10 Ways to Travel More with Limited Time Off
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The Challenge: Limited Time Off
You may be wondering how to fit more travel into your busy life. One of the biggest challenges for people seeking to travel is lack of time off. Most of us are not full-time travel influencers paid to travel the globe. For many, travel must be balanced with full-time work and family responsibility. As a result, trying to take even a simple getaway can be a huge headache.
As a young professional with a spouse, three young kids and a demanding full-time job, I struggled for years to take time away. For most of my life, I failed to travel. In the early years of my career, I often was limited to just a couple weeks of PTO a year. Between holidays, special occasions, saving days for sick kids and a handful of mental health days, my time was pretty much spent.
The Solution: Think Creatively, Travel More
I eventually decided to make travel a priority in my life after realizing that it was possible with a little creativity. I learned how to travel with limited time off and a busy job, and you can too!
Today, I will share my travel tips for people with limited vacation time. I’ll walk you through the creative strategies I used to optimize my work time and my time away. In addition, I will share how I changed my approach to travel to maximize my time off. Trust me, if I can do it; anyone can!
Pick the Travel Strategies that Fit Your Life
The key is to remember that each situation is unique; do not compare yourself to others. If I did, I would be perpetually depressed; I am not yet an influencer working from the Maldives with a drink in hand. For today, I challenge you to think about how you can slowly infuse more travel into your everyday life. Let’s embrace your reality while implementing simple strategies to get you to travel more. Learning how to travel more with a busy life is a process. Start where you are; start small, and those small steps just might start to change your life! Alright, let’s get into it with 10 great ways to travel more with limited time off!
1. Become a local tourist
The best places to start travelling more with limited time off are near home. Become a local tourist and discover new experiences and places right where you are. Too often, we fail to realize how much there is to explore in and around our hometowns. However, you can be pleasantly surprised by how much is gained by exploring locally with intention.
When I started travelling, my first goal was to see more of my home state of Wisconsin. I set a goal to see all the Wisconsin state parks (…still a work in progress). It made me realize how much of my home state I have yet to see.
Consider all the amazing places to explore in your local area. Most cities are teeming with places to go and things to see you’ve likely overlooked. Think about things like museums, trails, parks, campgrounds, landmarks, beaches, tours, restaurants, art, clubs-EVERYTHING. The best part about exploring locally? It can often be done in just hours or days at a time. Exploring locally is the perfect way to adventure without needing much time off at all.
2. Take weekend trips
Maximizing your travel does not require weeks away at a time to have a great vacation. In fact, a short getaway is often the perfect way to get a much-needed change of scenery. As a mom to school-age kids, getting away for weeks at a time often isn’t possible. Instead, I will supercharge my weekends by adding a day or two off around the weekend so I can have a 3- or 4-day getaway.
For adventurous types, it is possible to sneak off Friday night, party hard for 24 hours and be back in bed by Sunday night. Maximize weekend short trips by travelling to nearby cities that are easy to access. On a short weekend trip, you want to avoid delays at all costs. To make the most of your time, target cities with activities at all hours of the day and night. If your time is limited, you want cities where you can take advantage of every moment around the clock.
Weekend trips can be a whirlwind, but they can offer great mental health benefits. Taking short trips at regular intervals can offer a nice escape from the grind to focus on mental health. Personally, I prefer to take off on Fridays and Mondays to enjoy back-to-back condensed work weeks instead of just one.
3. Fly (…and learn to embrace the red eye flight)
While I love a good road trip, flying is often the quickest way to travel. If you are short on time, fly to nearby destinations and airports that are easy to navigate. Think flying takes too much time? Check out just a couple options I could book for a quick escape right now:
- Milwaukee to Las Vegas 4 hours
- Milwaukee to Miami 3 hours; 15 minutes
- Milwaukee to NYC 2 hours 15 minutes
- Milwaukee to Nashville 1 hour 45 minutes
Not bad, right? If short on time, put the road-trip aside (unless venturing close to home) and opt for a flight. To maximize time, consider flying overnight. These so-called “red eye flights” depart at night and arrive the following morning. While a red eye can put a person a little off schedule, the benefits are real. Red eye flights allow travelers as many hours as possible during the daytime to explore. With limited time away, those daytime travel hours are precious. In addition, travelling in off hours often means fewer crowds, less lines, less rush hour traffic and cheaper prices. Wins all around!
