How to travel more with a full-time job and limited time – the ultimate guide

Do you want to know how to travel more with a full-time job? I managed to travel to 14 countries in one year with a full-time job and on a budget. Want it too? Check my traveling tips for going on holidays more while working full-time. It is possible!

Have you ever wondered how to find time for travelling if you have a 9-5 job, maybe exams and classes to attend, partner or family and other responsibilities? Not everyone’s jobs allow them to travel full time, like digital nomads. Well, it can be hard, but hey, if you really want it and work towards it, then it becomes much easier, right?

14 countries in a year

I have a full-time job with 23 (now, it’s 24) days of holidays a year, and I managed to travel to 60 countries before I turned 30.

This included traveling to 14 different countries last year. The trips included places like Helsinki in Finland, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Italy, many destinations in Norway, including the dramatic archipelago of Svalbard, Poland, Tallinn in Estonia, Jordan, several places in the UK like Bath and Portsmouth and others.

One of the years before that I went to 11 countries on 3 continents, spending a sufficient amount of time in most of them (the longest trip was to Madagascar for 2,5 weeks). How did I manage to visit Russia, Poland, UAE, Philippines, Malaysia, India, Madagascar, Italy, Spain, Iceland, and also explore remote parts of Scotland and England while living in the UK with a full-time job in one year? Where is the secret and how to incorporate more travel into your 9-5, and do all of that with traveling on a budget?

There are few things, that you can do, which will help you to travel with a full-time job.

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How to travel more with 9-5 job?

#1 Learn to plan

The secret is simple: good planning skills. If your time is limited, you want to make the most of it and good preparations are crucial. Of course, spontaneous trips are cool and I still change my plans last minute during my travels. However, thanks to proper plannings just in case, I was never caught off guard and used 100% of my time.

I usually do a lot of research about the country that I visit. I check what to do, where to stay, how to travel from one place to another, what’s worth to visit with all the “must see” places as well as any hidden gems – especially if it’s a short break. When I arrive at the location, I also tend to speak to locals to ask for first-hand advice and adjust my plans accordingly. On the other hand, I go with a flow and decide on the way, where to finish the day on the longer travels – like during my hitch-hiking road trips around Europe.

Thanks to the proper planning I managed to see and experience in one week in the Philippines more than some of my friends saw in two or three. True, I wasn’t sleeping much and catching up on lost hours while moving from one place to another on a bus/ferry/plane, but it was so much worth it. I would never trade those hours of conversations with newly met locals, staring at the stars on the beach or waking up for sunrise for a longer stay in bed – I can sleep when I’m back home. For more planning tips check those 13 easy steps to plan a trip.

Thinking about a new trip? Have it planned and booked early!

Find the best deals and book in advance here:

Booking.com

#2 Manage to sacrifice

When you want to travel with a full-time job, you usually have limited time and need to choose. You can’t do everything. You won’t be able to visit every place, so you need to focus on what’s most important for you. If you like chilling on the beach, then spend your holidays there, but you won’t be able to see other places in the country. If you prefer to sight-see in the cities, choose the reasonable number of them accordingly to your available time.

Don’t over plan, but be well prepared – it is useful to have an abundance of information than not enough, in case you suddenly decide to change your plans, which gives you more flexibility.

Choose what you prefer – for some it will be to relax and forget about the world, for others to reconnect with nature or to visit all the places around. I am usually a very active person, who is quickly getting bored when just lying on the beach. When I travel, I get so excited about everything around and that gives me a great boost of energy – allowing to explore the area for long hours.

#3 Use your free time wisely

Take advantage of holiday breaks and weekends.

Let’s say you have, like me, 23 days off available for a year in your job. It gives roughly 3 weeks of holidays per year. However, if you connect it with weekends or bank holidays, it’s much more. With longer breaks, like Christmas and New Year’s Eve, if you take some holidays in between, you can end up with two weeks off with an expense of 3-5 days.

Look for opportunities! Travelling during those times can be more expensive, but if you book flights in advance or choose to travel on the holidays itself, it will make the costs cheaper. Use flight search engines like momondo or Kiwi.com to minimize the costs and plan ahead.

