7 Continents, 12 Countries In One Year – Yes, It Is Possible
If We Get A Penny For Every Time Someone Asks Us How You Get To Travel So Much With A Full-Time Job, We Would Be Millionaire. 7 Continents, 12 Countries In One Year, Sounds Impossible? But It Isn’t. If We Can, You Can As Well.
So How Do We Do This?
Traveling around the Globe has always been our priority. Everything from our lifestyle and career choices to sorting our finances has all been driven by our desire to travel. Not all Job types are the same and what works for some may not work for others. So here are some tips which have worked out for me and my partner over years and hopefully will work for you.
1) Make Travelling Your Priority
If you really love Travelling, it will naturally become your Priority. And once Travel is your priority, your every decision in life will revolve around Travelling. Be it working extra hours to get compensatory off or cutting off unnecessary expenses to save money to travel.
2) Weekend Escape
Sometimes all it takes is 48 to 60 hours to explore a new place. Take flight after your work on Thursday (we live in Dubai and our weekend is Friday & Saturday) and back on Sunday morning and head straight to the office. Choose a place within 3 to 4 hours of flying time and whoa, you come back refreshed without using any of your annual leave.
3) Explore Your Own Backyard
You would be utterly amazed at what you can find close to your own hometown. Camping overnight, picnic by the beach, go zip lining, wakeboarding, or sometimes just pamper yourself with a stay-cation.
4) Add on to Your Work Trip
Fortunately, my job helps me to travel. Every time I have a business trip, I add extra 2 nights (mostly weekends) and I am able to explore the nearby places. This not only helps me in not taking any official days off but also helps me in avoiding the biggest expense of any trip – flight tickets.
5) Take All Your Annual Leave
It sounds pretty straight forward but then I have so many friends who do not use all their holidays. Making the decision to spend (I call it INVEST) the money, asking your boss for leave approval, and stepping away from other responsibilities can get difficult at times. But you can’t go if you don’t do it.
6) Plan in Advance
When you have limited vacation days in a year, you need to make sure you make the most out of your every single holiday. Look at your calendar and plan your trips in advance – you’ll be able to ask for days off from work before anyone else in your Team. I hope my coworkers are not reading this! This will help you get approval from your boss and it is also easier to apply for longer days off if applied much in advance.
Clearly, planning in advance will also help you buy cheaper airfare and tours.
Read our full guide on how to travel to Antarctica
Also, you can follow our tips on how to travel to Antarctica for cheap
7) Travel to Offbeat Places during Peak Holidays
During Peak Holidays – Christmas, New Year, Eid, or Diwali – it will be hard to find cheap tickets even when you try booking 6 months in advance. Also even if you manage to buy expensive tickets, the place itself will be overpriced and over-crowded. In such times we try avoid going to touristic places like Paris, London, New York and instead travel to offbeat places.
We traveled to Ethiopia during New Year 2017 and paid a regular price for Airfare and the tour.
8) Club Public Holidays to Travel to Nearby Places
We always, I repeat… WE ALWAYS club Public holidays with Weekend to make a 4 to 5 days Escape or 9 Days Escape. Never waste a long weekend by not traveling!
This helps us in saving our annual days off for a long vacation.
9) Travel Alone
There are times when your holidays are not aligned with your partner or friends. Don’t be afraid to Travel Alone.
I took a solo trip to Mount Elbrus when my partner couldn’t take time off from work.
As I finish writing this article, I recall Mark Twain famous quote,
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
