RTW Travel - No way!

Glad to see I'm not the only one with budgeting problems/concerns.

I do love to search out bargains so it keeps me going pretty well, it becomes an art.

I think that if you truely want to travel, such as travel 'round the world, you have to find ways to make it happen, such as arranging things in your life (i.e. job, atp., pets, etc.) to support your choice. It's going to take some planning on the money part, and saving (unless your wealthy) but the rewards are definitely worth it. How many people can say they've seen the whole
WORLD?! hmm...

I have got this habit of doing the polls, and then checking to see where I stand in the ranking.

I've travelled a lot already, money is a big issue though most of the time. I/the family do make sacrifices to get there. I have a family of young adults at home all saving for their own travels, youngest just started uni., etc. I've had my turn, and will again.

I'm aways thinking about "the next trip", it's a condition I have, a continual urge to go "walkabout". I think you get this condition from the soil here in Oz.

The only worry I would have is how long my money would last and what kind of lousy job I'll have to end up in once that happens. Other than that a RTW trip is one of the most liberating things a person can do in their life.

Glad to see this wee poll has generated some discussion!

I've not done an RTW yet, and I don't have plans to (well, not right now anyway), but from what I've read on our site and the back-and-forth I've had with members and writers, there isn't anyone I've talked to who's regretted having taken such a large trip.

They had some knocks and hard times (like Nick, knowing me I'd probably be kinda worried about money, or winding up in a really crap job), but all told they met so many people, saw and did so many things, and just learned so much about the world, people and themselves, that it's definitely worth whatever it takes to do.

That's kinda what it comes down to, isn't it? What do you want? What will it take to do it? What challenges, in the world and in yourself, will you have to overcome? And, ultimately, is what you want to do important enough for you to do whatever it takes?

Hard questions - but then, they don't just apply to travel, do they? Seems they apply to pretty much everything in life..

Ant:

I relied to your note in the Corporate Wasteland/Retirement forum. Thanks again for your comments. I didn't really answer one of your questions or maybe I did with the way I taught my children. I got caught up with the society that came up in the Depression, WWII, etc. where the parents taught the kids to conform. I think most of us in the forties thought like that. It was only through experiences that I had later that I learned that one should be him or herself and follow your own star and not someone else's. By the time I realized all that, I had responsibilities that I couldn't let go off. Maybe that's a flimsy excuse, but that was the way it was. So now those responsibilities have gone on and I am back to working toward the way it should be. It is never too late.

I would be worried a little about running out of money on a continuing trip around the world. I enjoy, and will probably do this more, work a little, take off to a place for a time, come back and work a little and then take off again to a different place.

I have to tell you that, right now, my favorite place is Key West.

Jim,

Actually, I just replied to you in the Corporate Wasteland section too, but thanks so much for elaborating even more.

I do hear what you're saying though, but I don't think I'd call it a flimsy excuse. You were following a path that you'd been guided to, from people you figured were probably right. And in some ways, perhaps they were, or at least for their particular time - but then again, like you said too, maybe that path wasn't it for you at all. I think you've got it bang-on, though, when you say that it's never too late to change or to get your life back. It's not. And from the sound of it, it certainly doesn't sound like you could consider what you've done a waste; you've raised a family, taught them and guided them to seek what they feel is right, and now, as you've gotten older, more and more you try to follow your heart.

In previous years, did you wind up with things that you couldn't get away from? I suppose so - but you did what you could with what you had. What else can be asked, you know? I just think it's great that you realize, too, that there are many things you want/wish to do - but unlike a lot of people, you're doing them. Just goes to show: some dreams are never too late for making true