There’s no better time to travel than now

 

It’s easy to lose track of your day, you no sooner turn up to work – blink – and then you’re leaving. How many of those days have we had? Before we know it, weeks, months and possibly years have passed and that ‘bucket list’ of yours hasn’t been achieved. I want to help inspire you to do them – now. There’s never been a better time to travel, so get your pen and paper ready and start writing that list and make it happen!

Time

Noun: the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

Everything we do is dependent on time; we rely on it more than we care to think. In the hours that make up one day we don’t think about structured our days are around it: what time we start work, doing the school run and pick up on time, appointments, lunch breaks, trying to finish work on time to make it to your gym class on time (this might be my example). On a larger scale how many times have you asked yourself ‘where has the year gone?’ those single days add up pretty quickly and before you know it New Years Eve is upon you and you’re writing up a revised version of your bucket list from the previous year. Time does not wait for us and we can’t beat it. So if you can’t beat it, why not join it? 

My boss inspired me to write this article, having worked in the travel industry for over 30 years he’s witness a lot of changes. He was issuing travel insurance for a long-term client of his and pointed out to me that in just 12 months her annual insurance policy increased by $93 dollars because of her age. The harsh reality is travel doesn’t come cheaper as you become older, and your travel experience is going to be drastically different when you’re twenty-eight opposed to when you’re sixty eight. Sure you could wait until you’ve had children, raised a family then go travel, but would you still be open to once in a lifetime experiences such as paragliding in Austria, trekking Machu Picchu or white water rafting in New Zealand? Traveling is all about living in the now, grabbing every opportunity you can within reach and making the most of everything you’ve got. I’m so lucky that I’m inspired to travel every single day, and I hope this gives you a little bit of inspiration as well.

 Time vs. Money. The old ‘I don’t have time to travel’ excuse is like ‘I don’t have time to go to gym’ excuse as well. If traveling is always put off, then it will never happen.The reason you don’t have time is because you don’t make the time. What’s honestly stopping you? Money? News flash, you don’t need to be rich to travel. Everyone who knows me knows I’m definitely not rich, I’m by far the poorest out of my circle of friends but I’m by far the most traveled because it’s what I love to invest with my money. If you want something so bad then you have to make it a priority - knuckle down and save hard for it. It’s a proven fact that people are less happy with materialistic items as it only creates short term happiness, sure you will love it for a day or two but after that it’ll be completely forgotten about. Investing your money into travel becomes part of your identity and those memories will last a lifetime – unlike the $200 dress you just purchased, which guarantee will be so last season in about three months time. Devoting your money into travel will make you a much happier person, and who doesn’t want to be happy? When you think about it and if you’ve experienced this before, you’re more likely to bond with someone who’s recently traveled to the same destination as you then with someone who has the latest Smartphone.

They say money makes the world go round, and it can determine what type of traveler you are as well – luxury or budget. There’s absolutely no right or wrong way of going about it, I personally think they both have pros and cons. I often search travel blogs for my own inspiration and I recently came across one from Kevin Kelly called ‘More time is better than more money’. Having traveled extensively for over forty years from first class travel to hitch hiking with no money he’s pretty much experienced every type of travel style you can think of, however having the luxury of more money isn’t necessarily the better way to travel. When you have money you’re more likely to pay for the more convenient services to get you from point A to B to save you time, rather then spending it accidentally getting ‘lost in the right direction’. To put things into perspective, I have to share the last few sentences of his article with you:

 

"Time is the one thing you can give yourself in abundance. It is often the one resource the young own. Ironically, if you exploit your gift of time as you travel, you’ll gain more than any billionaire can. Without exaggeration, you’ll earn experiences that no amount of money can buy. Seriously. Although it tries, money cannot buy what time delivers.” - Kevin Kelly.

You have more time then money; you can’t buy back time especially when you’re young so use it wisely. Remember, travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer!

The world is rapidly changing. The world won’t be the same as it is in one year, five years or in ten years time. I love history and I believe that’s what fueled my passion for travel so much. History proves that in certain counties historical development and current political situations are formed from periods of social, political and economical development. Cuba is one HOT destination at the moment, why might you ask? Cuba is undergoing a profound period of modernization and transformation right now. To give you a little bit of background history, back in the 1950’s Cuba’s leader at the time Fidel Castro began a revolutionary change of Cuban society, health care, education, land reform and more whilst moving a close relationship with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union (USSR) was created from the Russian empire in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution and was the largest country in the world. After the Second World War, the Soviet Union emerged as a superpower in rivalry with the US, due to the wide spread fear of communism (a system where all property is public and people work and are given things by the government according to their needs).

As Castro’s regime increased trade with the Soviet Union, policies made relations between Cuba and the US increasingly strained to which they responded with economic retaliation – including stringent travel restrictions. Fast-forward through the Cold War era and the next thirty years after the collapse of the USSR and Cuba was faced with devastating economic hardship. To help aid Cuba the island began opening to international tourists in the early 1990’s. Until recently U.S President Barak Obama reversed some of the restrictions implemented on Cuba (travel, telecommunications) to seek greater engagement and establishing modernization to the historic island. Why travel to Cuba? You will truly appreciate the unique culture and history it has to offer as it’s like taking a step back in time – locals still drive around in 1920 model cars, smoke cigars, tourists can’t access Internet or email and ATM’s aren’t around every corner. It may be a few years for change to be evident, but for decade’s airline and hotel chains have been patiently waiting. This beautiful island has basically been cut off from the rest of the world, but now it’s only a matter of time before Cuba starts to makes drastic changes. So don’t wait to visit Cuba; go now. 

Of course Cuba isn’t the only country making rapid changes, these days some of the most famous landmarks are under threat. The foundations of the Taj Mahal are slowly sinking, and due to over-population the city endures heavy erosion and air pollution daily creating constant smog. Illegal logging, ranching, mining, and civil warfare are the reason millions of acres are lost in the rainforest of Congo Basin, Africa which would produce a large chunk of the world’s supply of oxygen. As they shrink, less carbon dioxide is absorbed, adding to climate change. And the only living thing that can be seen from space, our very own Great Barrier Reef which contains the largest existing cover of coral reefs, has lost over half its coral in the past 30 years due to jumps in carbon dioxide pollution from industrial port developments.

Do it for yourself. Life is far too short, you’re never guaranteed old age. The younger you are when you travel the more open minded you’ll be and in many ways can help build you towards a rewarding career. Too many people stress in their 20s over the emphasis and pressure about how they need to have their life in order at such a young age. You’re guaranteed to make more money in your forties than your twenties so use your time wisely to develop skills in problem solving and creative thinking and build your confidence while seeing the world at the same time. Talk about a win-win situation right?!

So if you think it is time to plan a holiday, but want to know which destinations that are HOT at the moment, then I’d suggest - Europe (particularly Summer destinations like Croatia and Greek Islands), Cuba, Morocco, Vietnam, Turkey, and even Australia (because our dollar isn’t the best at the moment). Remember, traveling doesn’t just require a passport we are so blessed to call Australia home. We have some of the best beaches, reef, rainforest, outback and cities right at our doorstep, heaven does exist and it’s in the land down under. 

I’m off to Cambodia and Vietnam in late October for four weeks, so for my next blog I’ll have loads to write about when I’m back. So for now - BON VOYAGE!

Reference: Kevin Kelly – More time is better than more money - Rhonda, Spain https://hi.co/moments/dvjugu7d