Google Need Another Holiday: Making My Peace With Part-Time Travel

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Making My Peace With Part-Time Travel

I thought it might be ever so slightly difficult for me to write this, because I’m still a little afraid to admit my truth. You see, much as I love to hear about the adventures of others and get a buzz from reading the thoughts of many a round the world travel blogger, I actually have no great wish to go backpacking.


I am proud to be a part time traveller.

My weekend "backpack"

I don’t know if you’ll take me seriously when I tell you that I never took a gap year because I never wanted to. Maybe you think this makes me a tourist and not a traveller? I hope I can be a bit of both. That’s my plan.

I don’t spend my working day wishing I could pack it all in and set off around the globe indefinitely. I just spend my lunchtimes taking on line inspiration from the experiences of others and planning where my next wave of annual leave or a forthcoming bank holiday weekend could take me.

You might think I’m mad for having a full time job; that it keeps me from seeing the world. I think it simply funds my exploits so that I can see the world chunk by chunk in my own style, and affords me a few home comforts along the way. Of course, I still have to cut my cloth according to my means, but I am sure all travellers would agree that you can go anywhere on any budget. Your experiences might be different to someone with twice as much, or half as little as you, but they’ll be your adventures (however adventurous you are) and they’ll be as rewarding as you want to make them.

So for now, I’ll keep recounting my tales and tips from my part time travels, but I’ll also keep looking to all you full time round the world nomads for my lunchtime inspiration.

For the record, my next jaunt is to fair Verona and I can’t wait to tell you all about it on my return.

Then, after that who knows?

The world is everyone’s oyster. How you see it is up to you.

How do you get to see the world? I’d love to know.

6 comments:

  1. There is definitely a bit of travel snobbery about being a full-time traveller. I did a 16-month stint about ten years ago but these day – even though I'm self employed so I can travel more than when I had a full-time job - I wouldn't want to do it. I like to have a home base and be able to see my friends, plus us part-timers usually have more money to spend so can avoid the hardcore budget travel. There's no one way to see the world, it's whatever suits you best!

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    1. I agree! It's all about what suits you (and your budget) best! I just count myself lucky that I'm able to get home from one trip and start planning the next pretty much straight away.

      Thanks for commenting, Lucy!

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  2. I'm hearing you. I also work full time and only travel in my holidays. While the thought of just packing it all in and heading off for an extended period is attractive, it has never been my overriding desire. I enjoy travelling periodically for shorter periods. I enjoy travel enough to have a travel blog to share my experiences with others.

    So you are not alone...

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    1. Glad I'm not the only one!

      Thanks for dropping by and commenting!

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  3. Great Post :)

    I'm a student so I have to fit my travel around my study as well as my budget. I didn't get bitten by the travel blog until my first year of uni when I signed up on a whim to climb Mt Kilimanjaro for charity. Looking back I do think that I would have benefited from a gap year, but at the time I didn't want one either.

    I feel like full time travelling would be wonderful, and something I would love to do in the future (this might be a result of a slight addiction to reading rtw travel blogs.) But at the moment part time travel suits me just fine.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by, Lottie. I know what you mean about reading rtw travel blogs - they do inspire you and I love reading them. Part time travel just suits my way of life! Next stop - Munich in December!

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