It's amazing how fast time goes by.
It flies by, and before you know it, it's been
2 years.
4 months.
1 work week.
I think that's just routine.
You go to work. You go home.
You're on autopilot. And then you look back wondering where it all went.
I think this is to be avoided. And the way to do that, which may be obvious, is to switch it up. And catapult yourself out of that autopilot mode as much as possible. Or should I say, practically possible.
Of course we have to work and have a full-time job. But how can we engineer this into our lifestyles so that we don't lose years of our lives to monotony and routine? Or, non-living.
I think the answer is: travel.
Travel is what breaks you out of routine. Just the practical aspects of taking a trip shows where this is obvious:
Waking up extra early for a flight.
Packing what you think you need, which forces you to ask which of your possessions are truly necessary.
Going to a new place (obvious).
Having to speak a different language, or modify the delivery of your own.
Looking for the new places to do your old routines: e.g. laundry, gym, coffee.
Getting lost.
Planning your day in the time that you have.
And all the other spontaneity that comes from being in a new place: witnessing the kids in the street, hearing new music, sounds, smells, etc.
So then the question becomes: how do you travel more?
Or, how do I sprinkle more travel throughout my work/life year?
I think the key came from a friend I met when I first moved here to Taiwan. He had spent 7 years living and teaching here, and had seen pretty much all of East and Southeast Asia. He had gotten to the point where he was ready to switch continents and do the same somewhere else (he's now in South America living in Colombia).
His key advice: always have the next flight ready.
What he meant was, always have the next plane ticket purchased before the end of your current trip.
This means, before you come home from whatever vacation you're on, you already have another trip coming up.
I love this because you always have something to look forward to. Maybe it's 2 or 3 months from now. But it makes it so much easier to come back home and get back to work, knowing that you're getting closer to that next adventure.
At first, I thought: hmmmm, I'm already spending a lot on this trip, how am I gonna jump ahead and buy another ticket on top of that?
But you know ticket prices are gonna keep increasing closer to the date anyway, and if you already know you want to go and make it happen, then it certainly makes sense to just book it sooner rather than later.
Before, I would always delay purchasing tickets.
Perhaps it was fear of commitment, perhaps it was perfectionism and FOMO and trying to find the right timing, perhaps it was procrastination or even just biding time to save up more money for the trip.
Either way, all of that was blasted away when I just bit the bullet and booked the flights.
Which comes to my own personal key advice: book the flight.
If you're thinking, dreaming, or even actually planning a big overseas adventure, do yourself the biggest favor and simply get that ticket. First. The rest will figure itself out. Of course it has to get sorted out, because otherwise you'll miss your trip! Which would be a disaster!
You see, the hardest part really is the flight ticket. It's often the most costly part of the trip. But once that's squared away, the rest falls into place. Rather, you put it into place, because you have to.
Think about it. Once you got the flight, you got the dates. It's on the calendar. Time to figure out how you're going to take the time off, find the babysitters, etc. It really is the first step.*
Now of course the next concern is where you're going to stay and whatever. But that again can be figured out later, closer to the date. This is something that I really procrastinate on because it requires more information and asking yourself what you want from your trip.
For my trips that are over a week I generally don't book more than the first two or three nights. That way, once I've got boots on the ground, I can get a lay of the land and determine what's next. If you already booked the whole week or two at the same hotel, same location, then you're stuck. What if there's an area that has more of the activities you're looking for? What if there's a cheaper hostel right down the street? Booking too much too soon runs the risk of losing the chance to experience different or better places after you've gotten more information post-arrival.
And do not just book one day because you go straight from the airport to check in, sleep, and then next thing it's 11am and you gotta check out and find the next spot. The two or three days gives you time to walk around, not rush, and maybe hear from some locals or fellow travelers on which area is best next.
So just book accomodation for the first few nights. From there you can book 2-3 nights at a time, and get to explore each area.
I call this MINIMAL PLANNING FOR LIFTOFF (literally). This gets you committed to the trip and avoids all the hesitation due to over-planning and worries and complications that put off travel from someday to never, and years gone by wishing you had taken that trip.
So what are you waiting for?
If you have an answer to that question, then you didn't get the message.
Hurry up and book that flight. And the next one!
* This is also my advice for anyone studying a language. The best investment you can make to start any language journey is not taking a certain class or hiring a tutor or buying a textbook, but simply booking the trip to that language-speaking country ASAP.
P.S. Now all these travel plans of course become much easier if you're already living abroad. To put it in perspective, you can read my current travel plans for 2024 if you click here.
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Enjoy!