An Experienced Traveller’s Guide – How To Travel With Full-time Job
These days everyone wants to quit their job and live life as a digital nomad. A lot of hype or trends are about quitting the job and travelling the World by hitchhiking or by working as a volunteer. In my opinion, you don’t have to quit your job and sell your belongings to become a full-time blogger or videographer to explore the World more often. It works for those who already have backups or plan B before quitting their jobs else it makes things more problematic. Without a job Visa application processes are tough these days, also living a normal life without a job or only based on freelancing work is really very complicated. Travelling with a full-time job is very much possible.
There have been a lot of travel hacks I use to travel the world with a full-time dedicated job and help my wanderlust run free. Ever since my first International trip to Sydney in 2017, I have been travelling and blogging regularly with my Marketing job. Till now I have travelled to 3 international countries with more than 20 states happily without facing any problems. Here’s mine as an experienced traveller’s guide – How to travel with a full-time job.
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Save your Paid leaves and manage the dates wisely
Most of us have 18 paid leaves per year (Ahem), and you can wisely use that time for travel with a full-time job. So, here’s you can tick these checklists to make the most out of your annual leaves :
- Mark the calendar and book your travels in advance on long weekends with a few day’s leave(There’ll be a few long weekends in a year- add 2-3 days of leave, and you may get 7-10 days for a vacation)
- Travel to nearby places at short weekends and cover as much as possible.
Do work from home
If you have the flexibility to work from home, then think how lucky you are. Take the benefits and visit new places to do some work from the mountains or work from beach vacations. In this way, you can feel motivated and can explore the places in the evening or on the weekends.
Explore the backyards as a tourist
Most of us dream of travelling to far-flung new places but rarely explore our own backyards. Act like a tourist in your very own city and start exploring the places you never visited. Book a hotel in another part of your city and enjoy the place without spending much money.
Use the layover time wisely
If you are travelling to a place where you need to take a layover, research that layover part. Singapore offers a free day tour if someone has more than 8 hours of layover. So, before booking the flight check about the layover country and if they provide any free city tours.
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Start early when on vacation
If you are on vacation then try to utilize the maximum time to explore the place. This way you can cover two or more nearby places together. In this way, you can tick more than one place at a time.
Add extra days onto Work trips
If you’re lucky enough to trip to a new place for work purposes, make the most of it! After your work hours, you can explore the places or can reach the place in advance or leave the place after a few days depending on your work schedule.
Save money for the longest vacation
Start planning your longest trip in advance and start exploring the best deals to book the stay or flight in advance. Also, if you are planning for a 15 days Europe trip or any other expensive trip my advice is to start saving.
Go solo
If you wait for others to join you then you will be waiting forever. Also, the timing, budget and schedule can not be matched forever. So start considering small solo trips and it might change your life and perspective towards life as it did mine.
(You may read –Top Best And Safest Places For Female Solo Travelers )
How did I start travelling with a job?
In the starting, I was a little bit shy and introverted but at times I started enjoying solo travel with my job and over time I took my travel affairs seriously. I work extra hours and save my leaves to travel the places. I cut down on unimportant things like ordering food from out or buying things which are not necessary to save money for travel. I love to create contents or videos so I work on content after my office hours at night or on weekends. The amount of work is such that I can’t even tell. Because I love to travel and am passionate about content creation so I do not feel bad if I do not receive any money from it, as I have a job to earn my bread and butter from it. So travelling with a full-time job is very much possible as I am also travelling with a full-time job.
You may check my travel Videos Here
Think 100 times before you get sad or think to quit your job for the sake of travel. If you don’t have any plan B, then don’t quit your job. You can still travel with proper time management. It is surely possible to travel with a full-time job. I guess my tips will ensure that you are getting the most value out of your limited time off as you slowly(but surely) travel the world. If you truly want to travel and you’re wondering how you can find the time to do it, you need to start planning it!
Very well written article. I absolutely agree, although both I and husband have tight schedules we don’t leave a single weekend go without venturing out. Long trips are not possible frequently but when planned properly this too can be done.Freelancing has also become quite competitive these days.
The post resonates with us as we too juggled our jobs with travel for a few years till we branched off into full-time writing and travel. As you have mentioned we did do a lot of travel combining it with our work trips and extending our stay. It is also important to optimize the time at hand so that you get most out of it.
I feel travel is a pleasurable activity and it ahould be done when you have everything else in place. That is the only way to enjoy your trip. So, certainly planning makes the trip wonderful.
I fully agree with your suggestions, leaving a job and traveling is not a viable option. What is important is to manage the time and resources well at hand. Layover’s idea is also good, but it definitely needs a lot of research before availing of this option. As always well researched and nicely written article.
