Let's Go Anywhere!
The question is never IF we are going to go, but rather, WHEN.
Travel isn’t just a means of “getting away” from work life and enjoying time with friends and family. There are many benefits for all aspects of your health when you go on a vacation.
It’s no secret that I LOVE travel. Whether it’s a “staycation” – visiting someplace close by that I’ve never seen before – or going on a road trip or my personal favorite, getting on an airplane to go someplace, I love it all!
One of my passions in life is to encourage people to travel. Go solo if you have to – but if there’s someplace, or some event/concert you want to attend, JUST GO.
Travel gives us a chance to get out of our routine, to take a break from the day-to-day tasks and may even give us a wonderful story to tell! It helps us understand how others live, it introduces us to new people and new experiences.
Regardless of whether you take a day trip, a weekend trip or longer, there’s ALOT of ways to plan a trip. Personally, I keep a “Bucket List” of trips in my phone AND I make an intentional plan to travel somewhere at least once a month. Now, yes, part of that is because I’m a travel-blogger but also, because that’s how I choose to design my life. I totally understand that everyone reading this cannot go somewhere once a month, or can you? Is it possible?
For me, travel is therapy so it’s a non-negotiable in my life. I need the time, whether it’s a day or longer, to give my brain something different to focus on. The planning, going and sharing about my trip is also therapeutic for me.
I’d challenge you that if you really want to be a type of person who travels frequently, figure out a way to make that happen instead of just automatically deciding that you cannot.
According to this article from Harvard Business Review, the main benefits of vacation are :
Cognitive Improvement (mind) – a greater opportunity for rest and uncluttering your mind.
Body – vacation gives an opportunity to relax and activities that involve being in nature are very beneficial for your physical health.
Soul – vacation gives us the opportunity to “unplug” – in a best-case scenario, you’d unplug from social media, email, work-related phone calls and meetings. This time away from distraction help us return to our authentic selves and maybe even give us time to work through major life decisions.
Have you planned a summer vacation yet? The good news is that it’s not too late – I just planned our August vacation last week! The good news is that all you need is time and money to plan a vacation. Ok, don’t freak out – it really is just that simple.
Let’s plan a trip!
TIME – take a look at your calendar for the next three months. Where in your calendar can you plan one day, a few days, or a week for vacation? That’s the first step – block out those dates.
If there are no dates in the next three months, look further ahead – the point here is that you are making time for vacation.
Got your dates set? ok – let’s figure out the next step.
MONEY – Think about your budget. Generally speaking, you don’t have to pay for a hotel, food and activities until you are actually on vacation. If you choose a road trip, you don’t need gas money until you leave. If you want to book a flight, you will need that money right away so think through your finances and make some decisions.
First, where do you want to go? What would be your DREAM vacation? Write that down. Maybe make a list of 3-5 places so you have some options.
If your answer requires a flight, go to google.com/flights and do a quick search for your dates. You might be surprised at the airline fares! You can also use google/flights to find cheap fares to “someplace” and plan that way.
If your answer is a road trip, then figure out your gas budget.
Once you figure out where you are going and how you are going to get there, the rest of the planning is pretty simple too –
Where will you stay? Hotel, AirBnB, VRBO, etc?
What activities will you do at your destination?
How much do those activities cost?
Start putting together a loose itinerary – DON’T FORGET TO ADD REST AND RELAX INTO THE ITINERARY! My ideal vacation includes not having to set an alarm to wake up in the morning, so I plan accordingly.
Now that you have an itinerary, it’s time to work on the budget –
Look at your travel dates again, how many paychecks will you get begore your vacation?
Now, figure out how much money you need for your vacation – I like to err on the side of a higher budget. I’d rather have money and not need it then need it and not have it.
Do you know how to budget for vacation?
Considering your entire vacation, you should have a number for how much it will cost. Let’s say it’s $1,000.
And let’s say you will go at the end of August, and you have 3 paychecks between now and then (assuming you get paid on the first of each month – June, July, August)
$1,000/3 = $333.33, so you’ll need $333 from each paycheck to pay for vacation. Can you do that? Maybe, maybe not. That’s up to you and your budget. Can you earn extra money? Maybe. This is just an example – a way to show that financially, vacation is possible.
Maybe your dream vacation isn’t financially feasible THIS summer, but could you go next summer?
I want you to understand that vacation is important,
its possible. Vacations are possible if you plan the time and the money to make them happen, but you have to be committed to it. You have to believe you deserve time away.
Need some ideas for vacation? Here are my favorite spots!
I also have more travel tips in this post!
1. New York City
My Top Ten Things to do in NYC
NYC Travel Tips (including in a post about Raleigh, NC)
2. The Mountains of North Carolina, specifically Beech Mountain.
(I don’t have a blog post about this yet, but it’s a wonderful spot to go to if you live in a hot/humid summer climate!)
3. Maine, specifically Eastport with a trip to Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. This was our Summer 2024 trip.
4. The Beach – I’m more of a mountains person than a beach person, but the beach is more accessible, so I’ve learned to love walks on the beach! If you love the ocean, find a beach near you and GO! I’d recommend Oak Island NC or surrounding beaches.
5. Other Cities I’ve visited and would like to go back:
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Boston and Atlanta.
Where are you going? I’d love to hear all about your vacation!
Maybe I’ll even your vacation spot to my “places to go” list!
Happy Travels!
Here are some more of my favorite inspirational images!
