How to Travel More Despite Your Job, Budget and Without Someone to Go With

Want to figure out how to travel more? 

As someone who has found ways to work remotely from destinations around the world – both for other companies and for myself – I get it. Travel is one of my main purposes and I want to see as much as possible! But I’ve also been in situations where money was tight, or when PTO was super limited. 

Here’s what I’ve learned – if it’s truly a priority for you to learn how to travel more then actually doing so is within your realm of possibility. 

Planning a trip? Use my favorite resources:

• Accommodations: booking.com
• Travel Insurance: SafetyWing
• Tours & Excursions: Viator
• Flights: Skyscanner
• City Pass: Go City
• eSim: Airalo

21 Tips for How to Travel More 

If you consider traveling your hobby and you want to dedicate more time to it regardless of your circumstances then here’s how: 

How to Travel More When You Have a Full-Time Job 

It’s a lot easier for me to travel now that I mostly work for myself, but for the majority of my career spanning more than a decade that wasn’t the case!

1. Add on to work trips

Do you ever travel for work? I know, it’s rarely as glamorous as it sounds, right? Often, work trips have me spending lots of time in a hotel room getting ready for a presentation and then too tired to do much else. 

Something you might try is adding time on before or after your work trip to actually explore the city you’re in. Of course, this is easiest when your work trip falls just before or after the weekend, because you won’t have to request much additional time off work.

But, even if that’s not the case, taking a couple days off to build upon work trips can still be a cost-effective approach to traveling more. 

2. Blend remote work and time off 

This is an option that I’ve used myself but have seen others leverage as well. It’s not the most ideal situation, but it can definitely allow you to travel more if your boss approves.

What is it? 

Offering to work remotely for part of your travels. Here’s why it works – imagine you’re planning a trip to Europe and you want to be able to stay there for several weeks.

Whether you’re traveling solo, or with family / friends who want to explore for longer, flying to another country takes a lot of time, money and planning. It makes sense you want to stay there as long as possible. 

If you’re based in the US, you can offer to work your company’s time zone while traveling. When I did this, I would enjoy my days exploring and then sign on to work from 4pm-midnight. 

Now, I’m an early bird and not really built for working until midnight! But, it was important to me to be able to be in Europe for an extended period so I was willing to make it work in a way that my boss also felt comfortable with. 

3. Negotiate for more PTO

I didn’t even know you could do this until my older cousin encouraged me to make the ask before I joined my previous company. I managed to secure an extra week of PTO as part of my negotiation before accepting that job.

I was pretty early on in my career, maybe I could’ve secured even more had I known more, but a whole extra week felt like a win to me. 

Whether you’re about to accept a new role or up for some sort of promotion, review or other negotiation opportunity give this approach a try. 

4. Batch your PTO with National Holidays

In case you haven’t seen calendars like this, it helps you plan ahead to multiply your vacation opportunities throughout the year. 

By looking at when National Public Holidays fall and making recommendations for what days to strategically request off you could easily plan multiple 3-day, 4-day or longer trips for a given year. While the calendar I’ve linked above is for Americans, you can take a similar approach if you’re based elsewhere as well. 

Although, I realize that we Americans may be the only ones who need something like this given our work culture! 

5. Take ‘local’ trips

Travel doesn’t have to involve planes or always be to far-off, international destinations (though it’s definitely alluring). Whether you use the strategy above to collect more 3-day or 4-day weekends, or decide to make the most of your standard 2-day weekend you can still satisfy your itch for travel. 

Taking road trips to local towns near where you live can help you view your same-old surroundings in a whole new way. 

6. Be replaceable enough 

A big part of being able to step away from work to travel more is how much your boss and company trust you, and how little your team needs you. We often think that the only way to show our value in the workplace is by being the key player who can do it all. 

While that may have its benefits, it also has its downsides. Especially when it comes to your being able to step away. 

When you’re able to communicate effectively, make a solid plan of action for work to be carried out by others and delegate well this allows you to confidently take time off.

By ensuring things run smoothly while you’re away, and that you’re not overly missed, you make it easier for yourself to step away with others being okay with it. 

And no, this doesn’t really make you replaceable. Because effective communication, action planning and delegation are not easy skills to master. These skills make you a valuable asset. 

Spoken from a longtime corporate learning and development professional on an HR team, yours truly.  

7. Take a sabbatical 

Alright, now we’re getting into some more ‘extreme’ approaches for how to travel more. If none of the above applies to you or seems like it would work for what you’re really looking for – take a sabbatical. 

