I believe that travel is an essential eye-opening experience in life. Even if it’s just to the next town over, it is important to view the world as a traveller. To remind yourself to see the world as a place for exploration and understanding. To challenge yourself see the world, your world, from a different perspective. So with this in mind, how can we use the concept of ‘lifestyle travel’ to help fit travel into your life?
Understanding Privilege
I understand that travel is a privilege, and as a travel blogger I really have to highlight this. I take this for granted myself sometimes, but try to remember how lucky I am to be in the position to travel regularly. I’m not saying that you should have first-world guilt for being able to fulfil your travel dreams, but just be aware that not everyone is in a position to travel for leisure.
Making it work for you
Lifestyle travel is simply about making travel work within the lifestyle you lead. If you have a busy work schedule, then I recommend weekend breaks away to nearby cities. If you have kids and can’t afford hotels, then why not try camping or glamping? Taking the train to a village an hour away from your home and spending the day viewing the sights and having a picnic can be as rewarding as taking a plane somewhere. It isn’t the distance you travel that is important, it’s the new places you discover.
Long weekends / Mini-breaks
If you have a full-time job, you’re probably a big fan of mini-breaks / long weekends / city breaks (whatever you want to call them). A long weekend away allows you to get a flavour for a city without spending too many precious vacation days! My limit on fly-time for these is 2-3hrs, so I can reach a place by lunchtime and enjoy a Friday PM, Saturday and Sunday in a place, and fly back Sunday night. I suggest you don’t concentrate on seeing all the big tourist attractions – just pick one or two things to see or do, and then spend the rest of the time eating and drinking with the locals and enjoying the feel of a place.
Staycations
I really enjoy seeing my home town or surrounding area through the eyes of a tourist. These kind of vacations often happen for special occasions or when visitors are in town. For me it’s a reminder not to take your city for granted – to enjoy the tourist attractions, and eat out! My top tip for finding staycation deals is to look for Groupon / voucher deals, especially in the off season. We often did overnighters around Scotland on this basis – learning more about the country we lived in, and fitting it into a busy schedule along the way.
Day trips
Don’t get weekends off? Work the nightshift? Why not consider day trips as a travel alternative. A really cost-effective way to travel, day trips can be a hugely fulfilling way to travel. I used to work two jobs and only ever had odd days off, so my favourite way to travel was to curate day trips by train. I could reach places 2-3 hours away if I left early enough in the day.
Some people have zero desire to travel, and I get that. It’s not my preference, but I appreciate that some people just prefer home to away. No judgement here!
Travel Philosophy
My travel philosophy is about experiencing new places via food, drink and art. My husband and I spend hours sitting in cafes just people-watching and chatting to locals. We also spend a lot of time walking and wandering around a new city. Which not only saves us money, but also lets the place reveal itself to us in unexpected ways. It doesn’t really matter if we are visiting a place 2 hours away or 10, our attitude to travel remains the same.
What’s your lifestyle travel philosophy?
Let me know how you like to travel, or how your lifestyle dictates your travel habits! Please share in the comments below...
Lifestyle Travel – how to fit travel into your life
While it often feels like there isn’t enough time, money, or annual leave to travel, I’m a firm believer in prioritising it when I can. It has brought me more lessons, more joy, and more fulfilment than anything else in my life so far. If wanderlust is your motivator in life, think about how travel can fit into your lifestyle and schedule it, save for it, and make it happen. It doesn’t have to be exotic locations or instagrammable photos – it’s your lifestyle travel, so curate it however you wish!
If you’re enjoying this style of reflective post, why not check out my Paris : City of Love article. Join me on twitter for travel advice and good chat!
All photos & content © Hannah Henderson and may not be used without permission (sharing this blog post is fine, though!).