These are pretty valuable tips for people planning to manage trips with their full time job.
I too plan vacations around long weekends!
Very good tips to travel while having a full time job. I have traveled a lot, like to about 40 countries while managing my full time job. So I completely agree that one can travel everywhere if we plan very well.
Its interesting to see that we both agree that one can manage budget with solo travels. I have usually found it to be cheaper at some places if traveled with someone. But most times I have managed solo.
You have really managed your passion for travelling well along with work. Really learnt how effective planning plays an important role. Thanks for sharing.
These are some great tips Pamela! Although travelling becomes much harder with a family; especially after having kids. Till now 23 countries for us, but they have come at a hefty price. Who’s complaining though 😅
these are some awesome tips.. I personally find it difficult to travel after having a baby but I can incorporate few of the ideas and get moving with my lo after the pandemic .. something I am desiring for a long time.. thanks for sharing
I love travelling but I find it hard as I get only one leave in a year. Work from home isn’t am option. But your ideas are really great.
That’s some wise advice. One should never quit job for blogging or YouTube until they are sure enough of the financial security.
Great tips.
Surely there are many who religiously follow few of this tips , maintain and making this happen is feels really good . I am on of them who does full time job with travelling . Amazing keep it up .
Good tips. Problem is if I go solo, I’ll remain sleeping till late morning. At least with hubby, he forces me awake to get out and explore. Hahaha.
Thanks Pamela for sharing these amazing and valuable tips. I really find difficult to travel while working full time job. But I always prefer short trip. And BTW I started saving for long trip 😉
Travelling and exploring places make you happy, relieved. You shared amazing tips to keep your passion alive with your job .
I could very well resonate.. working and doing this passion project . . Your tips are great and could make people think and decide
Some great tips there. Once the pandemic is over, I would love to travel to the hills. With a full-time job, travel has always been a luxury.
My husband has a very tight work schedule and rarely takes leaves but when he does, we go on a wonderful holiday for 8 to 10 days with kids. Yes his work follows with us on our holiday too but we can accommodate that much for sure. Planning a holiday to make more of your time and not lose your job is wonderfully explained in ur blog.
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I’m sure many folks can relate to this situation. Many aspects need to be taken into account. Even though working a full-time job while traveling may not be simple, you have made it convenient thanks to this piece. I really appreciate all of your advice.
I think it is totally possible to travel with a full time job if travel is a passion and priority. And if you can work remotely it makes it even more feasible indeed. I always added time when I went on work trips. Great to only have to pay for your extra time in a city. Good to book your work if possible so you can stay for the weekend. I think you can taste test your way to different places and know where you want to go back for a longer stay.
Some great advice in there. Too many people think being a digital nomad is going to cure all their problems….but it won’t, it will just change your problems to a new location. Also, being a digital nomad has been AMAZING for us (we have been full time since 2011)…so it is awesome for the right people…and i would recommend giving it a try if you are actually thinking about it!
I so much agree with the thoughts that you have expressed here. You don’t have to leave everything to become a traveler. It is about intelligent planning with available resources of time and money. In my long career before I ventured into blogging I had the opportunity to travel around the country. I use to add a day on my own expenses and explore. Loved reading your post as probably these are exactly the tips that I would suggest to someone if asked.
I think quitting 9 to 5 to have the freedom to travel the world and be a digital nomad has been romanticized too much. The parts about how worries about making ends meet is often ignored to be mentioned but is very real. Therefore it is exactly right´what you said that it is possible to have a full time job and travel at the same time which makes better sense anyway. Thanks for the enlightening article.
I used to travel with a full time job before I started my own business. I agree on taking advantage of bank holidays, they can make a weekend trip last for 4-5 days. Even a week if you have 2 bank holidays back to back. I never worked remotely as I feel that travel doesn’t mix with work – I want to be relaxed when I travel and dedicate my full time to exploring. However, even now, I do add a few extra days to business trips or conferences abroad, so I can explore the destination as a holiday.
It’s good to hear that you can enjoy the perks of a full-time career while still travelling as much as possible using excellent time management. It’s so often that you hear of people quitting their careers to travel, and while that is fine for some, others need the stability of a day job but still enjoy visiting new countries on their annual leave.
Great tips on traveling while on a full-time job; I traveled this way for several years. And it’s not easy to be a digital nomad and travel as a digital nomad. It has pros ad cons as well. I agree with your hints on how to enjoy travel while working. I love your tips about exploring the backyards as a tourist and adding extra days to work trips for sightseeing. I also traveled solo, and it was a great time.
These are very useful tips on how to manage traveling with full time job. Of course one can explore places when on a work trip and effectively manage if they have a layover time on airports, like in Singapore.It’s commendable how you have emerged as a digital nomad along with full time job.