I receive a lot of questions from people about traveling, but the one question I ALWAYS receive is:

“How are you finding time for travel?”

And later, this comment usually follows:

“I just don’t have time to travel.”

With busy schedules and other obligations, finding time for travel can be really difficult. Most people I speak to about this tell me they don’t have time or they can’t take off of work. Let me ask you this: do you really want to travel? I know there are a lot of factors that go into a person’s opportunity to travel. It can be money situations, work related, privilege due to your passport, or the fear of going off alone. But, if you’re not in any of those situations and traveling is one of your dreams, what’s stopping you?

Is It A Priority?

One of my biggest pet peeves are excuses. Next to that is probably when people finish a roll of toilet paper, and besides taking off the empty cardboard roll and replacing it with a full roll. They, instead, leave the empty roll and place the full roll on top. But, I digress! Excuses. We are all at fault for having them, using them, and probably pretty good at creating them. I know that I am also guilty of this. I make excuses for not being able to do something, for doing something wrong, and other random things. This past year, I deemed my word of the year as “intention“. I am making conscious choices, sticking to my word, and cutting the excuses out of my life. I say “yes” to a lot more things, I say “no” to even more. Throughout this year, my intentions have shifted and my priorities are more clear. Traveling is definitely a priority.

Time to be honest with yourselves, is traveling a priority for you? Is this something that you NEED or really WANT to do? If it is, cut the bullshit. I understand, corporate America or an office job don’t allow for a lot of vacation time, but short trips count for just as much as long trips! Planning a quick weekend getaway or staycation can be just as good as “traveling” far away. Use your weekends wisely, plan out your months if you need to. I am also busy on the weekends, with family events and errands/chores that I’m not able to do during the week. I try to allot time every month to make a trip somewhere that is driving distance from home. This also helps me to set a budget for myself during the previous month, and figuring out my expenses.

Are You “Wasting” Your Time?

I’m sure we all have hobbies and activities that we love.  Some of my hobbies are: blogging, vlogging, eating (that is a real hobby), traveling, and reading restaurant reviews. Yes, that last one is true. I love reading restaurant reviews in my spare time or reading through different blogs for inspiration! I rarely watch TV or Netflix. Besides “wasting” my time on things I don’t find productive or conducive to my interests, I do research on activities to keep me active. Wasn’t it Newton’s Law of Motion that says: “An object in motion stays in motion”? This is me. I have a problem sitting still, so I try to make the best of my time.

I can’t say what y’all do in your free time, because everyone has different interests. If you enjoy watching TV and Netflix in your free time, I’m not here to tell you to stop! I’m also not here to tell you that you’re wasting your time if you’re not doing the same things I am. My main goal is to inspire travel, whether it be in country or abroad; and I want to help YOU do it! Take a look at how you spend your free time and see where you can use that time to plan a trip! It doesn’t need to be a big trip, it can be a small road trip to a city that is 2-3 hours away. The biggest factor I’ve found when people tell me they don’t have “time” to travel, is that they don’t have anything planned out.

Take a few hours out of your week to plan a once a month trip to somewhere near by. The planning will help you to get more excited for your trip, help you keep track of your expenses, and motivate you to make the trip because it’s already planned! For me, if I don’t plan something out, I end up wasting my time sitting around wishing I could do something instead. NO REGRETS, PINEAPPLERS!

The Office Job Schedule & Making It Work

Since being home, I’ve gotten a job (hooray!) but the office job schedule is something that I’m still getting used to. For the past two years, I’ve been living a laid back lifestyle. Working as an auxiliar, we have a schedule packed with holidays and free time! Coming back to the United States and going head first into a full time position was definitely a shock at first. I don’t have the same amount of leisure time as I did before and I deal with this awful thing called Northern Virginia traffic. If I count all the free time I have, it would be five hours everyday after work. IS THIS HOW PEOPLE LIVE?!

I’m still learning how to make this schedule work FOR me instead of against me. There are moments when I feel extremely overwhelmed! What I’ve learned so far is really making a “schedule” for myself and a to do list. This makes me sound like a Type A kindof lady, which I probably am. Every Monday, I take about half an hour to sit down with my planner and schedule out my to do’s for the week. This is also when I take the time to pencil in appointments, events, or important reminders for the month. On Sunday’s, if I’m not traveling, I schedule out and get a head start on all things related to this blog. All of this helps me to have an idea of how to use my time wisely! With this schedule, I can also plan and schedule any trips I want to take, which pushes me to take that trip instead of sitting around and not taking the initiative.

So, Pineapplers, cut the excuses, make plans, and take initiative! What’s stopping you?