I am slowly adding blog posts from my prior trips from the past few years. It is great to re-read my journals and relive my experiences. I am not a full time travel blogger and live vicariously through those who are! However, my main goal is to prove that even if you have a full time job it is possible to travel the world.

Slow and steady wins the race.

slow and steady

I am fortunate to have 3 weeks vacation a year, which seems like pennies compared to other countries. Why wasn’t I a teacher, so I could get a full summer off? For those non-teachers, here are a few tips to get the most travel out of your vacation days.

cublical desk

How to make the most of your travel days:

1. Use your vacation days for vacation: I rarely take a day off for errands or housework (that is why I rent). I really stress this one when people ask me how I am able to travel so much.

2. Make the most out of your weekends: Try to travel locally as much as possible. Get out and hike, climb, or go camping. It keeps the costs down from staying in hotels every weekend. Get into work SUPER early and head out of town early to see other destinations that are driving distance away.

3. Utilize Federal Holidays: Federal holidays usually mean backyard BBQs or catching up with friends. I use this as a free vacation day. Do a longer weekend trip that you can’t do in a normal weekend. I was able to use Memorial Day this weekend to drive to Yellowstone.

4. Break up your trips: Try to spread out vacations over the year instead of one long vacation. This will give you the breaks from work you will need and allow you to see more of the world. I try to leave the end of the week and come back the following weekend. This will optimize how many days by adding weekends into the mix. You can also plan a trip across vacation years. For example, plan your travel at the end of a year and beginning of the next year to have a longer trip with some reserves for traveling the rest of the year.

5. Skpe/Video Chat with family: I know it is not the same as seeing them face-to-face, but it helps. Utilize technology and cell phones to keep in touch to minimize the amount of vacation days used to travel to see family.

Google Hangout

My sister’s dogs video chatting.

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How do you optimize your vacation days?

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