BootsnAll Travel Community

I want to know a few details about how, why, and when (after how many previous trips) did you make the decision to pursue long-term travel? How did you commit and say to yourself, “from this day I will start saving money and two years from this day I will quit my job to travel for x months” ? I’m laidback, work better under pressure, and suffer from procrastination, and although I’m good at saving money, it seems like a difficult task to save up $10,000+ for a trip that I don’t have any firm reality of. Does it get easier or feel more realistic once you’ve saved a few grand?

I've been dreaming of this idea for about 2 years now. I've made 4 international trips so far. After spending 2 months last fall going from Poland - Turkey (solo, spent about $1000 per month, relaxed itinerary, some couch surfing, some less touristy places, and never the least bit homesick) I feel that I have the experience and open-mindedness to take on a real vagabonding journey.

I guess my problem is that I’m having trouble committing. And also its difficult to resist traveling now. A couple friends have invited me to meet up in Thailand in Nov, and two other friends are trying to convince me to do a short Europe stint over new years. Its really tempting being that I have the time and money to do one of those trips, but I know saving that money would go a long way when I finally do set off on the big one. At the same time I wonder if its even healthy for someone who loves travel so much to abstain from it for so long. Any advice??

What a timely question.

I recently (as in a few days ago - what day does it say I joined?) accepted the title of vagabond(ette) and decided to travel.

I've always had a touch of the nomad in me but confined myself to the US for the first 27 years of my life. Then I said screw it and got a job as an au pair in Switzerland for 14 months. It's been a battle ever since I got back. I've been back for almost exactly 5 years (anniv was 9/28) and I've been fighting the urge since then. And, as the time went by I was getting more and more unhappy.

Then I made the decision and I feel as if a 100 lb weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel that things are right in the world again and that I have something to work towards. It just took me accepting that I'm going to live an unusual life and trying to shoehorn myself into a lifestyle that didn't meet my needs would just end with me miserable and depressed.

So, I'm getting a "real" job (my family's term) on top of the business that I'm building (so I can really save) and I'm going to focus on developing products I can offer from afar so I can earn while I travel. Then, hopefully next October, I'll hit the roads again and stay out as long as possible.

So, I guess I could boil that long-a#& post down to this: if you have the urge to travel, feed it if/when you can because you'll have to eventually. Try to take shorter, cheaper trips (maybe limit yourself to the US? There's a LOT to see here).

I found I had no real option. I made several attempts at careers and all that, but nothing was all that interesting. I found that I only cared about the vacations and adventures that were coming up.

Finally did a 4 month across Central and south America. Came back, decided to toss in the towel. I worked for one year, ate ramen, rice and crakcers, worked three jobs, sold everything I owned and took off.

Ended up in Thailand, like diving, did more, learned more, became manager of dive shop.

Rob_co2,

I feel your pain. I remember how hard it was to make the commitment. And the temptation to spend money on 'now' trips rather than saving for the future.
I agree with vagabondette, take some trips in the mean time, don't kill yourself. Just try to take cheaper ones so you don't hurt your savings.
For me, we had been saving for a couple of years (while still taking some trips during that time) but somehow deep down I was not sure if we would actually do it. It seemed so far off, theoretical really. When I realized we had become debt-free and had enough money to go it all fell together. Well, maybe not that easy but we did it!
Now I'm back at work trying to figure out how to do it again...

Yeah, it def. becomes more realistic as time goes by. Even though I was saving and planning for the "big trip" for a while it honestly didn't become a true reality until I had paid off my debt and the year mark came up. Now that i'm finally really saving money and i know in a year i will be somewhere else it just makes it that much more excited and realistic and I can't wait. I think those little milestones really help! we've done a couple small little cheap trips here and there which has really fueled the fire for long term travel even more. If i were you i would probably skip at least 1 of those trips because those will both end up pretty pricey - see if your friends will meet you there instead and pick some cheaper destinations in the meantime.

I had the idea for a rtw months before I actually started saving. When I finally had a job that allowed me to save I started telling people that I was going to go, but I wasn't really saving. A couple of months after that I realzied that if I was serious about this trip I had to bukle down and start saving. I just sat down, wrote out a budget, and started saving.

For some reason I found it easier to save and go without when I first started. It was after about a year when I did have a significant amount of cash that I started getting board with saving, but not the idea. I had to reset my thinking, that was harder than doing the initial budget.

I also think that its good to travel while you save. It keep the dream alive.

i made the decision to take a rtw trip last year, either for this year or next, and the amount of money i had saved required i wait until next. basically i'm 20 have a decent job, couldn't decide what to do as far as college and i dislike where i'm living now. ive taken month long trips before, loved all of them and a year long rtw has always been in the back of my mind so i figured this was the perfect time to take it since i really have nothing holding me here.

the saving money mindset is easy for me, it's simple enough, don't spend that much on stuff you don't need. i'm actually saving more than i expected at first... so i'm taking a week this fall and heading to canada to satisfy my immediate travel urges...2nd choice to europe, but it's cheaper.

I think it is different for everyone. Like you, I have taken trips before, but nothing long term. I think that is a greta primer for things to come, and developing your interest in other cultures. I know it is really difficult to defer gratification and save for travel at some point in time and not travel now. I actually think you can do both as long as you dont break the bank. Once you have a better idea of where you want to go and why, the next step is carving out the time 6 months, 1 year, or several years from your life when you will actually be traveling.

While you are in the planning stages, there are tons of disappointments resulting from other people who pretty much think this sort of thing is a waste of time. But you want to take a journey, and return home a changed person. Also something practical, if you set up a separate savings account for the big trip, you are going to be less likely to touch it, and as that money grows, your dreams will become more real, and then the day will come when you have booked your tickets and are ready to pack!

Damn, the BnA'ers are nothing if not romantic!

Wow, just wanted to say I'm impressed with the dedication so many of you have shown! I'm horrible with saving and I'm so impatient!! I've always been a "wing it" sort of person and usually plan my trips a few months before I go. Of course, I've always had to work while travelling, but still think I've had great experiences. Very impressed

I had a mid-life crisis at 31. I just realised that my life was slipping away from me because I was too scared to do what I truly wanted. Westerners are very lucky they can afford to have this type of crisis and the opportunity to travel.

After travelling in Sth America in my teens/early 20s, I vowed to go rtw in short measure. Then I went to Uni for four years and was broke but I became an English teacher so I told myself the dream was still alive and that I would soon go overseas to teach.

Then, I got a job I sorta liked, got a promotion, a car, expensive rent, two credit cards, a computer. I was barely getting by.

Suddenly I realised that I was over 30 and still hadn't done it. My 6 week trip to Europe last Christmas convinced me. I realised that I wasn't enjoying doing unpaid overtime and the stress that comes from a lot of responsibility.

I didn't want to be transferring my pay each week into other people's bank accounts. I felt that all the corporations owned me. A health scare got me even more serious.

After a few sessions with a psychologist, I lost 30 kg, just got out of debt last week (feels so good!), downgraded my lifestyle (making lunch every day, not buying possessions).

I am moving into my grandmother's next month (no rent, near the beach) and I quit my job after 6 years (hard but the right decision).

My new job will have a similar wage but no commute (was costing me $120/week) and with no rent or debts, I'm just going to SaveSaveSave and leave from Sydney on my RTW August 31, 2008. First stop - Easter Island.