I managed to travel to Poland for Christmas and Russia for NYE thanks to combining my days off with public holidays. I spent around £100 on tickets and much less on stay there, visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Another time, I went on a work trip to Oslo in Norway, which was finishing on Friday. There was a national holiday following Monday, so I asked my manager if I could stay for the weekend. He agreed and I traveled from Oslo to Lofoten islands, located close to the arctic circle. I hitch-hiked and camped around, exploring some of the most beautiful places, that I’ve ever been to.

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Would you like to have a view like this when you wake up? We had – in Lofoten, remote and stunning islands in the north of Norway ?? . . . #Lofoten #Norway #throwback #tentview #morningview #islandlife #mountains #mountainslover #girlsborntotravel #mytravelgram #travelblogger #amazingview #widokzrana #photooftheday #wanderlust #destinationearth #worlderingaround #outdoors #camping #travelphotography #outdoorgirl #visitnorway #offthebeatenpath #blogtroterzy #wgórachjestwszystkocokochamt #backpackinginsta

A post shared by Aga | Worldering Around (@worlderingaroundtravel) on May 19, 2017 at 10:52am PDT

#4 Plan your departures and arrivals well

If you work 9-5, try to arrange your trips to start straight after work and return in the evening before the next working day. It would be even better if you can agree with your manager to start your shift a bit earlier on the day of your travel, and therefore finish earlier – for example, work from 8:00 to 4:00 instead of 9:00 to 5:00. It’s just one hour difference, but it might give you time to catch the earlier flight or avoid traffic on the road. Have everything ready the day before, so you can just grab your bags and start the trip of your dreams.

#5 Rest on the go

However, remember that arriving from holidays too late might be a bit risky and depends on your job and preferences. Some people need a bit of time to prepare for going back to the office. You also need to make sure that you can cope with skipping sleep and account for any flight delays. For me, it usually works fine, as I am used to travels and can easily sleep on planes/cars/buses and recharge my batteries quickly. To have nice sleep on the go, you can use soft neck support travel pillow. It will make you feel cozy and give your neck proper support, so you can catch up on those lost hours of sleep. Try also other tips for the comfortable layovers.

#6 Utilize work trips

If there is a chance for your company to send you on a business trip, try to use that opportunity and make the most of it. Visit the city after the workday activities finish, go out of town during the weekends and arrange your holidays around.

The cost of the airfare is usually the same for your employer, even if you come back a few days later. He shouldn’t have any problems with you staying longer, provided that you pay for your accommodation in the meantime, and agree on that in advance.  It’s a great opportunity for you to visit some more places, as usually, it’s the flight cost that accounts for the biggest chunk of the holiday expenses. Also, the time spent on getting to the location can eat a big part of your time off. In that case, both of those aspects are taken care of, so what are you waiting for?

Thanks to some business trips last year I managed to visit more of the Middle East and then got a cheaper flight to the Philippines (through Malaysia and India), also saving time for flying from Europe.

By taking a week of holidays after my work trip to Houston, I managed to visit a big part of the USA west coast with all the amazing national parks and big cities.

I wouldn’t be able to do it so smoothly and quickly if I was planning those trips from my home in the UK. The flying time would be too long and the price probably wouldn’t make it worth it just for a week trip.

#7 Negotiate

Sometimes the weekend is just not enough and you need those couple days more. Try to talk to your employer and ask for some extended unpaid leave. The industry that I’ve been working in recently has been going through the downturn, so our managers were encouraging us to take some unpaid days. This helped me to gain more days off during the year, which then I could use for traveling. Yes, you lose a bit of money, but for me, the experiences and the ability to do what I love (travel ofc) is the most important.

Some companies also have programs that allow employees to buy additional holidays. For my workplace, it’s up to 5 days a year.

Other places allow people to work longer during the week and build up hours, that they can then take off on Fridays. Many of my friends make use of those extended weekends (I wish we had it at our office!)

I also know some people asking for sabbatical leave for travel, education or other personal projects. It might work if you have a good relationship with your manager and you can prove that a break will help you grow and develop as a person for the future benefits of the company.

