Lately, I’ve been yearning to get out and see the world. I’ve spent the past 10 years working in the internet industry, and while I love it, I feel like I’m missing out on many life experiences. Unfortunately, I work at a startup during a critical time and I can’t exactly drop everything to feed my wanderlust. Here’s what I have been doing to cope:
Weekend Mini-Trips
I’ve been doing the best I can to take advantage of my weekends. This weekend I’m dusting off my snowboard and heading to Tahoe to take advantage of the very wet winter we’ve been having. A few weekends ago, I spent a long weekend in Southern California visiting family. I’m also looking at possible weekend trips to Seattle, Portland and other nearby jaunts in the coming weeks. With cheap tickets from Southwest and friends all over the country, I’m forcing myself to get out and explore the nearby world.
Plan A Vacation
Even if you can’t take time off now, there’s no reason why you can’t get excited and plan a trip for when things are less hectic. I’m in the middle of planning a big vacation for the summer (more on this in future posts) - I’m not sure summer will be less hectic, but I know by then I’ll need to take the time off for my own mental health. So I’m treating the travel bug by exploring future options.
Live Vicariously
On a related note, I’ve subscribed to National Geographic Adventure and Travel, and am clipping vacations that excite me. I’m keeping a folder and using the clippings as inspiration for weekend adventures and future travel. I’m trying to integrate travel into my routine and this is a great way to keep it top of mind.
Other Suggestions?
Do you have other suggestions for how to beat the travel bug when you can’t drop everything and run away? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
[...] I wrote about how I was dealing with the travel bug and one of the things I wrote about was weekend mini-vacations. Since then I have tried to plan at least one weekend adventure per [...]