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I have always admired people who can take a break from their life/career and go travelling weeks/months on end. I am always left wondering - How do they do it?

the most I can take off at work is one month (as long as I have vacaton / holiday time built up). I do that every year and last year did that 2 different times. I have to budget really well, but my goal is to some day take a year off and travel around (now time in the near future that I see).
I remember when I was backpacking in Nepal and India, I met all of these people that just take a year off work or school and travel around the world for a whole year (that would be a dream come true for me).

Rachel

It basically comes down to attitude and desire. If you really want to take a long trip or many long trips you just make that a priority and go for it.

I've taken jobs and going in arranged for lengthy periods of time away (without pay). I started a business, recruited a partner with the understanding that I was going to travel 2-3 months per year.

Other people live in fancier houses, drive nicer cars. I'm happy.

same here Bob, I say that all the time to people
just guess they can't do without the fancy car or big house.

I was asking myself the same question 2 years ago, in my 'sucessful' london job, flat, social life etc....and then just did it. took a 'career break' and never looked back since.....worked in the french alps, travelled, met amazing people and learned more than I ever did at Uni or during graduate training.
Am currently planning to travel 'round the world' - south america, Austrailia and NZ - getting the work visas in before I get too old to get them!
Indeed I agree. It comes down to desire, determination and opportunity....it's a gamble, often leaving behind a secure safe situation....but that's one of the elements that makes travel so rewarding...you never know what's gonna happen to change the course of 'what next' and if you really want to, you will do it...and I can guarentee you wont regret it.
http://www.pbase.com/world_of_sarah

Well, I've never taken more than a month at one go so I can't answer from direct experience. But quite a few people I work with have travelled for up to a year. In some cases they work for part of the trip to help finance it - for Irish people the typical thing is to do some short term work in Australia. Some people save up for quite a long period in advance of their trip; others go into debt with the intention of "settling down" to a career when they come back. Either way they probably feel that one year out of a typical working life of 40 years isn't all that much.

Another thing to bear in mind is that travelling (especially in less developed countries) is not necessarily expensive and is likely to cost much less per day than a typical two week package holiday.

If you are really interested, spend a while browsing the "Gap year and Round the World" branch on the Lonely Planet Thorntree where you will finding hundreds of people agonising over these very issues!

Alan,

You're totally correct about the cost of traveling. I travel at the Lonely Planet (guide books) 'budget' level, have a private room with bath almost every night, eat good food three (or more ) times per day, see everything that I want to see.

The cost? Generally less than what I would have spent at home for food and gas. I can get to the furthest places, say SF to India or Nepal for around $1,200. I just budget $100 per month for my big annual ticket. Lots of people spend more than that on golf, fishing, or other hobbies.

I used to have a 30' sailboat. I spent more on it in 2-3 months than I spend for a 2-3 month trip. Transportation included. It's all about priorities.

I guess now that I am in Europe for some time, it wil be easier to wander around these beautiful places here.

Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts.

for us it's the strong desire to experience a different culture, or to see something different. we have no children [by choice], no morgage, no car payment, no debts and so on that's why we can backpack 5-6 weeks [at a time] a year in distant lands. and every time we go further from home. so far south america especially impresses me. i wouldn't want to have a car and miss this http://community.webshots.com/photo/939 ... 7315PJvoTU

happy travels!

I've often thought about doing this someday, and I think if I WERE to do it, I'd time it for when I was ready to leave/terminate a particular job and/or move to another city. So in other words, I'd do it between jobs. Of course, I'd be sure that first, I had plenty of money to fall back on/live off of, and that I'd also have enough money to live off of upon my return to the real world, and while I was looking for a new job. And that's a good point others made here, about travelling in countries that are so cheap, that you actually end up saving yourself living expenses versus if you were in your country of permanent residence...

I reallly admire people who travel for months and work parttime to keep their trip going!

I have to do it someday!

Sri you are right. I too admire people who can manage to take long periods of time off. When I take off for a month I first spend money on the actual holiday. Then it ends up costing me twice as much because I cannot make any money while I am away. So it's a double whammy...one of the problems of being self-employed.

Anyhow it is all a matter of priorities in life I suppose. If one really wants to do something it can be done.

We have been travelling for almost 2 years now. We plan to continue until the end of the year at which point we'll be pretty much out of money. Jackie is 39, Peter is 45, essentially, we're spending our retirement savings now while our knees can still get us down the mountains. We're going to have to go back, find jobs and work later in life.

How did we do it? Easy, just quit. Obviously, you have to have some money behind you and no major ties like kids in school. Beyond that, just the desire and a little bit of courage (it wasn't so 'easy' before we quit, only after do you realise how easy it is). If you're young (under 30), you can work in many countries to help pay your way.

If you're interested, we have some 7000 photos and our travelogs posted on Pbase. (Start with South America).

http://www.pbase.com/mr2c280