You Can Travel Anywhere In The World You Want

Here at Learning To Travel, we do not focus on budget travel or luxury travel, we focus on helping people travel anywhere they want to or what most people call “dream vacations”. A dream vacation is unique to the person doing the dreaming of course – and that is our point.

We want to help you take the vacation you want to take, no matter where that may be and in whatever style you’d like to travel in. A vacation should be special and a unique experience in your life so don’t automatically downgrade it by focusing on budget or cheap travel.

Travel is worth spending money on.

I know you might be thinking, “But I don’t have the money!” Believe me, I get it. We are not rich either. What we have learned is that it all comes down to focus and proper planning – which is exactly what this site is here to help you with!

Think about your ideal dream vacation. Where would you go if you could travel anywhere? What would you do? If you were given a blank check to spend only on travel what would your vacation look like?

I bring this up because I want you to dream and dream big when it comes to travel. Don’t hold back. Many people limit themselves in their travel dreams because they believe certain destinations or experiences are too expensive.

“I want to go to [insert country here] but it is just too expensive.”

Have you ever found yourself saying that? Well now is the time to stop. It is a mindset that does not help you. You really can travel anywhere in the world you want when you make the decision and then focus on making it happen.

Joyce and I wasted a lot of years thinking that travel, in general, was too expensive and something we’d do once we got rich or maybe when we retired. Thankfully something changed and we started to realize that we could travel if we were smart and made it a priority in our lives.

That is really what any goal you have for yourself comes down to – making it a priority.

We would rather take a trip than pay for cable television or go to the movies when they first come out and are at a premium? We go out to restaurants less at home so that we can travel and enjoy exotic food in foreign countries. Those are just a few small examples but hopefully, you get the idea.  

Dream – Plan – Go

Once you’ve decided on your ideal vacation the next step is to learn how to make it happen. A great place to start is learning how to reduce your airfare to almost nothing through the use of airline miles and reward programs, commonly called “travel hacking.”

It makes sense to try and get airfare as cheap as possible because it is one of the biggest expenses of a vacation budget and it is just something you need to do to get there.

Check out The Points Guy for some of the best info on credit card reward programs.

The next thing to look at is accommodations. These days a hotel is not necessarily your best bet when you travel. Hostels have greatly improved, Airbnb is a great option, or if you really want a true immersive travel experience Couchsurfing is a way to find 100% free places to stay.

Check out my guide to finding the best places to stay for your trip.

But don’t go for a cheap place to stay just to be cheap because a hotel is a big part of the travel experience. Just take a moment to think about how much time you plan to spend at the hotel to decide how nice it needs to be. We’ve found that a lot of times we just need safe and comfortable because we’ll leave the room almost as soon as we get up and not return until just before bed. No need to pay for luxuries we won’t use.

Now the fun part – deciding what you want to do on your vacation.

When we were planning our time in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, we saw that we could take a helicopter flight over the falls as well as an elephant safari. Two things that looked excited but were not cheap.

We decided that since there was a good chance we’d never be in Victoria Falls again that we had to take the opportunity even though it was expensive. We took the helicopter ride and did the elephant safari and have zero regrets. Now we have these amazing memories of flying over “the smoke that thunders” and don’t even give the money spent a second thought.

So as you are planning your vacation decide on your “must do’s” and put them in your budget first then plan other parts of your trip around them. In the case of Victoria Falls, we stayed in a hostel and ate mostly at the local grocery store so that we could splurge on the activities we did while we were there.  

Do not focus on budget travel because I believe that can foster the wrong mindset. There is a balance to be found. Areas to save money and times to splurge. Travel is worth it. A vacation is a time to make memories that will last you your lifetime.

I grew up thinking travel was too expensive so I dismissed any thoughts of it without even looking into how much it actually costs. I assumed it was something Joyce and I would do when we retired. But I’ve since learned the power of deciding on where we want to go and what we want to do and then getting to work to make it happen.

That is what taught me that people can travel anywhere in the world they want to.

Dream and dream big, then get to work making it happen!  

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Photo credits:
Main title image: Photo by Brett Zeck on Unsplash
Victoria Falls Helicopter Tour Photos by Daryle Dickens

Why Travel Is Important

Why is travel such a common desire among people? Why do we want to go through the trouble and the expense to visit a foreign land? A place where we most likely don’t know the language or how basic things such as transportation work. It would be so much easier and cheaper to stay close to home.

Travel makes us happy. It is that simple. And that is the start of why travel is important. 

All through history humans have had a strong desire to travel, to explore, to see what is behind the horizon. There was a time (not too long ago) it was more of a mystery. People wanted to travel so that they could learn more about this planet and the other people that live on it.

Keep in mind that travel was much more expensive and very dangerous just 100+ years ago or so. But people still did it.

I believe these days that exploration and adventure are still at the heart of travel. Sure we can read about life in Paris or watch a documentary on Nepal but that just serves to fuel our curiosity to experience these places for ourselves.

Because experiences make us happier than most things, especially material things.

Before I go too far I should mention I feel there are two types of travel. Curiosity travel and leisure travel. Some just want to go to a beach somewhere and lay in the sand being served drinks all day. Just as there are some who want to hitchhike from Cape Town to Cairo thriving on the adventures such a journey will bring.