It won’t be ideal for everyone, but if you really want to travel, there are different ways that you can choose from.

You don’t get if you don’t ask!

#8 Use stopovers and detours

Generally, having too many stopovers is not very good for the environment, as the planes generate the highest amount of gases on the take-off and landing. But sometimes you cannot avoid them. In that case, you can take advantage of the layovers, extend them as much as possible and make a mini-holidays on the way to your final destination.

Additionally, for some of the airlines and destinations – for example, Qatar airlines and layover in Doha – if your transit time is between 8 and 24 hours with no other connection possible, they will arrange accommodation, entry visas, airport transfers and meals for you, so you can visit the city in the meantime. It’s pretty cool, isn’t it? Learn how to book flights with stopovers here.

On my return trip from the Philippines, I had a layover was in Cochin in Kerala, India. I have been to the country before, but not in the south, so I was quite excited to try real South Indian food (masala dosa, yum) and see how life looks there.

Another time, I needed to fly through Singapore, where I visited amazing Gardens by the Bay on the way from Bangalore to Indonesia.

Another aspect of layovers is when you don’t have much time, and you are not fussed about visiting anything on the way. In that case, it’s better to pay a bit more, in order not to waste time on changes of planes, buses, trains, etc. It may be pricey, but it provides you with enough time in the place that you want to see. It all depends on what you want, after all.

#9 Make a weekend trip away

Don’t forget that you can also travel in your own country or make short weekend trips abroad.

When I was living in Krakow, or even in my hometown Gorlice in Poland, it was very easy to travel across the borders to surrounding countries just for a few days. Trips to the Polish mountains (like Tatras and Zakopane) were also very common and helped me to recharge before the weeks of studying.

Since now I’m living in Scotland, I’m trying to use every weekend to explore this country a bit more. Every time, I’m amazed by its stunning nature and variety of interesting places. (Update: since then I moved to Norway, where I still discover amazing places).

#10 Look around

The beauty of being a traveler is an ability to discover unknown and eagerness to appreciate what’s around you, instead of being stuck in your daily routine.

Do you think that you saw everything in your own city? Think again! Check travel portals, local groups, new restaurants or shows. Leave the car behind and take new routes when walking around the city.

I’ve been living in Aberdeen for 3,5 years and recently, I’ve discovered some new pieces of street art hidden in the small streets, that make the city so much more colorful. Last month, I found out about one of the biggest bird watching reserves in the UK, located just a few kilometers away, where we could see puffins (!). None of my friends knew about it, even though some of them were living here for many years.

Look around and find those hidden treasures!

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Beat the grey, pull some colours out! ? • That was wonderful long weekend spent with my mum visiting Scotland for the first time. I could show her all my favourite places and she loved it! It's so important to celebrate precious family time together like this ❤️️ • When was the last time you showed your mum/dad a new place? . . . #aberdeen #granitecity #scotland #scotlandlover #visitscotland #bonniescotland #scotland_insta #colourful #streetart #mural #mothersday #familytime #streetphotography #urbanart #cityart #iphone #iphonephoto #worlderingaround #offthebeatenpath #girlsborntotravel #nuart #nuartaberdeen

A post shared by Aga | Worldering Around (@worlderingaroundtravel) on May 16, 2017 at 8:06am PDT

#11 Make travel a priority

You can try to do all of the above, but without a clear goal, it will be much harder. Focus on what you want to achieve and make travel a priority.

This will not work for everyone, but if you really want to go on more trips, you need to work towards it. Do you want to travel to India and see the Taj Mahal or enjoy pristine Philippine’s beaches? Save your days off and go there, instead of spending your holidays to cure a hangover after drinking too much at a party.

Every person and every job is different, so you need to find out what works best for you. Make sure to keep a good relationship with your employer, manage your days off wisely, explore different options and then go and discover the world, even with a full-time job!

Read more:

How I traveled to 60 countries before turning 30

14 countries in one year

What methods do you use to travel with a full-time job and limited time? Let me know in the comments!

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