remote job.
If you’ve already asked your company or know your company will not be open to remote work, look for a remote job. There are many companies that are still offering remote roles post pandemic, and the ability to work from anywhere. When I say anywhere, every company is different and it’s good to know the policy around remote work when you’re interviewing. For US based companies, if they are open to remote work, many of them will say you can be based anywhere in the US. If the company isn’t global and doesn’t have legal entities in other countries, you might not be able to work outside of the US. If your job isn’t typically a remote type of job, then think about some skills that can be transferrable to another role that you might be interested in and can be done remotely. While a job transition to a new career might be a little harder, it’s still possible and all about how you market and position yourself.
4. Budget travel
If the reason you haven’t traveled as much is due to financial reasons, consider budget travel. There are so many ways to do this and I also might start to tap into this more since I plan to travel more this year. Consider high rated hostels or using the app Couchsurfing. Hostels are a great way to meet other travelers and contrary to what many think, are very safe because you are surrounded by others and not completely on your own. I’ve known groups of friends to have traveled to several countries while only staying in hostels. Couchsurfing allows you to find hosts in the country you plan to visit and stay with them for free. They will either let you stay on their couch or they will have a separate room in their home. Again, I recommend these options when you have done a lot of research on the reviews. If you are solo traveling and staying for longer than a week, you can also look up Facebook accommodation groups where people in the country you will be visiting are renting out a spare room. They are usually looking for someone to stay at least a month but this is a great affordable way to find a place while traveling.
5. Flexibility
If you are flexible on your travel dates, you will be able to find much better deals on flights and hotels depending on the time of year you are traveling and the days of your travel. I personally love traveling during shoulder seasons because it’s less expensive and less crowded. For example, in Europe, peak season is during the summer (mid-June – August) since a lot of people want to go when the weather is warm and experience the beaches. However, you can still have warm weather by going during shoulder season in late May/early June or early-mid September. With travel dates, if you’re traveling during the week versus over a weekend, prices for flights and hotels will also be less.
What is important to you?
If you’ve already made up your mind and want to travel more but are still finding it difficult, consider making some life changes to make that happen. One of the reasons I’m able to travel so much is because all of my things are currently in storage and I don’t have my own place anymore. While I miss my own place and this isn’t always the easiest decision, it also allows me to have the means to travel since I don’t have rent or mortgage to pay. I don’t have many expenses as I try to make sure I keep all of it to a minimum so that I have the means to travel. I know this option might not be possible for everyone, but you would be surprised how many changes you can make to your life if you’re willing to make some sacrifices.