I'm not a professional traveler. I do not make a living from taking trips around the world. For a long time, I was not location-independent, either — I was just your average recent-college-graduate, trying to figure out how to balance a small paycheck with my desire to travel as much as possible.
And yet, people often tell me how jealous they are of all my travels. They tell me how “lucky” I am. They say they wish they could travel like I do.
But you know what?
They absolutely can. YOU can, too.
So many of those out there who are writing about travel are professional nomads. Many of them lack a home address, and can fit most of their worldly possessions into a backpack. They flit from London to Bangkok to Sydney and back again, and we “ordinary” people think this is all so terribly romantic and awesome that we convince ourselves that we can't possibly do the same.
We psyche ourselves out and buy into a lot of misconceptions about living a life full of travel. We begin to believe things like:
- You must be rich to travel.
- You must be single to travel.
- You must be brave and outgoing to travel.
- You must be free from responsibility to travel.
We convince ourselves that we can never be one of “those people” because we have a job and debt and a family, and we enjoy having a stable address that people can send Christmas cards to.
But guess what? These misconceptions are just that — misconceptions. You can travel without being rich and single. You can travel without being particularly adventurous. And, most of all, you can travel without completely setting aside responsibility.
Yes, I'm here to tell you that you can, in fact, travel and live a “normal” life, too!
Travel does not have to be a lifestyle for everyone. You can be a businessman or career woman and still be passionate about travel. You can work a 9-5 and still see the world if that's what you're passionate about.
The key is what YOU want.
If you want to quit your job to travel the world, great. Go for it.
But if you like owning a car and your own bed and having a permanent place to call “home,” that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your travel dream. It doesn't have to be an either-or scenario. Believe it or not, you CAN have both!
I'm not going to lie and say it's easy, though. Because it's not. If you have a strict work schedule or a young family or a lot of debt to pay off, it may be challenging to live your “ordinary” life and still manage to fit in travel. But just because something is challenging doesn't mean it's impossible.
Here are some tips for how you, too, can fit travel into your ordinary life:
- Start saving now. It's never too early to start saving for a trip. Even just setting aside $20 per week can go a long way quickly.
- Plan your dream vacation. Even if you won't be able to take it right away, planning a vacation can keep you upbeat about traveling and give you something to look forward to. I start planning some of my big trips up to a year ahead of time.
- Keep an eye on travel deals. Especially if you start planning and saving for a big trip early, you can keep an eye on things like airline and hotel deals. You never know when the perfect one will come along! Signing up for mailing lists from specific airlines, or from travel aggregators like TravelZoo, is a great idea, too, and can alert you to big savings opportunities.
- Make the most of vacation time and holidays. We Americans get a raw deal in my opinion when it comes to vacation time. If your employer isn't cool about letting you work overtime or giving you unpaid days off, you'll have to get creative in order to make the most of the vacation time you have. You can stretch your 2 weeks much further if you plan travel around paid holidays, or if you can elect to work your holidays and save them up for later.
- Don't wait for someone to travel with. Especially if you're working full-time and have friends and family members who are also working full-time, it might be difficult to coordinate a vacation. But that doesn't mean you should forego travel. It just means you may need to consider adding “solo travel” to your vocabulary.
- Pick up new hobbies. For me, starting a travel blog has opened many doors in terms of travel. I've made a lot of contacts, and even picked up some freelance gigs here and there that have helped feed my travel addiction (and my travel fund). But if starting a blog isn't right for you, consider other hobbies that might allow you to get closer to your travel goals. Perhaps volunteering or joining a club could be an option for you.
- Take advantage of all opportunities. Right along with picking up new hobbies, be sure to take advantage of any travel opportunities that those hobbies might afford you. For example, I traveled a lot during college because I joined the marching band. We went to places like Italy and China on performance tours at prices that a college student could afford.
And, at the end of the day…
- Don't make excuses. Any excuse you can make about why you can't/don't travel can be overcome. If you truly want to travel more without giving up your current lifestyle, the first step is setting aside the misconceptions and excuses and going after what you want in any way that you can.
And, who am I to preach all this to you, you ask? Well, currently I'm a freelancer who works from a fixed address in Ohio. Before that, I was a graduate student working my butt off to get my Master's degree. And before that, I was a copy editor working 40 hours per week at a small newspaper. I probably don't have to tell you that I have most certainly NOT been rolling in cash since graduating college. I have to work hard to save up money and make time to travel just like everybody else. But, in the past four years, I've traveled to more than 30 countries.
And I'm doing it all while still living a “normal” life.
If I can do it, so can you.
Are you also a person who lives a “normal” life but still manages to travel? Tell me about it in the comments!
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
“Don’t make excuses.” This definitely sums it up. It is so easy to make excuses, ‘i just need to save more money,’ ‘I just need to get that promotion,’ ‘I just need to find that one person to travel with,’ etc.
Great inspiration for those living normal lives who want to travel but just don’t know where to get started.
It IS so easy to make excuses — and that’s definitely the reason more people don’t travel, even though they say they want to.
I’m through making excuses, and I’ve made it my mission to travel whenever and wherever I possibly can!
You are totally right chica! When we were working at our video game company, we would travel our 3 weeks of vacation away every year and some people were baffled at how we did it. Save save save!
And you know, when you love travel as much as we do, the saving comes almost naturally! I wish we could get more people to believe it!
