Life is short, hit the road.

[travelpunk]

Hey all you Tpunks!

Hope you all had a great 2006 and and even better 2007!

Raise your hands if you feel like you never have time or money to travel.
Yeah, me too...I least that's what I thought in most of my adulthood.

Ok, I have a few years under my belt and have been caught up in the ratrace for all of my adult life so I can only speak from my own experiences.

I am very goal oriented and often have my blinders on, where I stay sooo focused on achieving my goals that I find it hard to even stop for one day and smell the roses. Even when I'm on vacation, I'm working on something(s). It's hard for me to just adventure, relax, and enjoy.

Looking back these past...uhem, quite a few years, the one thing that I wish that I would have done a WHOLE HELLUVA LOT MORE of, is travel my fricken arse off! Serious delirious, yo!

I have to tell you that if TravelPUNK was around when I was single, I would have gone ballistic and "taken this world by the horns!" Check out the past meetups, see the pictures and read the stories from other Tpunks.

You Tpunks can travel this whole world for cheaper than you think. Practice your rapport building skills in this family style community. I promise you that the more open and unbashed you are on here, the easier you will find it to communicate with strangers on the road.

10-15 yrs ago, flights were more expensive. There was no internet as we know it today. Therefore, discount airfare engines like Orbitz, Hotwire, Priceline, and Expedia were not even conceptualized. Same goes for the net behemoths like Amazon.com, Yahoo, Google, and ebay.

Today, you have the world literally at your finger tips- for cheap! There is so much competition vying for your business, that it's hard not to salivate when searching for travel bargains.

I'm flying to Rome, from Madrid next week, for $150! How cheap is that?!! It's even cheaper if we would have bought the tickets earlier, but I ain't crying.

Seriously, do yourself a favor and block out a chunk of time each year designated specifically for the purpose of traveling and learning more about other cultures. I do not mean to go out and get sloshed to a drunken stupor in every country you visit. Do that if you must, but be careful and try do to it sparingly. You don't want your trip to be a big blurrrrr.

Go to enrich your soul and perhaps enlighten others.

Time goes by sooo fast, that you will regret NOT traveling in your early years when your obligations are perhaps smaller than you actually make them out to be.

Seriously, do it! Block out a chunk of time each year, diligently save for it, and focus on MAKING THAT HAPPEN!

I remember my days as a single guy, renting an apartment, working and and drove around in a good used car that was paid for. I didn't take any time off for myself to persue an traveling (even though I had sooo many dreams and desires of hitting the road and seeing the world most of my life) as I was too focused on my career goals.

I remember how a friend of mine from high school hit the road backpacking probably a dozen countries from Japan, to Australia, to Vietnam, to many countries in Europe by the time she was 23. I was envious of her each time she came back with a report!

I made a lot more money than she did at the time, so I can't use that as an excuse. I also didn't pay rent at the time as I lived with my folks then either. Time was not a factor either as I didn't work full time hours or had any obligations that I couldn't just walk away from.

At the end of the day, it came down to this. She knew that her experiences and learning and absorbing other cultures were priceless and that no one could ever take those experiences away from her. She was right. She always had great energy, but her travel experiences made her inner and outer energy even more mesmerizing.

Looking back, had I done the same as her and taken a month off here and there (each year of my adult life) to do the same kind of traveling, I would have come back a more enriched individual each time and would have brought "more to the table" in every aspect of my life.

Now, I am no longer single (ever!), I don't have the cheaper living option of paying rent. Can you say California Mortgage?! Ouch! I do not have that old reliable all paid off Honda Prelude. It's now a hefty monthly car payment that probably equals a 2 bd 2 bth condo rental in Las Vegas. I do not work to survive, I work to survive for two!

I am deeper into the ratrace, than I could have possibly imagined 10 yrs ago.

I love my life now, don't get me wrong. And I am extremely happy and life is very fulfilling.

I just want to impress upon you the importance of taking time out for yourself each and every year, or as much as you can, to travel and enrich your life's experiences while you are young, have the ability too, and while your obligations may be small or smaller than you think.

No matter how bad you want to accomplish your goals, you may possibly accomplish your goals even faster by taking a little bit of time off to travel and clear your mind and come back with a fresh new perspective on life... and a richer soul.

Happy New Year to you All!

Warm wishes,
Tony P
TravelPUNK.com

(This message is being also being sent via Newsletter. This will not be a regular thing, it's just that I thought that it is important that everyone can hear my plea, since it's the beginning of a new year and all. Word up, yo! )

[lauren313]

This is a fantastic post, and one that I think everyone should really take to heart!

Reading this has really made my desire to travel even stronger, and it's made me start thinking about things I can do in the future, places I can go, things I can see.

So thank you Tony, not only for your inspirational comments, but also for making such a wonderful community here!

[juliagulia]

Goddamn Tony, now you've gotten me all wanderlusting even more...

Ohhhh June can't come soon enough!!

If my parents ever say I've throwing my life away traveling, I'm showing them this post. I wish it were possible to be a professional traveler...

Thanks, Tony

[LiveFreeorDie]

Go to enrich your soul and perhaps enlighten others.

Hear hear!!

Great post Tony P! You are an inspiration to us all!

(btw - the two words 'california mortgage' strike fear into my heart. You are a braver man than I...:D)

[BigE]

Thanks Tony!

This post is awesome. While I am not married, it is also hard for me to just take off for three months and backpack the world. I remember when two of my friends were supposed to go backpacking with me when we graduated from college. After graduation, they decided that they had better things to do. Instead of going on my own, I stayed home and worked after graduation, then I went to graduate school. It was my biggest mistake.

