“If you never go, you’ll never know!”
Over the years I have become something of an expert at utilizing days off. The first 5-6 years of our traveling life my husband was only allotted 15 days off from work. Now he is up to 20 and we do everything we can to make those 20 days’ work to our advantage. I often hear people say there is not enough time for travel, and I agree! There is never enough time! But we have found many ways to use certain dates to our advantage to get more travel out of those 20 days than you would realize is possible.
-Utilize Holidays: If you go away for a week over the 4th of July for example you only have to take 4 days off instead of 5. You can fly out on a Friday evening and come back the following Sunday and only take 4 days off. This means a 9-day trip for the price of 4 days. Some employers even give 2 days off over the 4th of July depending on what day it falls during the week.
-Travel over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. I understand that not everyone is willing to give up time with their loved ones to travel, but if you are, you can take a few days off and take a considerably long trip. We’ve made it to Asia twice now utilizing the Christmas-New Years holiday.
-Thanksgiving has the added bonus that it is not celebrated outside the US so you can sometimes find good flight deals to other countries.
-Leave in the evening. If you are able to fly overnight and land in your destination in the morning you do not waste a day in transit.
-Find direct flights. The faster you get there the more time you have to spend in your destination. Use those self-created stopovers if you can!
-Don’t be afraid to take the long weekend trip or the 3-day trip. Too often I hear people say things like “Oh don’t go to Tuscany for four day’s it’s not enough time”. I can tell you from first-hand experience… ALWAYS go to Tuscany for 4 days. Go if you only have 3! Experiences will never let you down no matter how brief they might be. Don’t ever let someone tell you the amount of time you “need to spend” in any place. I always thank having seen a place, even briefly is better than having never seen it at all. Think of it as a sneak preview for when you return one day to that spot you really loved.
Plan for me dani 