I’d strongly recommend first having money saved up, for however long you’d like to travel and then some. 

You can certainly run the idea of a sabbatical by your employer. Maybe you’ll be able to work something out with them that allows you to step away for a period of time and then return to your job again. It’s always worth a shot to ask. 

But be prepared that they may say no, and in that case your sabbatical means quitting your job (once you have money saved up) to travel. You can do this. You absolutely can. 

Decide how long you want to travel for, make your plans and go. 

Afterward, apply for new jobs. 

If you really want it, this is an option for you and I’m emphasizing it so hard because so often we assume that it isn’t. Let’s address the two most likely objections: 

What if I can’t find another job like this ever, ever again? Chances are, you will. If not, you’ll find something else. You already have proof that you’re employable if you’re employed right now. 

What if this sets me behind in your career? What does behind even mean? Where do you want to end up in your career? In your life? Make decisions according to what you want, not what you’ve been taught to prioritize. 

8. Find a remote job 

Maybe your employer is strict about having an in-office presence. There are also employers out there who are not. If location independence is important to you, it’s time to start looking for and applying to remote jobs.

Or, perhaps more accurately, fully remote companies as those tend to be the most flexible about allowing you to work from anywhere. 

How to travel more on a budget 

It’s a total myth that traveling has to be expensive. I’ve done some degree of budget traveling, but more than that I’ve seen so many others travel the world on extreme budgets. It’s a real thing, and if you’re looking to travel on an extreme budget then definitely seek out those creators to learn from them. 

In the meantime, here are some of my tips for traveling somewhat on a budget:

9. Proactively and intentionally save for travel 

A few different factors go into establishing your budget – how much you currently make, how much of that you’re willing and able to save, how quickly you want to start traveling more. 

If you’re planning to take some time off to travel for an extended period, you should definitely start by deciding how much you want to save up to do so. 

And if you simply want to travel more often while maintaining your overall current routine, you should still set up an intentional travel fund so that money is less likely to stop you when a travel opportunity arises. 

If you’re not already using a high yield savings account, you’re leaving money on the table. I use and recommend Wealthfront. If you sign up using my link, we both get a little added boost on the interest rate. But even if you don’t use my link, this is still what I use and recommend. 

10. Set flight alerts 

If you have a destination in mind and want to book flights when prices are at their lowest, set up a Google flight alert. I like to set some up on a variety of potential travel dates, and then I book once I see the prices go down to what seems the lowest. 

11. Have some flexibility 

If you can, be flexible about your travel dates and even travel departure and arrival points. Flying to or from a neighboring city (or on a continent like Europe, even a different country) can save you $$$.

Play around with your options on KAYAK or Google flights to find what’s most cost effective. 

12. Go off peak season 

Not only does traveling during shoulder or off peak seasons save you money, it helps you beat the crowds in super popular destinations.

I’ve visited Rome in November, Ireland as well. I’ve strolled through Madrid in fall and Paris in February. Popular destinations like these are also great to visit off peak because they’re not affected by the ebbs an flows of seasonal tourism. 

For example, in smaller towns that are popular with tourists a lot of shops might close during off season but that’s really not the case in big cities where many people live year-round. 

13. Follow deal newsletters

Randomly, I’ll see massive flight deals in my inbox. I follow newsletters like ‘Secret Flying’ and ‘Going,’ and I’ve seen roundtrip deals to Europe frequently for less than $400.

In fact, I shared one of these on my Instagram stories a while back and one of my followers jumped on the chance to book a Paris trip for her entire family of 5!

14. Choose more affordable destinations

If you want to stick to a budget without sacrificing how well you’re able to eat, explore and sleep then consider visiting more affordable destinations. Maybe Switzerland isn’t your next travel destination (notoriously expensive). Maybe instead you can visit Southeast Asia. 

Look into destinations where the cost of food, hotels and experiences feels more comfortable for you. Now, maybe you’ll pay more for your flights but be able to save on your daily budget once you arrive.

Alternatively, maybe you find affordable flights to a more expensive destination but then your daily budget needs to be higher. 

You’ll want to map this out and calculate what makes the most sense for your wallet and your travel style. 

15. Travel hack using credit card points

If you’re on a budget, I strongly encourage you to spend some time learning about the world of travel hacking through credit card points. You can watch my video on it here.

I am NO expert, and I tend to use my points to travel in style by booking business class flights. But I have friends who rarely pay for flights or hotels because they manage to book everything on points!