I could still do it but even at the young age of 32, with the career I have, it is almost impossible to do it. Or so I thought. I just asked arround and found out that I can take a year off to do stuff like this if I can prove that it will help me. I think I am going to. I'm going to turn in a leave of absence petition in early 2008 so I can do it before it is too late and I will never have another chance. I have a year to save money and figure it out.

Wish me luck.

[SuDz]

I know the feeling of wanting to travel more and being felt like your being held back. I have a few BIG purchases to make this year but actually want to maybe work a side gig to help pay towards those.

Something tells me though that there might not be any big travels for a bit since after I make on of the major purchases, things will change more towards a saving goal for other things. We will see though.

SuDZ

[justme]

That was beautiful. I think that, those words were some of the most inspirational that I have ever heard/read. I'm going to print it out and put it on my wall, just to remind me of what my goals are.

[Diorama]

Thanks tony! It was nice to read something so positive. I hope you enjoy Rome.

[joe7f]

Phenomenal post man. It is impossible to not love Rome (and imo, you are going to be going at a great time...fewer lines and not hot... how can you lose?).

--Joey

[foofiter]

I hear ya man!

I am on the road now for a total of 18 months. That is probably a bit overboard but its a done deal now. I am on month 14. I will definately try to do at least a month per year to see something new. I will go crazy if I don't!

Heres to you man!

Foo

[freespiritz]

Word.

I'm so glad to be one of those people that my friends are jealous of every time I bring back a report. I wish I could get more of my friends to do the same, and get out and go!

Here's to hoping for six months abroad for me in 2007!

[Maineartist]

Tony,
Just want to say what a great post!

All of it. I have been contemplating traveling somewhere in 2007.
Way to be out there and traveling early this year.

Thanks for Travelpunk and nice job on the new boards.

[aliz]

dude you need to start speaking at highschool graduations. Out of my year group of 64 students, 3 people went to uni straight after leaving school, and of the rest, about half went straight into apprenticeships and the other half took a gap year (gap years are pretty common in australia). Two of my friends and I are the only ones that went anywhere in our gap year. The rest stayed at home, living with their parents, working the same jobs they worked on the weekends during high school. It really really annoys me when they all say "aww you guys are so luckyyyy... you've been everywhere....." its not luck, anyone can do it. travelling is insanely easy for young people these days. And I'll say on my parents behalf, that it doesn't always have to stop the minute you get married.

[joe7f]

Yup, Ali, the biggest obstacle to traveling is the decision to do it.

--Joey

[Sabrosa]

This post is awesome Tony, and couldn´t have come at a better time for me. I´m down here in Argentina, have been travelling for almost 4 months now...and am going through a small episode of self doubt and confusion about my trip. I needed a good reminder of why I decided to do this!

Here´s to experiencing new places, breathing different air, meeting new people and living life!


Sabrosa

[travelpunk]

Hey, thanks everyone!

I guess walking through the streets of Madrid these past couple of days got me thinking of the first time I came to this city.

I met my wife on the VERY LAST DAY of my "pop the cherry backpacking trips."nThat is how life altering your decision to travel can be.

Man, that was almost 6 1/2 yrs ago.

I am glad to see some of you take that step. You won't come back the same. Allow yourselves to be changed for the better.

Those of you on the road, I know things can get tough and you will find yourself doubting your decision to travel, at times. Definitely follow your intuition. Only you know what is best for you, just don't let the negative forces overtake your mind. I admire your tenacity and courageousness. Your bravery is an inspiration to me and to the entire travel community.

Open your minds to be enlightened so that you can enlightened others. At the end of the day, that is how I see life.

Aliz is correct. You can be married and still travel. We decided to commit to this each and every year, no matter how deep in the ratrace we are in!

Time doth fly, my friends. Make it happen or watch it happen!

[urOZm8]

Hi Tony, thanks for the post! I think we all need that inspiration and reminder we are all capable.

ev

[millmuff]

Thanks for this great post. I've been dreaming of a RTW trip for this fall/winter but it's a constant struggle. I keep putting saving away and currently have more money saved up than I ever had in my entire life. By the time I'd like to go I should have a little less than 20 grand.....which might not be much to most but a lot to a bum like me.

The problem is that from time to time I seem to fall into the feeling that "maybe I shouldn't", because my job and everything I've worked for...blah blah blah.

It's posts like these that really keep me wanting to pursue travelling more and find out what's really out there.

Thanks everyone...havea good 07. peace

[Little_Albatross]

That was half inspiring and half depressing! I was meaning to backpack through europe last year after i got out of high school.but i never got around to it.I ended up moving out and 4 hours north from my home.And now i'm back home and broke.that was the depression running through my mind.lol...the inspiring part is that I'm not wasting this year.I swear by my jobless,career goal-less ass...i'm doing it this year.Not next year.Not the year after that.THIS ONE!! I've always wanted to go to prague

[LaurieL622]

wow tony,that was awesome. that was inspirational and beautiful. i need to hear that kind of advice more often.

i have taken some amazing trips and travel is def a huge priority of mine. it's hard at times though, coming from a country where travel is not a value.

most of my peers are working hard at their careers & i just keep hitting the road. it's not easy when i've heard many many people tell me i'm being flightly, inpatient, etc. it seems like ppl my age are on a path to marriage, kids, house, career...and they are patiently working on all those things. i have no desire for any of it right now. why do ppl make me feel bad for not wanting those things? should i be working hard now so i can play later?