People often come up with excuses when it comes to why they don’t travel. It could be money, time or not knowing where to go. It’s hard to take off work right now because you’ve expired all of your vacation time for the year. You’re not sure how to start saving for later when monthly bills are coming in now. With proper planning and preparation, traveling is in your near future.
Here are five ways to ensure you travel more next year.
Create a vision board.
I know it sounds corny, but its true, vision boards do work. Cassie Owens created a travel goals vision board to help grieve with the loss of her loved one. It was a self-healing project for her, and let’s admit it, we all need a little of that from time to time.
Start a money jar/account.
Sometimes it can be hard to save money while using your debit card every single day. But there is something about saving physical cash that makes all the difference. For every $5 dollar bill you get, place it in the jar. After a year, you’ll have no excuse to take a vacation and celebrate yourself. If that doesn’t work, take out a portion of your paycheck and put it into another account.
Keep up with the latest travel news.
That means subscribing to Travel Noire, but I assume you did that already. Allow us to be your travel guide by providing you with daily flight deals or the hottest new travel destinations. Apps like Hopper also help to keep you up to date on the best times to book the cheapest flights. I booked a flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles for only $145 for a week. I love this app. Sign up to receive travel deals and discounts on hotels and flights sites like Expedia, Kayak and more.
Be open.
Being open to new experiences in other places with new people. Three years ago, I decided to start traveling to other cities and states I have never been to, being open to seeing what it looked like in other parts of the world. Being open to having those same fun experiences I have in my hometown somewhere else and sometimes better. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Negotiate your vacation days.
For some, a new year means new contracts. It may be time to negotiate your contract or your benefits package at work to include more vacation days or more opportunities to travel for work. Look over your vacation policy, and see if there is any wiggle room. If this is a new job, there’s an effective way to negotiatemore vacation days without sounding unappreciative of what was already offered.