No one’s stopping us from going a country mile to feed our “wanderlust.” But the question is, “When is the right time to do it?”

EMBARKING ON A TRAVEL is a universal aspiration – and it’s for a good reason.

Traveling is divine. And you know it. 

I bet we can all relate to several things about going places. Let me break it down for you using the acronym for WANDER. **Note: this is me being slightly cringy and creative at the same time.

WAY TO LEARN

Look at travel as a way to learn about a country or a place, its culture, and way of life (especially when we embark on a solo adventure). Travelling gives us REAL LIFE lessons no class in a 4-corner room ever can.

ADVENTURE YOU’LL LOVE

Isn’t it because we are excited to see, feel, and experience the thrill of the unknown that we crave for it so much? Every travel is a good adventure. Just like every adventure is a big story to tell & love.

ALSO READ: A Trip to Pandin Lake and Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

NECESSARY BREAK

With all the hustle and bustle of daily life, you also need time to unwind. Take a break from the system and appreciate life by seeing it, in all its beauty and flaws. It’s definitely not healthy to let stress build up!

DREAM GOAL

Don’t deny it, we all have #TravelGoals. Just imagine you’re in your dream place. It’s not only fantastic, it’s something that makes life worthwhile, because we gain a sense of accomplishment for being THERE.

EXPAND PERSPECTIVE

If you stay in one place, you’re only gonna learn about the life there. If you visit more, then you’re learning about more places- experience and perspective-wise. Don’t live in a bubble, dear. Broaden your mind by traveling. Slowly, and gradually. Don’t rush it.

REAP THE REWARDS OF HARD WORK

Most people work to live. Guess what, there’s more to living than just eating three meals a day, working, sleeping, and repeating the cycle. Don’t you think your hours of overtime would be worth it if you could funnel a small amount, save it, and use it to fund your personal travels? Sure, work your ass off. But you can definitely reap its rewards.

If it’s that good, why are you delaying your travels? 

I won’t lie. Sometimes I get a bit jealous seeing my friends and close relatives who are “out there” enjoying a short vacation. But then again, I have a big (and long) life ahead of me and I’ll have all the time I need in the near future (#TrustTheUniverse). Right now, it’s not part of my biggest priorities. *Delaying a travel is different from denying myself to travel

Money can be earned again, why are you hesitating? 

It doesn’t matter if it’s a domestic or international trip. You HAVE to HAVE money to pay for the expenses! The last of my WANDER acronym says “Reap the rewards,” where you should live a little and travel, as the fruit of your hard work. I can do that. But I need to be patient and wait til I have MORE than what’s necessary (extra money) so I can use it for that purpose. My parents raised me not to be spoiled and I guess I should live the part, yeah? What’s a few months of waiting? Remember, delay short term gratifications for long term rewards! 

Who pays for the expenses? 

Since I’m the one traveling, then I should pay for everything. I’ve never really asked for money from my parents since the day I graduated, and it’s something I take pride in, because that way I’m not a “pabigat.” (But of course, it’s a different thing when parents initiate the family travel LOL).

The Marketing Mentor Josiah Go, shared that his foreign travels are funded two ways: 1) from a minor part of the surplus of his company’s operations, and 2) from dividends, interest income and gains from investments i.e. stock market.

See? He uses his “allocated money” for his travels. A simple act of “living within our means.” If you are paying for the expenses of your travels, make sure that you don’t spend and splurge via credit cards. I personally think credit cards are evil haha. While it is convenient to use, it’s hard to feel the pain of spending and it can easily be shrugged off because the billing comes a month after. We should pay attention to the trade offs so our future cash flow will be POSITIVE ++++++ 

When is your supposed “right time” to travel? 

Disclaimer. I’m no expert. But if there’s one thing I learned about the “right time,” I learned it AGAIN from Josiah Go (and he got it from no less than the Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, also a famous TED Talk speaker). In his blog, he says, “… there is time for everything — time to save, time to invest, time to enjoy. In each of these times, trade off decisions are needed. There is opportunity cost once money is spent too early, too often and too much on foreign vacations. There is also an opportunity cost once money is invested in fixed assets, like a house too early in our working life, with exceptions of a good deal, a major price increase or reasonable recurring income from rent.”

So yeah, I have yet to visit destinations that are rich in cultural heritage of Arts and Architecture, part of the world’s top beaches, topographically perfect yada, yada, yada! But I’ll get there. And when I do, I’ll enjoy the heck out of it! 😉