Travel Tips: How to Travel More

First of all, don't forget to enter the giveaway!  
It will run until the 29th and a winner will be chosen!

And now to end the week, here's a few tips on how to add more travel into your lives...

Nick and I do a lot of traveling each year and we've been increasing it year after year too so I get asked a lot how we afford to take these amazing trips, both financially and with our vacation days.
It is possible and here's how we do it.

1.  Use holidays for trips.

Some people don't like to do this but we use any holidays off for travel.  It saves us vacation days, even if it's just 1 day here and there, it adds up not having to use a PTO day for it.  We always use Memorial Day and have started using Thanksgiving, which gives us 2 days at once.  We tried out traveling at Christmas and decided we'd rather be home, but we didn't mind missing Thanksgiving.  Just find what works for you.
Another great thing is to take advantage of red eye flights so you don't waste the day traveling.

2.  Have an account just for travel funds.

My "second job" which is my own design firm on the side is most of what funds our travels.  All the money that comes in from that goes directly into our Travel Account and isn't used for anything else.  This is nice to have a lump sum of cash set aside to pay for all the expenses.  I put all bookings on my credit card to get points and then pay it off right away.

3.  Use only cash for the trip itself.

When we get somewhere, we use cash almost exclusively for food, museums, etc.  This means that when we get home, the trip is completely paid off and didn't go on credit cards.

4.  Travel in non-peak seasons.

We tend to do most of our large trips either in the early Spring (February-March) or Fall (October-November).  These times of year you'll get better rates on airfare and hotels and even food.  Personally, I like it too because there aren't the crowds of tourists that you'll find during the Summer/peak season.

5.  Splurge where you want and skimp elsewhere.

I'm not one to skimp while traveling.  I like to stay at cool hotels, eat good food and fully experience the place I'm in.  But there are still ways to cut corners while traveling like eating breakfast at your hotel if they offer it with your room, forgoing attractions that cost a lot and experience the monuments that are easier to afford.  You have to prioritize.

Traveling is definitely not cheap but I always look at it sort of like college, it's an investment.  The money we spend on trips is the best money I spend because it's something that creates memories, something that expands our horizons and something that betters us as people, not to mention how much we enjoy it.

Bon voyage!