Why Traveling Should Be Part of Your Plans Now.
If you have a dream to travel, do all you can to make it happen before it's too late!
As we’ve traveled all around the country and even parts of Europe over the last six years, one of the things we’ve heard people say most is that they’d love to do what we’re doing. Some say they only dream of it, some say they plan to travel “one day,” and some say they’ll travel when they retire.
I think it’s amazing to have dreams about the life we want to live but in order to make those dreams a reality, you have to do more than dream. It will never come true if you aren’t taking steps to make it happen. And I’m not saying that all those people aren’t doing things to make it happen - just make sure you are if this is your dream. 😉
This will look different for everyone, depending on the standard of living you want to enjoy while you travel, how you want to travel, whether you can work remotely, and whether you have children… all of those things affect the decisions you make.
But one thing I would encourage you to do - don’t wait if you don’t have to. Don’t put it off if you can make it happen now.
I know that’s not possible for everyone. But if you can shuffle things around in your life and make it work - do it! I can’t recommend this lifestyle enough. It truly is amazing.
We only get one life to live and it goes by in the blink of an eye. We might think we’ll do a whole list of things when we retire, but what if we don’t make it there? We spoke to a lady a couple weeks ago who shared with us that she and her husband had big plans to travel all over once they retired….but they didn’t get that chance because he passed away suddenly before he retired. And we’ve heard that story many times over the years.
That’s not shared to make you live in fear of death coming too soon but just to make sure you know that we aren’t guaranteed a life beyond retirement. And honestly, based on the way I feel at the age of 54, I can’t imagine how difficult some things might get by the time I get to the standard retirement age of 67. 🤣 Our bodies aren’t as capable of doing things as we get older. (As a general rule, that is - some people defy the norm and do amazing things!)
We dreamed of living this lifestyle for over 10 years before we could make it a reality. We had to sacrifice a lot to make the dream come true and we gave up many things that most people probably think they couldn’t live without. But once we did it, we felt so free and we have loved this life!
It’s not always easy and there are plenty of challenges that get thrown our way - plenty, let me tell ya. But overall it’s been such a huge blessing. There is so much to explore, and I’m already freaking out about what little I’ve seen, how much there still is to see, and how many years (or days!) I might have left on the earth. So I plan to try to live every day to its fullest.
Will you join me in that?
I totally agree with getting out there when you can even if you just make an effort to do holidays. We’ve been lucky, we’ve seen our parents put things off until they can’t go any longer. My husband and I made the decision to tour when we could , and have taking many local trips starting within Canada, moving to some Europe. Cruises and tours. Going to the Caribbean to scuba dive while we can, and let me tell you, it was much easier when I was 50 than 60!
The biggest problem with Travel is the sheer number of travelers. They are quite simply ruining the very places that people want to go. You have to book National Park visits a year in advance. You can’t just pick up and go anymore. Everywhere there are more tourists than natives so you really don’t even get the chance to immerse in culture and locals even staying for a month of more. The Mcdonaldization of the world means that finding anything unique is nearly impossible-only mega corp chains can afford to stay in business.