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Finding Time For Travel

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.

El Cid, Burgos, Spain -- The Quirky Pineapple
El Cid in Burgos, Spain
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!

White Oak Canyon, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia -- The Quirky Pineapple
White Oak Canyon in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
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.

Cabra, Spain -- The Quirky Pineapple
Cabra, Spain

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

Norfolk, Virginia -- The Quirky Pineapple
Norfolk, Virginia

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10 thoughts on “Finding Time For Travel”

  1. GIRL, YOU AND ME JUST GET EACH OTHER! I also don’t have a lot of money, and have my own expenses, but if it’s something important than there’s a way to save up for it! Also, if something is important to you, then you can also make time for it! (:

  2. Thanks, Flo! When people told me they wanted to travel, but can’t afford the flight abroad or have the time to travel abroad, I always tell them that they could travel in country! It doesn’t need to be a getaway to a far off place, but exploring your own city is also considered traveling! I also think that we sometimes romaticize the idea of “traveling”, but that’s a different post haha!

  3. I couldn’t believe with you more!! When people tell me that they “want to do this, or really want to do something” but then don’t change their habits to do it… it just really means that it isn’t that important! Cut the excuses, people!

  4. That’s what I believe! I can’t bring myself to only work 40 hour work weeks, and live for the weekend. Since I’ve got a full time job now, I’d rather put in a bunch of overtime and take off a bit more! Or, take the unpaid leave… but living my life in an office day in and day out, just isn’t for me haha

  5. Yeeeessss! It kinda gets to me when people always use the excuse that they haven’t got the time to go travelling. If you really want it to be part of your life, you’ll find a way to make it happen. Another excuse people always make is not having enough money.

    Guess it boils down to how much passion you have for travelling! Having a passion for something such as travelling will take you places (literally).

  6. Love this post Cassandra! There can seem like there are lots of things in the way of traveling – but traveling also doesn’t mean you have to jump on a plane go half way around the world! What about exploring where you live? I’ve lived in Hong Kong for more than 25 years and visited a rockpool for the first time today!

  7. I always believe that if something is important to you you’ll make time for it. If you keep saying “I’d love to do (insert activity here) but I don’t have time” then it obviously can’t be that important to you.

  8. I used to travel quite a lot in my 20s (during the 90s) and found my bosses were quite supportive. As long as I worked overtime, I was able to stockpile days off. They also allowed extended unpaid leave. This was before all this technology that makes remote work easy. There’s tonnes of downtime during travel that allows for a little work to be squeezed in. Come on people! Talk to your boss, get that leave, and go travel!

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