3 Major Steps or Actions Needed to Travel Long-Term
How I Travelled For More Than Half A Year Without Being a Travel Influencer or a Digital Nomad (and spoiler alert: Money is not yet in the picture here)
On 06 Oct 2022, I left my job in Singapore (as a Filipino) and less than a week later, I was headed to the land of the mountains. I am writing this on 18 Apr 2023. 188 days and 10 countries later after I stepped foot on my first country in the list.
I really want to share with the world the beauty of travelling. And not just as a tourist’s POV, but a real traveller at heart. I’m talking about more-than-a-week travel. And NOT squeezing 3 countries in 2 weeks travel, or every night spent in a 4-star hotel travel.
“For me, to travel is not a luxury. It is a need.” is what I always respond when strangers-turned-friends ask me why I travel alone for long, or how, and so on.
Hearing it now, in writing, can actually make me sound like a priviledged rich kid who has never known poverty. So, I should explain further: This has always been the reason why I know I have to travel once in a while — because I consider it a necessary for my growth.
Travel exposes us to different worlds beyond our own. Different way of living, coping mechanisms and survival abilities. We get to be exposed to difficult situations we have never even thought of and exposed to discomforts other people consider normal. I needed to expand my comfort zone. I get to meet another version of me living another life, and EVERYTHING will just come as a learning lesson.
I could go on and on, but I think I made my point to say that these are the things YOU AND I need to achieve our dreams. Courage. Skills. Wisdom. Exposure. And More. True, we all need a community and a place to call home, but we really should not stay in one place all our lives. Even Jesus didn’t. He travelled.
Travel changes perspective, changes hearts and changes lives. So, I know I HAD to travel. By all means necessary.
3 Major Steps and Actions I Did to Be Where I Am Now:
1. I started envisioning my dream to be a reality.
This is the most important step because if you don’t start visualising yourself living YOUR dreams — they will always remain out of reach. No more of “I wish” or “I hope… because it’s my dream!”, but more of “I will”, “I have to… because it’s my dream” and “That’ll be me.”
I’ve always wanted to explore the world. I really mean EXPLORE. Not just 2 days in a country and go. So, I read travel blogs on long-term travel, how others travel with little money, and how I can apply it in my lifestyle. And as I read or search along, I envision myself travelling for a year. In times of struggles, I keep this thought close to heart. “I am going to travel the world for a year.”
2. Make it my priority.
I know my dream is not easy to achieve. A year is a long time. No work, even. I have known poverty real well, and it’s ugly (and that’s why it is my goal to end it). I’m not even a holder of a strong passport. Because of these reasons, I know I have to work harder than everybody else. But so, be it.
From the moment I envisioned my dream to be a reality — I made it a priorty. My lifestyle decisions had to follow through my travel-dream-turned-to-reality scheme. For example:
- I adapted the minimalist lifestyle which meant:
- no collection of things
- no unnecessary buying of one time use materials (Rent / borrow if you must) - I can not be too dependent on something
- I had to manage my finances well: I make sure to save up mainly for annual insurance, emergency fund and travel fund
- I decrease my expenses as much as I can
- I try to learn as much from long-term travellers
- I research on visa-free countries on my free time, and things to do
- I plan my itineraries
3. I set a DEADLINE. Time. A date.
It has to be a date. You have to set the date first, a sensible one, of course. Not the “When I have $345342342xxx then I’ll travel”. The reason, I say this is because obstacles would always happen for you not to reach that target.
Even I didn’t reach how much $$$ I ideally wanted to have before travel. And no, I ALSO didn’t meet my target travel time. Covid happened. So does, retrenchment. And there’s my contractual bond in my new employment. My mom’s death.
It was supposed to be on June 2021. But because of all those events above (and more), it happened on Oct 2022. But as a Christian, I know everything is working FOR me. Rom 8:28. Let it be done according to His will.
I might not have reached my deadline but I still have an idea when it is time for me to make that dream a reality. I had to make adjustments, but still, there is a deadline.
If you don’t set it, OR if you keep postponing it or if you keep waiting for that promotion, your first love / dream will never happen. Again, it is a matter of priorities. Follow this deadline firmly. It helps to have a timeline or a countdown, too. I did an entire spreadsheet on it.
It was this mentality that pushed me through:
- “Whether or not you have reached the amount of money you saved, you have to go. Figure out how you are going to last.”
- “It takes time to live.”
- “You want a house or a year-long travel? If you die now, which would make you more proud of yourself?”
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I know Kathryn Bernardo said in Hello, Love Goodbye “Ang choice.. para lang sa may pera” (“Choice.. is only for the rich”), but I am not considered rich in today’s standards. CHOICES ARE FOR EVERYONE. Don’t ever think you are not capable of achieving your dreams. Because you are. You can. And I’ve met MANY travellers who do not have blogs, do not even have a social media to share their stories and did not grow up rich too. They all just have a passion for travelling and know the world is calling out to them.
Without these steps, NO MATTER how much money a person has — he or she would not have what it takes to accomplish his dream of travelling. Or any actual dream, really. Because he’ll always take it as a dream, not make lifestyle changes for it, and will continue to delay it until there’s no more time — forgetting that IT TAKES TIME TO LIVE.
So, I hope everyone takes time to live your dreams. ❤
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. — Psalms 23:4 NIV
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Note: Fastforward to 2023, I have completed my Long-Term Travel Series where I have visited 19 countries in a span of 381 Days as a Solo Filipino Female Traveller. HALLELUJAH, WE’RE ALIVE!! :)
Jump to: Nepal | Thailand | Laos | India | Cambodia | Vietnam | Hong Kong | Macau | Taiwan | Mongolia | Kazakhstan | Uzbekistan | Tajikistan | Kyrgyzstan | United Arab Emirates | Armenia | Georgia
Watch the Journey #Unfiltered and look through the photos
I am in no way being paid to write these articles. I’m currently unemployed, (frantically) looking for work and times are tough especially when you’re a 3rd world country citizen. So, if in any way, you’d like to HELP me stress less on my finances in the upcoming days, please refer below.
Thank you for the support! May God bless you all the more!