Should You Travel Long Term? The Big Decision

Why are you going? How can you afford it? What about your house and job?  These are just some of the questions Andy and I fielded when we announced our plan to travel long-term.

For us, it wasn’t designed to be a never-ending holiday, but a new way of life. Despite what many think it definitely isn’t all ‘plain sailing’ or ‘a bed of roses’. Whilst it’s an incredible adventure, with amazing experiences, sights and interesting people to meet, at times it can also be a challenge, frustrating and there are difficulties to overcome

Questions We Asked Ourselves About Travelling Long Term

It’s not a decision we took lightly. We asked ourselves a whole raft of questions before making the final decision to travel long term. I thought I’d share these to help explain our decision and to hopefully help anyone considering something similar.

Can I leave my family and friends?

This is tricky, as it’s unlikely you’ll want to leave your family, friends, and pets behind when you travel long term. Unless, of course, you’re not that fond of them, a degree of homesickness is inevitable at some point. This could be brought on by missing people, pets, places, or simply your home comforts and routine.

Let’s be completely realistic now though, how often do you actually manage to catch up with people and vice versa? Everyone is busy and living their own lives.

Just because you no longer live in the same town, city, or even country doesn’t mean you can’t stay in touch. Nowadays it’s easy to keep in touch via social media, zoom, email, or a good old-fashioned postcard, letter, or telephone call. There’s also nothing to say you can’t visit or take a holiday home or they may come and visit you.

Can I leave my home?

This may vary depending on if you live with parents or friends, rent a house or have a mortgage. The former two make things that easier, the latter a whole lot harder, which I can definitely vouch for.

If you own your house there are two main options; rent it out whilst you’re away, or sell it and stash the money for your return. Both will give some security and peace of mind that if it doesn’t go to plan you have something to come back to.

There is, of course, a third option of selling your house and using that money to travel long term. We decided against this as we didn’t want to put all our eggs in one basket and risk having nothing to return to.

What about my career?

It sounds easy to just say “I’m going to quit my job and go travelling”.  I think it can be…if you don’t like your job, career prospects OR boss! In those circumstances what have you really got to lose?

If, like us, you’re happy(ish) with your jobs, which you’ve studied and worked hard to achieve; it can be a more difficult call to make. If this is the case, it’s always worth broaching the subject of an unpaid career break with your manager. It may not be possible (and wasn’t for us) but it’s worth an ask.

We decided to take the risk and leave our jobs. Andy was ready for a complete change and wanted to try being a TEFL teacher. Whereas I wanted to keep my hand in my fields of work, Data and Campaign Planning and Analytics, and Digital Marketing. I planned to support myself with freelance/remote work, or work with a local company in whichever country we’re in. It’s not that we’re quitting our ‘real jobs’ we’re just changing what we’ll be doing for our ‘real jobs’.

There’s also another view we both hold – you don’t know what opportunities will open up to you. In a year you could find yourself doing something completely different that would never have previously crossed your mind. 

Can I afford long term travel?

This is subjective. It depends on several factors including if you have savings, rental income, or if you plan to work whilst away.

Travel style will also have an impact. Luxury all-inclusive resorts and expensive restaurants and bars cost much more than budget backpacking hostels or guesthouses, and street food or local restaurants. These can still be great though.

Both Andy and I feel a bit too old for bunking down with ten or more others in a dorm. Having said that we still had to keep an eye on our spending, especially at first. Funds were limited until we found work in Cambodia and then later in other countries we chose to live in.

Having said that, there have been a few splurges along the way. Such as when Andy craves a bath and we have to find a slightly nicer hotel, or there’s an activity I’ve got my heart set on. Safari in Nagarahole National Park in India, hiking Acatenango Volcano in Antigua, Guatemala and a hot-air balloon ride in Cappadocia in Turkey, are examples of our ‘splurge activities’. 

I believe there’s always a way to afford it if you really want to do it. You may just have to adapt what you do and how you do it to make it achievable or think outside the box for how to finance it.

