We hear it all the time as travel agents: We'll travel more when we retire. Or, We'll travel when the kids are grown and out of the house.
While it's true that solid financial planning toward retirement and an empty nest can lead to more freedom to roam, for many, that time never actually comes. Those traveling dreams go unrealized for one reason or another.
Audrey and I try to strike a balance between planning for the future and living in the now. If we're lucky enough to be in good health at retirement, I want to be free to explore and roam. If not, I want to know that I lived it up while I had the chance. While we have the freedom, health, and life to go, we will go when we can.
Two of my all-time favorite quotes are:
"It's not dying I'm talking about, it's living!" - Augustus McCrae (Lonesome Dove)
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead." - Jimmy Buffet (Growing Older, but Not Up)
I love these words so much because they summarize my feelings. It's a cliche phrase, but it's true: tomorrow is not guaranteed, so live for today.
I think that's why I struggle so much when I see people put their bucket lists off "until later." When you've experienced loss (as we have this past year), perspective hits you right in the face. Things left unsaid, places left unseen. How would you summarize your life if you were given 10 more minutes to live? This thought applies way outside the bounds of travel, but since this is a travel blog, we'll keep our focus there.
As mentioned at the beginning of this column, the two main reasons we get from people putting off their travel dreams are:
Kids
Work (Waiting to Retire)
Money
These are valid reasons; they should slow you down but not stop you.
Audrey and I don't have any children. This certainly frees us up to be much more spontaneous in our travels. I encourage young married couples or soon-to-be married couples to take their time before having kids so they explore and learn to become each other's best friends. I'm glad we have done this.
Once you have kids, your adventures shouldn't stop. I've always been grateful to my parents for showing me that their worlds didn't stop because of me. They took me places and gave me my love of travel and adventure. They also traveled without me. This was important for me to see. We will take this same approach if we are ever blessed with children of our own.
Parents: Travel with and without your kids.
Work is definitely a solid reason to limit your travel. I'm passionate about hard work and dedication to your job and company. One of the main reasons I can explore is because I work for a fantastic company that takes care of my family while offering its employees a great paid time off plan. This is not a blog about shirking your job duties to roam. These things should always come before travel. That being said, you should still have time to balance your work and your adventures.
Some ways we balance our commitment to work and our travels are:
Taking shorter trips.
Utilizing paid holidays to maximize our PTO.
Working while traveling.
Working for companies that provide good PTO plans.
Be reliable, passionate, and dedicated to your job so your time off is well-earned.
One of my least favorite reasons for someone not taking a trip is: We'll do that when we retire. While we do have some bucket list items that will likely need to wait until retirement, there should still be time to do things now. The problem with the "wait until I retire" approach to travel is that 65 or beyond is never guaranteed. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed for anyone. Outside of that, who's to say you'll feel like traveling when you're 75 years old. I know plenty of people that are, but nothing is guaranteed regardless of your age.
If I'm 80 years old and my body won't allow me to travel, I want to say that I have done all I could while I could. Take your trip now. If you are blessed with good health at retirement, travel some more.
You can travel well on a budget. You don't have to stay in the nicest hotels, eat at expensive restaurants, and have luxury experiences to see the beauty of the world. Audrey and I specialize in affordable vacations. It's one of the reasons we can travel as often as we are.
If you need more money to travel, work towards having it. People have made snide remarks to us about how much we travel. "Must be nice," they say. Those same people likely make the same amount of money we do, but they drive $160,000 worth of vehicles and carry a $2,500-a-month mortgage. We'd rather spend our money on experiences, not things. If money is holding you back, look around at what you spend your money on and see where you can save. Buy an experience for a change. You won't regret it.
I don't write these blogs because I have it all figured out. I don't. That is why we call it Sunday Supposition. Supposition simply means a thought or a hypothesis. I write because I'm constantly trying to decipher the right path and the best way forward. Writing helps me do that.
I know that I've never regretted taking a trip, but I've regretted many times not taking one. Go now while you can. We are here to help you find a trip that meets your lifestyle and budgetary needs.
See the world now, be moved by the beauty and magnitude of something beyond your corner of the world, and stop making excuses for not checking items off of your adventure to-do list. Let's go now.
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