You are so inspiring, Amanda. Your blog is amazing!! I’m from Buenos Aires, and here, we are all used to blame our inflation and expensive (very expensive) flights, etc, for not travelling, but the truth is that if you set priorities, you can perfectly do it. I work 45 hours a week and I also go to college. However, this year I’m crossing out of my bucket-list Salvador de Bahia, Brazil; where Brazilian culture was born. There they have the best Brazilian music, typical dishes, amazing beaches, colonial architecture, etc. This will be my first “big” trip 🙂 My next trip will be Argentinean Northwestern territory, Bolivia (las salinas), and Peru (Machu Picchu); thanks to all this inspiration, I’m already trying to figure out how I can save up more money and cut out on unnecessary spendings to affor my next trip.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us! =)
Good for you, Priscilla!!! That’s great that you’re going to cross something off your bucket list this year, and that you’re already planning some of your future travels. If you make travel a priority in your life, you will absolutely find a way to make it happen. Good luck! And thanks for reading.
[…] way to get it. If you really want to make travel a part of your life, you can find a way to do it, no matter what your lifestyle entails. Don’t make excuses or buy into anyone else’s definition of travel or “the right […]
Great post! That’s actually how the name of our blog came to be. We wanted to prove that you can be an “ordinary” person and still fulfill all of your travel dreams. We do it while working full time (actually more with our blog and side projects). So if we can do it, anybody can!
And I love that you guys have worked that into your blogging model! I find it really inspiring to read about travelers who also have “normal” lives on top of blogging and flitting around the world. I know from experience that it’s not easy — but so worth it.
I agree, you don’t have to be location independent to be a traveler. I have managed to have a job, an address, and travel 5 months out of the year for the past ten. I’m also an expat. There are lots of ways to get beyond your own front back door, and still live a (kind of) normal lifestyle…as I pack to flit off to Bangkok on Saturday to start my winter travel!
You’re a great example of what I was writing about, Nancie! People assume they have to give up “everything” in order to travel. But the truth is, it doesn’t have to be that way at all!
Great post, I think many people struggle with the ‘ability’ to travel. especially when you know others who do travel constantly. There is an inherent jealousy to travel, which doesn’t need to exist. It really doesn’t cost that much if you plan ahead…as you mention in your list of tips!
Yes, there will always be someone going someplace cooler or more remote or more beautiful than you, and, in that sense, I agree that there’s a measure of envy and jealousy that goes hand-in-hand with travel. But the people who sit at home and just envy EVERYONE who travels… well they’re just being silly!
We sometimes get jealous of our blogger friends who CAN travel anytime, anyplace they want. But I have a 10-year-old daughter, and there’s only so much time I’m willing to spend away from home. Still, Mary and I find plenty of time to get away, breaking up big 7-10 day adventures with little weekend jaunts, and we take trips as a family several times a year as well. It’s all about making it a priority, and sometimes making sacrifices to make it work. Great blog!
There’s always going to be a bit of envy in regards to others out there who CAN travel full-time, like you said. But, deep down, I know I enjoy having roots somewhere and a “home” to come back to after a trip. Plus, traveling more slowly or less frequently means that I have more time to focus on composing good posts about it all!
Interesting, I would think that “being single” would be an excuse not to travel – I personally was more hesitant to set out on my own versus my friends who had significant others to travel with. Neither should hold you back though- as is your point! Great article!
There are so many excuses people make not to travel… but I agree – neither being single nor having a family should hold you back!
Great tips! I’ve done both — lived a “normal” life and lived a “travel” life. You are very lucky you are able to do travel and have a normal life! I am going back out for some long-term travel in the next year … but I think it is great that you can stay put and travel t the same time!!
I would love to someday be able to take more long trips than I do now. But I feel like I’ll always want a home base to come back to. Now, where that “home base” is may eventually change, but I’m not sure I’ll ever take up a true “travel life” like some people do.
great post! I’m just like you! I was actually asked today how I fund all of my travels and the person was shocked when I said out of my own pocket. Its all about the choices you make in life and if you want to travel just do it! 🙂
It is TOTALLY all about choices. Sure, I may get something for free here and there thanks to this blog, but the vast majority of my travels is paid for straight out of my own pocket! If I can do it on such a small salary, I KNOW other people can, too.
[…] A Dangerous Business: You can live a “normal” life and travel too Here’s a great post for anyone who has ever wished they could travel as often as travel bloggers. Amanda points out that even if you have a 9-to-5 job, you can save money and save up vacation time to make your travel dreams come true. That’s how I got started! […]
Like I’ve always said…..no travel agent will come knocking on your door. If you want to travel, you have to make it happen. Great article!
Very true, Renee! In order to travel, you definitely have to be proactive about it!
Great stuff…I’m one of those with the house and 9-5, but travel is and has always been my passion. As time passes, that passion only grows stronger, as does my desire to travel for a living. I’m not in a postion to do so now, but I’m happy with the direction life has me going and the amount of this world I’m able to see…
Sounds like you and I are a lot alike! Good luck with your travel goals.
“Stop making excuses” can be applied to every facet of life, not just travel.
Also, isn’t illegal to put holes in currency? 😛
Yup, the “stop making excuses” tip is definitely not travel-specific!
And as for the currency thing… no idea. Maybe it doesn’t count if it’s not my currency? Lol.