Have I got too much clutter in my life?

I’d expect to hear a loud ‘yes’ from many people – unless you already live a minimalistic lifestyle. 

Until we’d really begun to think about leaving to travel long term, I didn’t realise how much junk we’d accumulated over the years. Despite neither of us being particularly materialistic (we prefer to spend money on experiences rather than things) we’ve still somehow managed to end up with a house full of crap. Much of this has barely (if ever) been used; it’s just all sitting there gathering dust, looking a mess and generally agitating the hell out of both of us.

If you can relate to that, it could be a sign it’s time to downsize all that clutter, maybe even make some cash by selling it like we are.

Do I mind missing out on things at home?

If you’re away for any length of time you’re going to miss out on some celebrations. It could be birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, Christmas, new babies, christenings etc. Not to mention the concerts, gigs, festivals, and camping trips that you may have otherwise attended.

The internet is a fabulous thing though and whilst not quite the same, you can still join in some of these things remotely. Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Google Chat and Teams are great. We had plenty of Zoombar catchups with friends and family – especially on birthdays and at Christmas.

Do I feel in need of a change?

This was probably the first question that presented itself to us, and we already knew the answer. We were both bored with doing the same thing day in, and day out. Even though we didn’t dislike our jobs or lives it had become quite mundane. I had a four-hour round-trip commute each day, and Andy was tired of working from home or driving for hours to sites.

By the time we both finished work in the evenings, had a quick trip to the gym or climbing wall; had eaten and showered, it was time to fall into bed – knackered. We felt stuck in a rut! It had gotten to the point where we felt we hardly saw each other and didn’t have or make the time for each other, let alone to do all the things we enjoyed and wanted to be doing.

What about children?

Now, this is the one we’ve been asked the most, or at least I have. Some people can be downright intrusive with their questioning on this one!

Being a woman many people assumed that surely I should just pick one or the other, children or travel. I didn’t agree, and if we had decided to have kids (which we didn’t); whether we happened to be on the road or not wouldn’t have influenced that.

In my personal opinion (many will disagree, but that’s fine, it’s a personal choice); they have kids in other countries and manage fine. Therefore why should it stop you travelling and following your dreams?

Am I okay with all my belongings on my back?

In theory, I love this idea, but as you can see from my original packing pile I was kidding myself. I’ve since whittled this down significantly, but still have a way to go with this one. Andy, on the other hand, positively embraced it. He nailed it and is an expert at travelling light.

Not everyone will feel this way though and it could be a deciding factor on whether to travel long term, and what your travel style is. For example, lugging a massive bag across India on trains and buses could make for a pretty miserable experience. If you’ll be mainly flying and taking taxis though, you won’t have far to walk and could easily manage with more luggage. These are all things that should be considered.

Does my country’s climate suit me?

A most definite no from us! Forgetting the few hot summer days we get in the UK each year, the rest are pretty unpredictable and often grey and miserable.

That’s not for us; we both prefer to be somewhere sunny, hot with warm rain OR on occasion the complete opposite, very cold and snowy! This could be a deciding factor on if and where to travel. It’s not going to be particularly enjoyable if you take yourself somewhere with a climate you hate for a long time!

Do I want to broaden my horizons?

This is an easy one; if you don’t want to learn about and experience new places, cultures, and people, then long-term travel probably won’t suit you. If it’s a resounding ‘YES’, then all of the other things you can manage to overcome!

As you ask yourself these questions you’ll find there are pros and cons for each of them. However, considering these pros and cons, as we did, is part of the decision-making process. For us, the pros have far outweighed the cons, which is why we decided to go for it.

I’m not saying long-term travel will always be the right decision for us either, although I truly hope it is. However as one per one of my favourite sayings…“Better to regret something you’ve done than something you haven’t”

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Have I missed any key questions you asked yourself when deciding if you travel long term? Tell us in the comments below.

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