I’ve been back in the US for about two weeks and will be heading out again this afternoon. Back to Italy, then a week later, on to home base #3- Split, Croatia. It’s been an amazing trip and it was nice to see old friends, new friends and to actually be around people speaking English!! We take so much for granted, but after 10 weeks in Spain and Italy it was a special treat over there to run into someone that spoke the language or was from the states. It forms an immediate camaraderie and can actually develop into a friendship.

As I have spoken with many about my “journey,” ie, traveling the world six weeks at a time with no specific return date, without exception everyone says “Awesome,” or something similar. Everyone respects what I’m doing and says they would like to do it 1) when I retire, 2) when I have enough money, 3) when the kids are gone, or 4) “some day. I don’t like “some day” since that is similar to “when I get around to it,” which usually never happens. So I started thinking of tips I could offer to gradually learn to Travel Younger and to dip your toes in the water.

1) You do not need to leave “forever.” No one ever knows how long forever is, so how about “I will take a month long trip in ______” fill in the blank. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT take just a week long Vacation. It’s nice, but not usually relaxing if you’re traveling too far and it does not offer you enough flavor of your destination. Two weeks is cool, did that many times, but give yourself a solid month. Determine WHERE you want to go, WHEN you want to go and book a flight! You’ll make it work. Most workers in Europe get six weeks vacation- and they TAKE THEM. American workers can get that long but rarely use them, but let them accumulate- then disappear.

2) You CAN afford it! International travel is cheap compared to domestic travel and international flights on Norwegian, Level or Iberian, are bargains. They do not have hubs everywhere so you may need to take two flights but it may be worth it. Stay at AirBNBs. I cannot praise them enough and have stayed in several dozen over the years. Yes, sometimes you get a shitty location or such, but do your research and plan for the best. You will usually get local advise from the host and having a kitchen and such is a huge savings of time and stress of always eating out.

3) Here’s tip #3. It IS SCARY- but it’s not. It’s just uncomfortable being around foreign speakers, using different currencies, and not knowing how to navigate. Been there, done that and it’s still intimidating to me. “All the fun is outside your comfort zone” is a favorite expression of mine and it still holds true. Being from the US we think that EVERYTHING revolves around our country. Not true. It’s a big world and everyone has their own world revolving around themselves and their countries. It truly makes me appreciate our “place” in the world- and in the Universe! Over the course of your travel you will certainly get lost, maybe miss a connection, and will encounter bad weather. It’s all OK, trust me.

I started Travel Younger (web site coming!) to help you travel “like the Millennials” but truly, anyone can travel younger- regardless of your age.

Any questions??

#travel, #flying, #airbnb