From Deadlines to Flight Times
Rose Maninang is currently traveling the world on a sabbatical from her life in Toronto, Canada. Fifteen years ago, she backpacked through Australia and Europe. Since then, she has explored over 30 countries. But now her quest is to find the perfect hiding spot from Canadian winters. You can visit her blog at http://flightofthecanadians.wordpress.com.
It's 7 o'clock in the morning, we're both typing on our iPads in a carpeted room surrounded by wood-panelling, with an ensuite that smells slightly mouldy.
It's the best room we've stayed in yet.
Our mostly dirty clothes are laid out on an extra single bed along with a dozen ziplock bags for our lotions and potions. Everything we have fits into two backpacks - a likely enough scenario in your early twenties, but your late thirties?
We had full-time jobs: Marc as a copywriter for a bank, me as a self-employed real estate broker. We owned a house, a car, saw our friends and family regularly plus took frequent trips every year. For all intents and purposes we enjoyed a good life.
Then, about a year ago, we both started feeling worn out by our routine. Something, I'm sure, that everybody feels, but we stopped for a second and wondered: "Could we take a break? I mean, a real break, months long, maybe a year?"
The more we tossed around the idea, the more we realized it could be done. So, we decided to step away from our lives and take an extended trip to travel around the world.
When the fateful day came and we finally booked our flight, we received mixed reactions from friends and family. Everyone was encouraging, wishing us the best, but were, in equal measure, unsure exactly how we could pull it off.
After explaining that the biggest hurdle was fear, and once you'd passed that, the rest just falls into place, it still wasn't enough to satisfy our friends' skepticism.
So, we got into the details to put their minds at ease. Here are the nuts and bolts of how we put our plan into action:
1) Rent out your house/condo/apartment/hammock.
When I first went backpacking 15 years ago, I didn't have to think about a mortgage, property taxes, home insurance or anything else house-related. But now we can't afford to travel long-term while carrying costs at home. To help relieve the burden, we posted our house for rent on a number of websites.
Luckily for us, a property manager, who specializes in furnished rentals, saw our ad. She liked the house and so did her clients. After a week of negotiation, we signed the lease and started de-cluttering.
The rental income covers all of our home costs plus gives us a bit extra money to supplement our travel budget.
2) Play the credit rewards/points game.
We researched a slew of different credit card companies that offer reward points. In the end we chose a card that gave us the biggest points bonus for signing up along with a good point structure.
Once we received the card, we charged all of our expenses on the card. Everything. All the way from cups of coffee to our monthly hot water tank rental. By the time we booked our trip, we had enough points to cover some of the most expensive flights on our itinerary, saving us about $4000.
3) Quit your job.
This may go without saying. But before you have visions of storming into your boss' office, waving your letter of resignation in a fit of righteousness, consider that travel won't last forever, and you will probably need a reference for a job when you return.
With that in mind, it's not a bad idea to part on positive terms. As a real estate broker, the transition for me was a bit longer, but I had very competent agents to look after my clients while I'm away.
4) Set a daily travel budget.
Very tough. With newfound freedom, we both wanted to see and do everything, but the simple reality is - we're both unemployed and will be burning through cash while travelling.
To compensate, we're holding to a 1 to 2 ratio: for every expensive country we're visiting (ex. New Zealand, Japan), we'll need to balance the books by staying in two other countries where our dollar goes a bit further (ex. Laos, Nepal).
5) And most importantly, SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!
Also tough. We found it helps if you can think of your spending in terms of what you could gain in travel. For example, do I really need this new jacket or would I prefer to stay overnight on a junk boat in Halong Bay?
We cut the cable, got rid of the home phone, ate most of our meals in and I even learned to cut Marc's hair. Once we set our goal, it was easier to give up the little luxuries that we thought we couldn't live without. It takes discipline, but it pays off.
6) BONUS TIP: Get travel insurance!
Of course you can't forget this one :) Aside from the obvious plug, it really is indispensable for any length of travel. It's a cliché, but accidents can happen. I've had travel insurance on previous trips and it helped get me out of a jam. I definitely feel better knowing that I'm covered.
We're now in New Zealand and enjoying being on the move. While, at first it feels strange being away from our city lifestyle (TIP: when travelling don't even read restaurants menus), it's already shaping up to be an adventure.
We don't think it'll be something we'll regret...or at least that's the advice we're taking from the twentysomething's we're meeting along our travels.
Keep following our story for more travel tips, the occasional mishaps on the road, plus hear about some of the amazing connections that we make with other travellers along the way. I hope this can help get you started thinking about your own adventures to come.