Not being flippant but it's like holding off buying a car, bike or flash TV. If I don't do it now, next year it'll be cheaper and I could get an upgrade for the same price. It's exactly what we all do when we postpone making a big decision in our lives.

The question really is how much do you want it? Do you want to jack in your job when you're frayed at the edges and close to breakdown? Make decisions when you can - before they are made for you - Life has a way of flipping every situation on its head...

I think I know where you're coming from...I'm 32 and have spent 6 years forging a career and have come from Chief Shit-Shoveller to hitting the glass ceiling. My salary has gone up alot over that period and I could sit here and pick up that payslip every month for the next few years.

However, against the advice of my peers and family, I'm planning to quit next summer and go with my g/f from Mexico to Argentina over 4-6 months. She's worked 6 days a week for 10 years in London and raised a kid (now 20 ) and basically needs a break before she goes crazy!

I reckon that money will always be a lure, and the more you have, the more you need to accumulate. As the Persians would say: how many mouthfuls can you eat at a time?

If you've climbed the ladder and built a business empire it can be replicated again. Pick a date and stick to it! And...kick my arse if I haven't disappeared in a blast of smoke next summer

MS

That is the magic question, though: what date do you pick? One year from now or 10. A year from now and you can travel for 4 years and come back to very little. 10 years and you might not ever have to come back.

Of course, it also goes into the mix that I have three kids under 18. But they can travel with me at least part of the time right?

Kids obviously come first but for everyone's sake isn't it better you fulfil one of your dreams instead of putting it off and telling your children/grandchildren of the great plans you had instead of the amazing trip(s) you went on? A life lived in regret is not a life lived (or something!)

Use it as an excuse for them all to fly out and meet you in some exotic location for summer/winter hols...

Regarding the work aspect, are you seriously thinking of RTW for the rest of your days - if so, fair play but I think after a while you may want to come home and work again. I've had four days off in the last three years of work and I feel like jacking it in tomorrow. However, in my heart of hearts I know that after being away for months/years I would at some point want to change my environment and come back.

Your drive to build a business may need nourishing again in the future as much as your wonderlust needs fulfilling now - just a thought...

MS

I am not thinking of RTW for the rest of my days, but the flexibility sounds pretty good. The thought of taking time off right now sounds pretty great, but the thought of coming back and starting from zero (maybe not that low) is more than a little disheartening. Building a business takes dedication and hard work. It is not really my burning passion to start one over again.

Like I said, the question of the day for me is "how much longer?" The longer I work now, the more options I have. OTOH, the longer I work now, the longer I work now.

Sounds like you have already made your mind up to stay for a few more years

Good luck with both your job and the trip when you take it...

MS

If you have a house rather than completely sell up try downsizing to a flat. Nice to have roots if you plan to return.

I was an Engineer before I went away Backpacking for 18 months, was not so easy to return. Companies offered me work but I was not interested in the Rat Race.

Once you have travelled you will not want to go back. On route you could find alterative work, I trained and worked as a DiveMaster.

Your choice, keep some roots back home or SAVE SAVE SAVE and stay away as long as you can. My next trip I plan to make my life on the road.

Well, I found out last week that the company I work(ed) for has gone into liquidation.

I was meant to be returning there in the Spring to pay off my travelling debts as it was really well paid but now i have no job to go back too. SH*T !!!!!

On the possitive side, this means I have no limit to my travels now and have decided to slow down even more, lend some cash from my old ma and stay on the road for a couple of more months.

Ill now only just be leaving Argentina (where I started) when I should of already been back at work

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

You always wonder why the f*ck you ever came back. I do. I worked in Thailand for almost a year, teaching scuba diving on Koh Tao, a tiny island north of Koh Samui. I earned barely enough money to live on, and mostly subsidised it with money i had in the bank in England. And never in that year did i get out of bed in the morning miserable, bored, fed up with life...never! You can worry about how it will effect you when you're old, and take the safe route of being comfortable in retirement, when having done nothing with your life. My dad has enough money, yet at 64 all he does is work, because he has nothing else to do. That is not going to happen to me. I would rather take the risk now, while I can, then wish i had when i cant. When you get old all you want is to be dry and warm, and have food on the table..... thats enough. So what if you have half a million pounds in the bank when your 70.... its only going to someone else.. eventually.
So I'm gonna go and do it while i can.... sod the future, I'll deal with that later.
I took this view on life when, on new years day 1997, i got a phone call telling me my best friend had dropped dead... He was 25.
You never know the future, so if you want it, do it, and f*ck the consequences.

Well...put those boots on and have a go kicking - we didn't throw in the towel and disappear!!

Instead of spending May packing rucksacks we unloaded a small little boy to add to our collection of one

Both my wife and I are ecstatic and enjoying family life but clearly life on the road will have to be postponed for a while. I am finally taking my four wheel test so perhaps it may be a van around the world instead of a bike. The missus won't hear of a sidecar for her with the little 'un perched on the back....lol

Back to watching dvds and reading the books in between the nappies and bottle feeds....

MarbleStake

It is amazing how many of these threads are actually very similar. I responded to a post only a few hours ago and then found this thread. This thread is roughly about finance. I have read many travelogue books and looked at as many blogs as I can and for me the one thing missing from ALL of them is costings. Some of them provide important information such as miles travelled each day etc. What I would like to see because it would help me greatly is a list of costings at the end of each section such as filled up with fuel 3 times today, spent XXX on fuel, stayed at campsite cost = XXX spent XXX on food and entertainment. Spent so much on ferry and had to pay xxx to border guards etc. Running totals like this would be of an enormous help to people trying to figure out if they can afford to go in the first place.

I know some will say it is not relevant because we all spend differently or inflation and travel exchange will alter over periods of time but all of these things can be factored. If anyone out there has already done this then please let me know the website url so I can figure out how little or how much is really needed. I am not asking for exact details but fuel, accommodation and general expenses are every bit as important as some of the stunning photos I have seen on some blogs. I guess a few others may find this helpful too. It may even help some people to plan their trip by avoiding expensive places in favour of what can be accomplished now and going back to expensive ones when finance allows.

I am guessing that a budget of around 10 pounds per day might well suffice in some parts of Asia or perhaps South America but that will increase surely if you are in Europe or North America by as much as 400%? For the traveller with a limited budget it would make sense to avoid Europe for long periods and go somewhere cheap?

Apologies if anyone thinks I am talking out of my arse but if I don’t ask no one is going to tell me!!

__________________
www.frothandflames.com
2012 Kawasaki W800
1997 NX 650 Dominator

People don't really write about it because it is soooo different to everyone. People have different tastes, do different things, have different opionions on value and comfort etc..

You need to know where you are going and for how long first mate, then you can start narrowing down the costs !

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Cost always matter, especially when traveling. It would be better to save up on travel especially if you'll be leaving work for the longest time. As for my case, there always comes a time when I just want to leave home, leave work, leave everything behind. But that would be far from reality.

__________________
Plan for the year : Travel Europe

Seeing as it is nearly a year since the last post, maybe we need to revive this.
Found an interesting blog/book: The Art of Non-Conformity � Why You Should Quit Your Job and Travel around the World

Why you should quit your job and travel around the world.

I can get my head around selling up stuff, saving like crazy, renting out the house and heading off. I can see living very cheaply when travelling, and I can picture the pleasure that can bring.

What I cannot see is what happens when you get back, money all gone and the desire to go again. And what happens when you hit the age when medical problems or what not means you've to stay put. it's not as much fun or as easy to live cheaply in Ireland as it would be in Tanzania, argentina or thailand. What happens then? anyone been there and done that?

Merv.