You are young-spirited individual who is passionate about travelling and learning new things from all over the world. You have read a lot of stories about how people quit their stable and high-paying jobs for the sake of pursuing their dream to travel around the world. The idea sounds great, right?
The truth is, making your dream of exploring the world a reality might not be as easy as it sounds. Given today’s tough economic climate, you have to think long and hard before deciding to quit your full-time job and start a backpacking journey. While it is true that you can always earn money by working freelance or part-time while traveling, there are good chances that you will face several obstacles along the way.
What should you do, then?
Being a full-time traveller while working 9-5 a week is possible, though it can be a daunting task to do. However, you should believe that it will work. All you need to do is to rearrange plans and schedules to adjust with the new routine. Here are 5 guides to help you become a full-time traveller and employee at the same time:
Be flexible with dates – If you are a new employee who do not have much money to travel, you should go with this strategy. You should be flexible when it comes to traveling dates so you can find cheaper flight and accommodation to stay during low season. To get the best deals, you have to diligently check on online platform such as SkyScanner, Priceline, or similar websites. They can help you find which dates are cheaper to fly.
Take your paid leave smartly – You can travel longer without having to use up more days from your annual leave if you take your leave around public holidays. For example, you can take leave around long Christmas and New Year holiday so you can be away for two weeks while only using three days of your annual leave. However, flights and hotels prices are typically rising up during these seasonal holidays. Therefore, you should be smart enough to balance between arranging the time without draining your bank account.
Do not waste your weekend breaks – You can travel during such time quite a lot as you always have weekend breaks. The weekend is not long enough, of course. You only have Friday night until Sunday night to visit places you have always been yearning for. Therefore, during the weekend, you can go to nearby places you have never visited before. For example, if you live in Singapore and want to go on weekend getaway to new place, you can consider flying yourself to Penang, Malaysia which only takes about 1.5 hours flight.
Take evening flights – This can be hard to do as, maybe, some of you cannot sleep like a panda -- but still, it is worth to try as evening flight is usually cheaper. So, right after your job ends on Friday, you can go straight to airport or station without wasting your time. Moreover, if you take evening trip, you can sleep during the trip. Upon arrival at your destination, you can either start to walk around the city in the morning, or continue resting if you arrive at night.
Find a full-time job that allows you to work remotely – More companies are offering more flexible working arrangement these days. You can find a job that provide you good salary while working remotely. By being a remote employee, you will have more time to travel around the world. But before doing this, you should make sure that you meet your manager’s expectation. Otherwise, you should find another option such as four tips above.
Read also: You Don’t Have All the Time in the World: Why Your Twenties Matter