For my money, the best trip is a mix of both leisure and curiosity. When I am in a new country or a new city I want to experience as much of that place as possible. But I also want to set aside time to just relax and enjoy being away from the routines and normality of life back home.

That said – this blog has a heavy focus on curiosity, adventure, and exploration travel.

Joyce and I like to travel with a curious and open mind because that makes for a deeper experience. And that makes us happy.

The pursuit of happiness is a big part of life. So much so that it shows up in historical documents such as the United States Declaration of Independence. Day to day we are all doing what we can to be “happy.”

From an early age many of us are taught, directly and indirectly, that stuff – material things – are what we need to make us happy. With children we can see how that type of happiness is very short lived.

Ever see the excitement of a child the moment they get that new toy? For most things that excitement fades very fast and almost all toys quickly get put on a shelf because of the next new thing.

We continue this cycle throughout our lives. The toys just get bigger and more expensive. But are we happy?

“Everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy.”  ~Louis CK

Psychologists have studied why experiences make us happier and it comes down to adaptation. Shortly after buying something it quickly becomes part of your new normal no matter how cool or expensive the thing is.

Personally, I experience this with camera gear. I can spend months wanting a new lens or gadget and get very excited the day I make the purchase but in no time it is just another of many things sitting in my camera cabinet.

Some might argue that it does not make sense that a two-week vacation could possibly make someone happier than a tv or car. After two weeks the vacation is over but a car or tv can last for years.

The difference is the vacation is an experience that becomes part of your identity. A car or tv are external items that do not become a part of you.

A vacation creates a well of happiness that you can draw from for the rest of your life.

Think about all the stories you create and how fun it is to share those stories. Or simply how nice it is to reflect back in the exotic experiences that make up travel.

Even bad experiences can make us happy as time goes by. We’ve all experienced bad times that we know “will make a good story one day.”

That reminds me of a guy we met in South Africa while taking a road trip from the Eastern Cape to the Western Cape. We were at the bar of our backpacker (hostel) sharing a few rounds with this Spaniard who shared a story about his motorcycle breaking down on the side of the road. As he pulled over and looked down at the broken drive chain on his bike he told us his just smiled and had to laugh. When we asked why he said because when something bad happens you know it is going to be a good day because of the great story it will make.

Travel and vacations are full of experiences. Experiences make us happy. Travel makes us happy.

This is why we travel. This is why travel is important. 

And this is why we want to help you travel. Travel is a common desire among people yet so few actually take the vacations they dream of. It is estimated that only 29% of Americans have a passport. Joyce and I have experienced hand how getting out and exploring a bit of the world has enriched our lives and given us a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. And of course, we’ve had a lot of fun!

We’ve learned a lot and we continue to learn so we want to share our discoveries to help more people gain the know-how and the confidence to travel anywhere in the world they desire. We want to help you not matter if it is the best two-week vacation or the best two-year sabbatical you seek. 

With that in mind, we are working on a system that teaches the A – Z steps of planning travels or a vacation. A trip planning blueprint that will help anyone experience the travels they dream of. Life is short and travel is important so we want to help you make it happen. Joyce and I hope you will join our community of travelers here at Learning To Travel. The best way to do that is by sharing your email so we can send you great travel know-how directly to your inbox. 

Sign up now and receive our free ebook on how to get over some of the fears that are common with travel. We look forward to connecting with you!

All photos by: Yu Kato 

Turn Your Dreams Into Decisions

Since we announced the plans for our trip the reactions and comments from people have been interesting. The most common comment I’ve gotten is “I am so jealous, I’ve always dreamed of doing that.” or some version of that sentiment.

This is often followed up by questions that relate to the mechanics, how-to, and logistics of doing such long term travel. There are a lot of steps and a lot of things that we had to do to make it happen. Such things as clever use of airline credit cards, selling items around the house on eBay, and creating online passive income streams, just to name a few.

But the most important thing we did was change our dream of long term travel into a decision to travel long term.

It was early in 2012 either during our two week trip to Mexico or shortly after that we decided that 2013 would be the year of travel and we set the deadline of April 1^st to make it happen. That is when the true planning began because we had a very specific target to aim for.

No longer did we say things like “I wish I could travel more.” or “I really want to go to London someday.” Because we had decided to do it and thus knew it was going to happen.

After committing to the plan of traveling every little decision was done through the lens of the trip.

For example over the course of the year both Joyce and I became tea drinkers. Without the lens of the trip I probably would have bought an electronic kettle and a tea pot in order to “properly” make tea. But through the lens of the trip I decided that we could make do with the stove top kettle we already owned and no tea pot because the money spent on those would be better saved for one day having proper tea in England.

Every little day to day choice brought us either closer to the trip or farther from the trip. The same is true for all things we want out of our lives. Each day we move a little bit closer or a little bit farther from them.

For me it has been a very powerful lesson.

Because once it became a decision the wiring in my brain upgraded to truly work towards completing what I decided on.

I feel it also helps to share that decision with those who you know will support you. In our case we had to wait several months before we could openly share the news but once we did the support came streaming in. I am very thankful for that because a trip like this could not happen without the support of others. In fact that will be a reoccurring theme I will be writing about here as we find ourselves on stranger’s couches around the planet.

So take some time to examine the dreams you have for your life and think about which ones you can make into decisions.

I know you have some that you can decide on now and begin working towards them. Life is simply too short and too fragile not to.

Begin today turning dreams into decisions.