In the back of your mind you’re thinking you’d love to drop out of everything and take off to travel with your family for an extended period of time. C’mon – admit it. Maybe you aren’t interested in doing it on bicycles, but in a boat? Or on horseback? Or RV? Or maybe using public transport of every conceivable variety? You’d love to tell your boss you’re taking off – and then do it.
But then you come back to reality. You’ve got a house you need to pay for. Car payments to make… Pay off those credit cards… Buy new furniture for your living room… And you need to save for retirement. Maybe that trip of a lifetime will never happen after all.
I would venture to guess that most people can take that trip of their dreams if they simply put their mind to it. It’s all a matter of priority.
Now before you jump all over my back, I want to point out that little word “most” in the previous sentence. I do understand there are people out there who simply can’t take off for one reason or another, but for those with even a small amount of disposable income, it’s doable. It all comes down to priorities.
So how do you do it? How do you manage to save the money for a trip like this? Easy – you make it a priority. I’m not talking about giving the journey lip service – I’m saying you have to decide it really, honestly, truly is your priority. If it’s not, there will always be a million other things to spend your money on.
Trim the Fat
I know, I know – you’ve heard this before: eliminate all expenses that aren’t necessary. Maybe you could stop buying that $5 coffee from Starbucks every morning, or carry your lunch rather than going out with the boys. You’ve read all that before.
But I think it comes down to something a bit different. I’m not necessarily saying to cut all that out, but to simply make conscious decisions. Remember – it’s all about priorities and making conscious decisions.
Is that $5 coffee more important than your trip? Then, by all means, buy it. Lunch with the boys higher on the priority list than the journey? Then go for it.
Just remember to make conscious decisions. Come back again and again to what is truly important in your life and make decisions based on that.
One of the people I respect the most is my sister-in-law, Jane. Years ago, Jane and her husband met us in Nepal while we were traveling and we spent a couple of delightful weeks together. Years later, we visited her in Colorado where we admired her newly refinished hardwood floors and reminisced about traveling.
“I enjoyed my time in Nepal,” Jane told me. “But I doubt I’ll travel like that again. I just don’t have the money.”
But then she took it a step farther.
“No,” she added. “That’s not true. I do have the money – but I prefer to spend it on a new floor. At this point in my life, I think I would get more enjoyment out of a new floor or a new couch than I would out of a trip to Nepal.”
I have a tremendous respect for Jane and her honesty. Most of us don’t actually make conscious decisions about our money. We see a need (a scratched floor or worn out couch) and spend our money to fix it. But we don’t tend to actually think about what will bring us more enjoyment in the long run. Jane is one of the rare people who actually did.
Read the rest of this article here. Wondering about actual dollar figures about how much a long trip costs?
Wondering about making the decision to take off and travel with your children? Why We Travel
Comments