Why Are You Not Using Your Passport?
Where have you thought you wouldn’t be able to go in your wildest dreams?
Is it the beaches of Fiji or the blue lagoon of Iceland?
It’s important to travel because we get to see how other people live their lives and you learn that there isn’t one way to live a good life. To me this is amazing, engaging in a cultural exchange is unmatched.
Travelling is such an intrinsic aspect of Adulting, and it’s time for us to be more purposeful about it. I know travelling can be domineering to plan because no one really knows where to start, and for the majority of us we’re considering how do we even afford to travel? In this post I’ll cover all of your concerns.
Benefits of Travelling
You literally get to see the world! I use to be one of those people that could care less about seeing the world. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to travel, but mostly because people’s version of travelling. It tended to be ONLY Europe and North America, and to me that just didn’t cut it. If I am going to become a travel enthusiast its a passion and excitement for the whole globe Africa, South Asia and Latin America alike.
Now I have a renewed view of travelling in Europe, I’d love to see some sites but if your bucket list only consists of European countries — stop, grow up and check your internalized Eurocentrism.
Privilege
To begin, travelling is privilege in this world of ours. This is true when you’re doing it continuously or at a frequent rate. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It just means compared to the average human (living 5USD/day) you have a great opportunity to grow, and learn so take advantage of it. Take that privilege and apply for a passport if you do not already have one, that’s first step.
Planning for Travel
I briefly mentioned that I use to not want to travel before, and that was mostly due to my fear of flying which I got over. How? My Masters had an exchange opportunity to Shanghai. I felt a compulsion to escape and engage in wanderlust, so I did! I lived in Shanghai for two months. Now let’s look into how would you plan to travel?
I’d advise to firstly look at a map, where are some places you would like to go. Do not think about how far it is, how expensive it might be or whether there’s a visa process just write a whole list down of those places! The drive and passion to travel tends to drive the planning, it’s rarely the other way around. I personally, never had a working travel list until this year.
Cost of Travelling
It is all about working within a budget so first understand what you’re comfortable with. I repeat do not expand your budget unless you are comfortable with repaying those expenses. I will provide an in-depth post on how to manage costs for travelling at a later date. I had a great friend who told me they racked up $20,000 of debt all from travelling. Yes I did not stutter. I love travelling as much as the next person, but it not worth going into debt for something that should be enjoyable. I’ll keep it simple when looking at costs:
1. Pick a budget and stay within it.
2. Plan for the large expenses during your trip, things gets booked up and its fun looking forward to things you’ve already paid for.
3. Look at currency exchange ratio to make sure you’re not being scammed while you make purchases while travelling.
4. Look into the cost of living where you’re travelling to, so what you’re paying for is relative to the country — I visibly look foreign in most places, travel smart.
5. Get a good travel credit card or a plan that won’t charge you ridiculously.
Who to go with
I have gone on trips with 10+ people, I have travelled with people I have never had an hour long conversation with, and I’ve travelled with good friends. All I can say is everyone is different when they travel. They will not have the same personality when they are stressed, in a different environment, being challenged and experiencing new things. If you can travel with someone the most important things to ensure is that they are reliable, positive and open to new experiences.
I hope this helps anyone curious about future travellers. If you have any questions feel free to ask and reach out. I’m always looking for a travel buddy!
