I was cutting back on literally everything for two whole years straight just to get out of debt. And now I realized that I could have done this all VERY different. Although I am now out of debt, was it really worth it to sacrifice two years for that? Couldn’t it be, that it was also possible to do so, while also traveling the world and having some fun in-between?
These were some of my thoughts when I tried hard to cut back on everything just to get out of debt. I was feeling like this has to be done first in order for me to “get some toys”. Going on holiday was just too expensive for me. It would have just set me back to much. What I didn’t understand back then tough was that having money on the bank or having debt doesn’t change a thing. As long as you have a basic plan on how to get rid of the debt (or never even get there) you are good to go. But you should never sacrifice too much for some superficial stuff like this. Don’t be as stupid as I was!:)
Let go of any wrong excuses you came up for yourself. I deeply wanted to travel the whole time but I couldn’t just find enough reasons to do it. My priorities shifted from having a beautiful and enjoyable life to “cut back on everything and get out of debt first”. This became my number one priority. Although I managed to do it, I would never put something like this first EVER again.
For me traveling will always be super valuable. I would never want to miss seeing new places and meeting new people from far aways parts of the world. It is just such an enriching experience.
That is why I have let go of my limiting beliefs about expensive traveling. Here is my list of all the excuses people come up with just because their priorities are just not correctly aligned.
1. “I don’t have enough money!”
If you believe that you have not enough money to travel the world you are just like I was just some time ago. The fact is: you can always say that. UNLESS you make traveling the world and experiencing it in a new way one of your priorities in your life. You do not have to be rich to travel the world. There are endless possibilities to travel when you are “broke” and you will see them once you are open to finding them. For example: check out The Ultimate Guide to Traveling When You’re Broke and you will realise that there are A LOT of possibilities for people who want to travel and experience the world but believe that money is their limiting factor.
Read more about this in my posts here:
- Meditation Is A Waste Of Time
- 50 Mind-Blowing Reasons Why I Meditate On A Daily Basis And Why You Should Too
2. “I have no time to take time off!”
There is an old zen saying that really struck me once I was in that super duper work mode and had thoughts similar to this one. “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.” At first, I didn’t get it to be honest (lol). It made little to no sense to me. But since I am quite into meditation I gave it a try. What “this” does to you is that it re-evaluates your priorities. Everybody has his 24 hours a day. And to be honest: a lot of people get WAY more out of it than others. They know their highest priorities and all their actions are extremely focused on getting these top things done first. As soon as you make traveling the world a priority in your life, you WILL make room for it. Just like I wrote about it here: you have to allow yourself to “waste” time from time to time!:)
3. “I cannot leave my family and friends!”
This is a limiting belief of yours. Your friends will always be there and your family (should) also only want the best for you. If any of these people don’t want you to have a more fulfilled an richer life, experience the world and see exotic places, living a life in abundance and peace, why would you put them in the category of “family and friends” in the first place?
4. “I don’t really see the sense in traveling the world.”
If you really don’t see any sense in traveling and experiencing the world you should probably travel more!:) Take some months off and go somewhere you haven’t been yet, somewhere exotic. Meet new people and take time off of any “problems” and challenges. Then see how it changes your perspective on things and how it will shape your character and personality. Nobody can tell you the benefits of traveling, you have to experience it by yourself. (And ironically everybody who does, would never want to miss it).
5. “But I have kids?”
There are always people telling me different excuses for not being able to live an abundant and richer lifestyle. Just recently I was talking to a mother of two children who told me that it is impossible for her to travel anywhere. Traveling with children, she said is just too exhausting, too expensive and based on her current life situation just simply not possible. What I tried to tell her tough was that by having this kind of perspective and beliefs, will ALWAYS result in her finding more and more indicators on why her belief is true. There is always an option. As long as you don’t waste any energy into keeping your excuses up and running. If sticking to excuses and cutting back on life because of that is a big issue for you, I definitely recommend you reading this golden nugget here: Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits. It helped me get a whole new perspective on why I do certain (bad) things and was the final push I needed to turn some uncomfortable habits around. For some tips on how to make your holiday with kids more fun, read this article here: 20 Tips for Traveling with Children
6. “I can’t just quit my job!”
Yes you can. But the question is, do you want to do that? A lot of people tend to do the drastic approach and burn all the boats, so to say. There is no turning back. They sell all their stuff so that they just have to go. Although this absolutely possible and oftentimes also quite rewarding, this does not have to be you. You can also take it slow. Work your 9-5 job. But also build something on your own in the rest of your given time. Create something new, that sooner or later will take over. And until then, just go with the flow and take some mini adventure holidays in-between. Life is much more enjoyable when you put same variety into the mix. Get into the habit of traveling to some new place every couple of months. It will refresh you, give you some new insights and will allow you to inspire you to get more of it.
PS: Here are 3 more good reasons to travel while you’re young!