4. Travel over the holiday season
For many with limited time away, holiday travel is often the only option. We are parents to 3 school age kids, one of which is an all-star athlete with a demanding schedule. As a result, it is nearly impossible for us to get away 9 months out of the year. While frustrating, this is our reality, so we have learned to work with it. Our solution has been to take extended vacations between Christmas and New Years. While this is NOT my ideal, it works with our reality, so we make the best of it. Remember when I preached about working with what you have? I’m over here living it too, friends!
The drawback of holiday travel is the high price tag. People often find that airfares and hotels are ridiculously expensive around the holidays (except when flying on the actual holiday). Road tripping is a great way to keep costs down if you can get extended time around the holiday. Additionally, consider traveling to cities that are not popular holiday destinations to secure better hotel and airline prices. Christmas in NYC will cost a pretty penny. We spent our last couple holidays road tripping to Memphis and Asheville, and both were relatively budget friendly.
5. Work the holidays and bank the vacation time
Don’t love the idea of travelling for the holidays? Consider doing the exact opposite and work every holiday to bank vacation time for a future date. Many employers are closed for the holiday but may allow their staff to come in and work. That way, you can bank the time for more meaningful use in the future.
I approached my leader with this idea years ago, to save time for a few extended trips I was planning. Our offices are closed on Memorial and Labor Days, so I was using PTO just because we were closed for no good reason. What a waste! I was sitting at home taking PTO for absolutely no reason. I decided to approach my boss with the idea to work the holiday, so I could save the PTO for later. My leader graciously agreed. Now I work every holiday except Christmas and New Year’s when I take a few weeks off. This arrangement allows me to use time off when I want to use it.
In addition, companies and teams can benefit from allowing staff to work the holidays also! First, staff are often extra productive working while the office is closed with little to no interruption. I always look forward to working the holiday because of how much work I’m able to catch up on! Additionally, if staff are willing to work on and around the holidays, it allows others to have that time off, reducing the risk of anyone getting a time off request denied.
6. Inquire about remote work
The world of work is changing, and remote work is the way of the present and future. Even the most rigid employers are learning that work can often be done in different ways. Remote work exploded during the pandemic, proving that much of our work can be done from anywhere. I encourage everyone to consider whether their work can be done fully or partially remote. Even if you don’t currently work remote, I encourage you to explore the possibility with leadership. Remote work is often more possible than you may think, whether done rarely or regularly. If you can work from your living room, why not work from the beach? Thanks to the magic of office backgrounds on Webex, I’ve spent many a day working while traveling. Most bosses won’t care whether you’re working from your home office or Aruba, so long as the work is done. Side note: be sure the work is getting done.
I drafted a proposal to work partially remote pre-pandemic and secured approval by outlining the benefits and how I would make it work. I was graciously granted approval to work from home some of the time, which has evolved into working nearly exclusively remote post-pandemic. When the pandemic hit and remote work became the norm, I was able to help others because I was already ahead of the curve with a little creative thinking. There’s a lot to be said for having an idea, and the courage to ask. The worst your leaders can do is say no, after all.
7. Request an alternative work schedule
Is remote work not an option for you? Another option to secure more travel time is by requesting an alternative schedule. If you currently work five 8-hour days, can you work four 10-hour days? I know many nurses who can’t work remotely; however, they have been allowed to work an alternate schedule.
Securing an alternate schedule could allow you to have a full extra day off each week. Imagine the extended weekend travel you could enjoy with a full extra day off each week! While this arrangement doesn’t work well for me personally, I know many who have done and love this approach. Even if an employer can’t regularly offer you four 10-hour days, they may consider approving it on special occasions. If you never ask, the answer will always be no.
8. Requesting unpaid time or borrowing PTO (paid time off)
If remote or alternate arrangements aren’t an option, consider borrowing vacation time or taking unpaid time. As employers work to help employees find more work/life balance, many are offering PTO borrowing programs and some even allow unlimited PTO or the ability to take unpaid time.
9. Extend business or recreational trips
Another way to maximize time (and money) is to extend trips that are already planned. For instance, when traveling for work, add a vacation day or two. This buys you a little more time to explore while saving on flight costs. Have a child that travels for athletics, like us? Add on a couple extra days to explore the city you’re in.
10. Consider taking a job with travel
If you love travel but lack time and money, consider applying for jobs with required travel. There are so many jobs out there for people seeking adventure and a change of scenery. Roles in the travel industry and military have often appealed to those seeking to see the world. In addition, there are tons of professional jobs that will pay you to travel the country.
That’s it for my list of ways to travel more with limited time off. Leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts! What are your favorite tips for travelling more with a busy life?