There’s no perfect time to travel

I’ve come to realise over the last decade that there really is no perfect time to travel.

There will always be something that makes you feel it’s not quite the right time to take that leap of faith.

We tell ourselves that next year we’ll have saved more money and be in a better position financially.

That next year we’ll have brought the right gear.

That next year we’ll have researched into the countries we want to go to more fully.

That next year we’ll have received a qualification or milestone at work and once that’s under our belts we’ll go travelling.

That next year travel may be safer, cheaper or more viable for us.

That next year maybe I’ll have found a travel buddy.

That in a few more years I’ll have got that big promotion, and a big salary increase to match it.

That in five years I’ll have saved enough to buy a house, and isn’t that more of an investment?

That in five years I may need these savings for something big like a new car, deposit or wedding.

You can see how quickly it turns from next year to five years, and before you know it travel is a distant dream you once had when you were young and able to do “those things”.

Then there’s the “Well if I wait a few more months” voice telling us that we want to be around for a parents’ big birthday, a family wedding, a christening or an anniversary. We book tickets to concerts and shows sometimes years in advance and then we use those things as an excuse that we can’t possibly go away now.

The truth is, there will always be events and occasions that you have to miss, if you want to live life on the road. But here’s the golden nugget - you can do both. Last time we went travelling, we went away for 2 years straight, no returning home. Some family came out to see us, but we didn’t go home to see the ones that couldn’t come to us. Was this selfish? Yes. Did our family mind? No. They supported us. We kept in contact with calls, facetime and postcards (yes I’m a bit old school!).

This time, we have decided that we are going to make time to come home for events or pre-booked things if we can afford it. So, we are going home in a couple of weeks for my nieces birthday party. She’s going to be 4, and I know she’d like us there! We are planning to be around an hour from home at Christmas so we can see family then too. And there’s a concert in May that I’ve got tickets to which is in Bristol, which I will fly home for.

There is no easy way to ignore the voice in your head. It will always be there, and you will always get home sick and miss your family. But if you want to make a lifestyle that works for you, you need to work out how often you want to go and visit friends and family, what events can’t be missed, and which ones you’d just quite like to go to. Then, make the time in your trip to facilitate this.

We have decided that this is our time to live the way we want to, carving out a life which works for us and we are both content with. You know what I think? I think it’s time for you to do the same too…

How to make a difference to the places you travel

For those of you that travel, whether short term or long term, we all leave physical and environmental footprints. This is inevitable and we should all consider how we can off-set these footprints and make a difference to the places that we travel.

Community

All cities, towns, villages and hamlets have a community. A group of people that live there and are the life-force of that place. If you are going to travel somewhere, try to talk to the community that live in that place, speak to the locals and find out what they love about the place they live. Get tips off them; you may find some little known walks, viewpoints or things going on in the town whilst you are there. You may find out where to get the freshest vegetables or best cup of coffee in town. Mostly, you’ll gain the respect of the community members that live there; you have taken the time to speak to them and find out how you can make a difference to the place they call home. You may even make friends and have people to call upon should you ever return.

Support independent businesses

Most areas encourage visitors as people need places to stay, places to eat and almost always buy souvenirs or gifts. This means that the economy in that place improves dramatically. You can help encourage the growth of the economy by supporting local or independent businesses. This way you will also undoubtedly buy things of better quality which last longer, eat food which has travelled less food miles and stay in accommodation in which the host truly cares about your experience.

Go to local events

If you see an event advertised in a small village, go to it! This could be a fete in a small English village, a religious event which says “welcome to all”, a yoga class, a talk presented by the local horticultural society, a wine and cheese night or literally anything else. Yes you may feel out of place to start with but most people are friendly and you won’t regret going. Unless the talk on cacti is really boring of course! There really is a lot going on in the smaller places you visit, and it’s out there for you to find. If you are looking for the energy in a place, it can usually be found in the people that live there.

Treat the place as if you lived there

No littering please. We see these signs everywhere, but I know that some of you still litter, as I see litter ALL OVER THE PLACE. There is usually always a bin nearby too. Come on people, get it together! Treat the places you travel as you would treat the place you live. If you see litter, pick it up and put it in the bin. If you see a problem with litter, speak to someone local about organising a litter pick. If you see someone struggling with their shopping, help them. If you see an unkempt frontage and an elderly person living there, see if you can donate an afternoon to them to help tidy the place up. Look around you at the places and people you see, look properly, and you will see proactive ways you can assist a community. Then the hard part - once you’ve seen it, do it!

