Work and Travel - Vacation Time

If traveling were free, we would all be doing it, wouldn't we?
Just goes to show how much planning and money go into just one short trip. While being spontaneous can be a major upside when traveling, being analytical and OCD about budget and welfare can take you back a couple steps.

Through my real work-life journey, I've realized one thing: Travel for me, takes time and money I don't have until I do.
I work a regular 8 to 5 shift at my office job, where I spend my time waiting for the next chance to plan a big trip or a couple small ones for the year based on my vacation time I'm accrued.

This is not the ultimate means for how I want it to be. Honestly, I wish I could just drop everything and head to Morocco or New Zealand to take some time away, but sadly, my world and the worlds of so many others, doesn't work like that.

I don't make a living based on the writing I do, nor do I have an opportunity to get a job that is remote or location independent any time soon. Therefore, I have to work, 8-5, to get that money and accrue that time.

                                 

It does give you something to look forward to planning every year, but hell, that's not how I want my life to be.
I want to be traipsing around the world, with a nice backpack full of my stuff and ready to go to the next destination on my well thought out map.
Travel, being it a passion of mine, has to take a back seat to the real life struggle of being in my 20's and not having any money. Being in debt for the community college AA degree I got 4 years ago and having to pay bills just adds on to the stress of life.

                                  

None of this means I never stop planning. I constantly have a list of possible itineraries on the back burner. Lists of Airbnb rentals to look at and faun over, looking at flights to get budget ideas, and constant additions to my bucket list that I hope I will get to fulfill someday.

Each step I take in the mundane life I have at the moment, is set to bring me closer to the dreams I have before me, the ones I'm constantly aware of in the back of my mind, pulling me towards them with their ever present vision.

                                  

Adventure is something I strive to be apart of in whatever way I can. So short day trips here and there will suffice for now and not break the bank for the bigger trip around the world I'm gearing up for in my life.
It'll happen. I'm not entirely worried. I would just rather it be sooner than later is all!

                                             

Cheers and safe travels everyone! Hope to see you out there one day :)

Travel Envy

It stems from the bottom of your soul, the feeling of wanting but not having, the gut wrenching turn when you see that next picture posted on Instagram...

Travel envy. It's rampant upon wanderlusters like you and me who, while we travel when we can (and love it!), we don't have the means to do it all the time.

It's not that we don't get a good stint when we're out and about on our own getaways, but when we're home, we're even wondering when and where we will go next.
Then cue the people who are continuously traveling, the dream of many, to their hearts desire. Posting picture after picture, maybe even a video, of the ultimate bucket list items you wish you could check off.

The green monster rears it's ugly head again and you can't help but bask in the raincloud you have hovering over your head. It makes you sad to not be able to be out there, in the work with so much to offer. Being stuck at a 9 to 5 that makes it possible only once a year to go where you want.

Jealously is an odd thing that when it's alive, it moves you, it pushes you further than you ever thought, it makes you think twice about what you're going to buy at the grocery store this week just so you can save some money for the next plane ticket..
It comes and goes. It's fleeting. We all have it, if we've ever desired something we can't have, only to have it dangled in front of us by someone else. Yes, that could mean so many things, but you know what I'm talking about here.

I love traveling. Sadly, my savings and checking account do not. It constantly pushes me to the boundaries of comfortable security, even if I know I am very lacking in that area of my life.
But, it's always worth it when that day comes where you get to hop on a plane to that next destination, even just for a short trip, nothing else feels better than to get away.

I am always envious of the people who seem to have it easy with the hand they've been dealt, but for what it's worth, the life I have is good too. Figuring out where I'll go next is half the fun, even though the ever impending stress and money make it hard.

Pictures, stories, and updates from the travelers going on in their worldly adventures are inspiring. While I am still very envious, it motivates me to plan and get going and I heartily appreciate that.
While my next major trip won't be for a little less than a year, I can only dream about the future, the inevitable.

Travel envy, travel motivation. They go hand in hand and I have both.
Do you?

Cheers and safe travels!