How To Travel Often When You Have A 9-5 Role? Tips For Travelling More Around A Full-Time Job.
Travelling while working is how we part-time bloggers fuel our wanderlust. But not everyone sees the positives of it. On social media, you’ll find certain influencers talking endlessly about how everyone should aspire to be their own boss for travel freedom or to ditch jobs to become content creators. Yet, this seems to ignore the fact you can travel whilst holding down a 9-5 role. I have high respect for full-time creators, but I don’t think there needs to be an ultimatum of quitting your career for increased opportunities. That’s where I come in, to give you first-hand experience on how I’ve juggled working in an office with travel blogging these last few years. Allow me to spill my tips for travelling around a full-time job, and encourage you to not quit just yet.
Context + Why I Didn’t Want A Fully-Nomadic Lifestyle:
Before I get into the bulk of this post, it’s worth writing a bit about why I’m such an advocate for travelling around a 9-5. In the past, I actually tried a nomadic lifestyle for a while but noticed the lack of structure and routine wasn’t for me. A nomadic lifestyle requires a certain type of discipline that I don’t have. I lacked the motivation to do things like travel writing each evening, going to the gym or meeting friends when constantly on the move. I also started to feel the desire to build my legal career, out of choice. There seems to be this general idea that everyone in a 9-5 is suffering and should quit their role for true happiness, however, this statement disregards the work that goes behind full-time content creation. Tasks like video editing and e-book designing easily take up an entire day. Far more than what I’d typically work in my day job.
5 Tips For Backpacking Around A Full-Time Job:
Make The Time.
For travel to happen, you need to genuinely prioritise it. There’s no other way around it. I’m not suggesting you cancel plans, but turning a weekend of staying indoors for an adventurous 24-hour trip could be a starting point. Personally, I don’t think you need to have an extensive itinerary to enjoy your time abroad. Sometimes a quick sample is sufficient to give you the travel bug. Once you reach that sweet spot, you’ll naturally incorporate travel into your lifestyle. Oh, and the trips don’t necessarily even have to be across the ocean. I have a friend who is true staycation goals in the way she and her partner frequently explore different parts of the UK on weekends.
Be Savvy With Holiday Allowance.
Skip the full week trips. Now, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to spend a certain amount of time in certain locations, but there are many factors that go into the optimum length of stay. Does a trip to Portugal, from London, need 10 days the same way a trip to New York might require? Is a weekend enough to see a particular Spanish city? Would a layover be a better way to maximise your travel plans? Little realisations like this made me ditch 90 percent of the 1-week trips to European destinations. Instead, I’d take a few days. The way I see it is, shorter trips for getting a feel, and longer trips if I want to repeat a place.
Master The Timing.
Use days off as your base days. What I mean by this is, essentially, selecting your flight as close as possible to the morning of your day off. The base day of your first afternoon travelling. For example, flying out at 7 am on a Saturday/ Sunday. Generally, I feel it’s logical to pay a slightly higher price if the flight time is better. I’m also comfortable with checking out a few airports near me, not just my local one. There’s nothing worse than having a flight at 2 pm, as your morning is spent at the airport people-watching and scoffing down Pringles from WH Smith. Fun, yes, but not as good as exploring a new place.
Evening Flights Anyone?
Perhaps a follow-up point from the above, but what I tend to do is go with a flight option on a Friday evening. That way, I save a precious annual leave day. Of course, there have been many times when requesting the Friday off entirely would have prevented a lot of last-minute panics, but there’s something so convenient about going to the airport the minute you finish work. To make this possible, I tend to work from home on the days I have an evening flight. It’s easier to quickly get ready during the lunch break period. If your current role permits hybrid working, definitely consider this.
Take Work With You!
If your role is fairly reliant on a laptop, ask HR if you can take your work device abroad for a few days. You’d be surprised how many industries are open to the idea, as long as the work actually gets done within standard hours. I can’t personally do this, but I know a few people in other departments who worked their usual day from a hotel room, and then headed straight to the beach the minute they clocked off.
Where To Find Cheap Flights:
The best way to consistently find cheap flights is by bulk-buying during flash sales. There’s simply no point sugar-coating a well-known ‘secret’ within the travel blogging field. The way to find these £5-flights-to-Europe deals? Frequently browsing airline homepages, signing up for newsletters and scrolling social media. The nice thing about a 9-5 is that your weekends will pretty much be time-off by default, so there’s no reason why you can’t book a flight that’s 8 months in advance from a professional perspective.
Unsurprisingly, one of my most popular blog posts was a whole series on must-know travel tips, like how to find cheap flights. By following the link, you’ll notice I go into more detail about the best ways to secure viral Tik Tok flights. I also talk about how to capture Instagrammable photos, and reveal a unique way to store jewellery in hand luggage.
How To Travel On A Budget While Working:
More recently, I’ve completed a budget-friendly experiment in Barcelona where I only spent 150 euros for a 2-day trip. Yes, including a hotel. No, I’m not missing an ‘S’ in that. My aim was to show how it’s more than possible to witness maximum enjoyment with limited funds in the bank. I’ll link my article on how to do Barcelona on a budget if you’re curious. If you go to the ‘Downloads’ tab on my homepage, you’ll also find a handy PDF checklist containing a bunch of memorable things to do in the city, should you wish to create your own budget-travel experience!
This is such a beautiful idea as a traveller myself and someone not willing to live the normadic stay at home life. This is such a perfect idea and your tips are spot on and doable
Thank you so much! So happy you enjoyed the post 😊
Although I never fully did the full-time, nomadic traveler lifestyle, I did travel frequently when I was younger and had a very-flexible work schedule…which meant many extended 3-4 day weekend getaways. But I would also add that that worked due to being in Europe and having easier access to 1) shorter travel time, as the continent is smaller than, say, North America, and 2) more access to cheap and public transportation, which unfortunately isn’t as accessible in the US, where I now am. I’m not writing this to negate your idea on travel, but rather provide a different perspective on traveling, coming from someone who lives in a larger country with different circumstances. Of course, with the world reopening to travel, I’m seizing the opportunity once more to take more trips, domestic and international, and I hope to request time off from work to do so! 🙂
Absolutely, it blows my mind that a 4 hour plane ride in the US would still arrive within the US! It’s huge! Would you say this is why Mexico is often a popular spring break location for US college students, rather than further afield? Hope you’re having the best time on your trip!