Stay longer in each place

If you have the luxury to travel slower, it is not only better for the environment but you will have a more wholesome experience of a place. You will get to know people in that area, find your preferred walking routes, develop a “local” drinking place and a favourite restaurant. I can vouch for this; I have travelled quickly from place to place due to a dwindling budget and a need for speed! I needed to see as many places as possible so I could join in those hostel conversations of “Oh yes I’ve been there too, but I much preferred this well-known place 4 hours down the coast”, and so I could tick things off on my bucket list. Maybe the inclination to travel slower has come with age. When we left to travel hastily across the world (ok, some people may not call two years a hasty trip but trust me, it felt it!), we were just twenty-one years old. Now, we are twenty-eight, and the difference we feel in our mindsets is quite staggering.

If you take my advice and stay just a tad longer in each place, you will feel as though you know the place differently, as more of a “local” yourself, and that you are entitled to form a full opinion of the place as you have given it the time and respect it deserved.

How to travel the world for free

Yes that’s right, it is now possible to travel the world for free!

We were in China in 2016 when we met a family who were slowly travelling the world by looking after other peoples houses and pets. “Slow travel” sounded appealing to us, as we’d spent the last few months hopping from place to place. All in all we spent two years travelling quickly, working out how much time we could spend in each place by looking at our ever shrinking bank balance.

The family we met told us all about something called “Housesitting”. At the time, 6 years ago now, this was a foreign concept to us and something we’d never even heard of. We had a rough plan in place for our travels but we had always planned to come home to the UK at the end of it (or when we ran out of money). We were still young then, returning home in 2018 after two years away and being just 23 years old. We settled down in our home town, got “proper” jobs and bought our first home in 2019.

However, our feet were always itching to go away and explore new places. We knew that although we had family and friends here, deep down we both had a longing for travel. We only felt truly at home when we were on the road. We realised it would take us quite some time to save up travel funds again and we had plans to visit India and South Africa in 2020 but then Coronavirus hit and we ended up cancelling our plans.

The covid-induced lockdowns that then struck us throughout 2020 and restrictions that lasted long into 2021 meant we put most of our travel plans on a halt. We had also gotten engaged in 2020 and planned our wedding for September 2021, which kept us very busy with planning and honeymooning until early 2022. Yes, we had two honeymoons - do you know us at all?! - We went to Malta for a week in October 2021 and Italy for 3 weeks in December 2021.

Over the two year enforced break from real travel, we kept fuelling the fire that we had inside us to travel and we added a gazillion places to our “we need to go here” list. We started saving again after the big spend for the wedding and we decided that it was now or never. We wanted to get moving again. No, we needed to get moving again. Our spirits had been damaged by corporate workplaces and the inflexibility of life - it just gets in the way!

Tom started looking for a fully remote job which he secured in July 2022 and I decided to be brave and quit my job completely in order to focus on our travels and hopefully start to write. It seemed as though the stars were aligning and so we rented out our house and booked in several house sits.

Let me tell you more about house sitting…

The family we met in China all those years ago had inspired us to look into housesitting as a way of moving around the world. We signed up to Trusted Housesitters and created a profile. Trusted Housesitters is a network of people looking for reliable house and pet sitters, and those looking to do the “looking after”. We both love animals and new places, so this seemed like a great thing for us to do. We immediately started house and pet sitting in our local area in order to build up reviews.

Once we had started getting reviews (all 5* thank you very much!) and realised how much we enjoyed the process, we agreed this was the way to kick start our new form of “slow travel”. We also quickly found that the longer the sit the better, as you could really relax into the space, form bonds with the pets and get to know new areas and neighbours.

We started being picky about the locations and lengths of the house sit we would apply for, and also started looking in advance. House sits go onto the site as much as a year in advance, and can be as long as the host needs. We have seen house sits in Australia for as long as 4 months, with only a pond of fish to look after. The best thing about Trusted Housesitters is that it is something you can do worldwide; you can house sit for a parrot in Panama or a cat in Canada.

So, here we are, about to embark on 5 house sits in the UK that will take us forward 6 months. Most of the house sits are around month long in duration and we have a variety of pets to look after. Best of all, our mortgage is covered by our rent payments, and we don’t have to pay any utility bills. We simply need to feed ourselves and enjoy life, exploring new places as we go!

Wish us luck…

Mrs H x