Weekend Getaway: Chicago Bound

Traveling is a topic that can easily get both negative and positive publicity. If you are traveling nonstop (usually for work) it is often dreadful and exhausting, if you are lucky enough to travel for vacation it’s exciting and adventurous.

Personally, traveling is definitely something I would love to do more of. It never seems like there is a “right” time to do it. My schedule is either too busy, finances too constricted, or maybe I am just too unsure of where I would want to go.

Traveling is a new goal I have given myself and to overcome these never ending obstacles or excuses not to travel I have come up with a couple strategies to overcome my typical excuses.

Excuse Number 1: My schedule doesn’t allow for me to travel

First of all, you are always going to think that you’re too busy to travel, no matter how busy you actually are. You could be working 50+ hours a week or working part time and doing other things and still not think you have the time for it.

Traveling is something you should make time for because its an experience that will most likely educate you and possibly inspire you. I never called off work for this weekend getaway to Chicago, but I was off on Friday and Monday and decided this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I could have taken advantage of this long weekend to get ahead on content or get some things done around the house, but that will always be there, an experience to get away for a weekend won’t be.

I know that many of you may not ever be lucky enough to get a Friday and Monday off, but see if there is an option to take a half day Friday or work from home while you travel. Try to be as creative as possible.

Excuse Number 2: My finances are too constricted

Being only 22 years old and right out of college, this is always my biggest obstacle. My parents don’t pay for me to travel anywhere anytime I want and therefore I need to be financially smart and plan ahead if I ever want to travel anywhere.

For me, it always seemed to be that I had a lot of money saved up when I had nowhere to travel to and when the money was tight I had places I wanted to travel to and people I wanted to see.

In order to combat this issue I kept running into, I decided to create a CapitalOne36o Account. This is just a savings account (where I can gain minimal interest) where I can set aside extra cash per month and specifically label it categorize it how I wish. Big surprise, I chose to label this account “Travel”.

I started adding anywhere from $15-$30/month to this account and haven’t touched it since. Now I have a couple places that I want to travel to and I already have enough money to buy a flight and cover additional travel expenses. Obviously depending on your income and the amount of traveling you want to do, you can alter this number accordingly.

I am not a frequent traveler and don’t have a huge income right now so for me this was a solid number that would still benefit the account without breaking the bank. Since the transfer from my bank account was automatic, majority of the time I barely even noticed that money was missing. This was extraordinary for me and my plans to travel in the future.

Now that this extra money was set aside if a spur of the moment trip came up I had no financial reason not to take the trip. Knowing that this was typically my biggest restriction, I am confident that this will solve any future problems I may have in this area of traveling. If you do not have something similar setup, I highly recommend it!

Excuse Number 3: I don’t even know where to go.

Now this issue may be nonexistent for you. Some people just constantly have a list in the back of their head of places they want to go. This isn’t completely untrue for me; I essentially want to see every big city there is, but at this place and time in my life, that is nearly impossible.

The obvious solution to this problem is to narrow it down, but where do you start? This may go back to your finances, yes I have a good chunk of money saved up, but I still don’t have enough to fly to Europe and back. That means I need to stay in the United States.

Next, I would probably look at my travel history. For me, I went to Hilton Head and Florida almost every single year with my family. I have never been to the west coast or east coast, so those are spots I would love to hit. Next would just be identifying which cities in those geographic areas really speak to me and go from there.

Another big consideration for me is trying to find a city where I know someone living there. Knowing someone who lives in that city gives you the potential opportunity to stay with them for free, or at least get some advice as to places you should visit and experience.

Summary

With these considerations in mind, I hope that this post inspired you to start planning ahead for all that happens when traveling occurs. I also encourage you to set up a CapitalOne360 account for any other areas in your life where you would want to financially save up. Another Capital One account I have is called “Future Assets” and this is for any apartment or car payments I may have in the future.
Beyond the finance talk, traveling allows you experience different cultures, build self-awareness, create unforgettable memories, and most importantly be inspired by what the rest of the world has to offer.

Now who would I be if I didn’t mention fashion when it comes to traveling. The outfit featured in the photo is the perfect traveling attire. A grey tee shirt (with slits up the sides), distressed skinnies and a pair of converse is a trendy but appropriate outfit for any day full of traveling. This brown leather baggage is a great carry on size and adds a super cute touch to the ensemble.

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