I have my own research to do to become even better at this, but here you can find the credit cards I recommend with good sign-on bonuses to jumpstart your points journey.

Please only take this route if you’re already familiar with and responsible with using credit cards – going into debt to get travel points is not very budget-friendly! 

16. Stay in hostels 

I am no longer in this phase of my life myself, but I once was and I used to love it. Not only was it a great way to meet people, I was able to save on meals as well as accommodations.

Staying in hostels is generally way more budget-friendly compared to hotels. Plus, sometimes they offer family meal nights for an affordable (or free) rate. With a kitchen onsite, you can also save by making your own meals. And sometimes, they also include affordable excursions. 

I used to always use hostelworld to check reviews and find a hostel that fit my vibe. Something to note is that these days, many hostels also offer private rooms if you pay a bit more. Sometimes this makes sense, and other times a private room costs the same as a hotel. Just know, it’s an option to consider. 

17. Look for free things to do and plan for splurges

There are actually so many free or affordable ways to get to know a new destination. You can wander the most interesting neighborhoods, join a walking tour, look for free museums, picnic at a popular park and more. 

If you know you want to splurge on something, plan ahead for it. Spending some time building an itinerary filled with things that both interest you and fit your budget can go a long way in helping you make the most of your trip. 

18. Take road trips or train travel 

Often, but not always, taking a road trip or traveling by train is more affordable than booking a flight. It can also be a more fun and efficient way to travel depending on where you are.

For example, I love taking trains from one city or country to another while I’m in Europe. Not only does it feel more environmentally sound, it’s beautiful and more comfortable for me. 

Of course, traveling by plane is faster so this is an option depending on how much time you actually have!

19. Always have an emergency trip fund

No matter how solidly you plan and how meticulous your budget, sometimes things just happen. The worst case scenario would be for you to run into an unexpected travel cost that you’re unequipped to pay. 

When you’re making your budget for a trip, always include some sort of just-in-case fund to pull from. 

How to travel more when you have no one to go with

Friends, this was me. At 32 I found myself divorced, isolated during a global pandy and craving travel. Who was I going to go with? 

20. Embrace solo travel

I hated my first solo trip. I went to Porto on some sort of challenge to myself all the way back in 2014. I talk all about it in my solo travel guidebook. Luckily, I rediscovered solo travel a decade later and have fallen in love with it. 

I love the freedom it gives me to go wherever, whenever I want. I love the opportunities it gives me to get to know myself and really enjoy my own company. If you decide you’re ready to take a solo trip, I will happily and enthusiastically cheer you on!

Stop waiting around for someone to go with. If travel is something you want more of in your life, just go for it. 

21. Join a group trip experience 

Traveling by yourself doesn’t have to mean actually traveling alone. You can join a group trip (I’m hoping to run one of my own, let me know if you’d want to join!) and meet loads of new friends who are also interested in traveling but have no one to go with. 

FAQ: How to Travel More 

If you really want to travel more, you absolutely can. Let’s recap and cover off on some related musings:  

How can I travel more often? 

The number one answer here, what it all boils down to, is: by making a plan. Instead of wishing for it, figure out what’s getting in your way. Then make a plan to overcome whatever your unique set of barriers is. Lots of ideas above for you to choose from as a starting point!

Why do I have such a strong desire to travel? 

Maybe it’s the novelty of it. Maybe it’s an insatiable curiosity looking for answers. Maybe it’s just freaking fun. I used to really question my desire for travel. Now, I accept it. Some people love golf. Others love playing guitar. Some love to read or sew or play boardgames. You and me? We love to travel. 

How to satisfy wanderlust? 

Take a trip, of course! In my experience, wanderlust wants to be fed again and again. You can either take a trip, or spend more time planning trips. For example, if you’re traveling every few months but feeling strong wanderlust in between trips, get busy planning more in advance for your trips. 

How does this help? Studies show that simply being in the planning phase of travel can significantly boost satisfaction. 

Final Thoughts: How to Travel More Often 

Whether you’re navigating how to travel more with a full-time job, on a budget or alone know that more frequent travel is definitely in the cards for you – if you really want it to be. If you’re ready to take action instead of only sitting and wishing, then I have no doubt you’ll be hitting the road, tracks or skies again and again. 

And if you’re looking for some travel inspiration and wanderlust fuel in the meantime then come follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my Youtube channel or sign up for my newsletter (in the sidebar). 

Bon voyage!