If the road is constantly calling your name, don’t ignore your wanderlust. Instead, find a way to embrace a lifestyle of travel that works for you. For some people that means being a nomad and calling the road home. For others, it means finding a career that involves travel. Create the wanderlust lifestyle that’s right for you.
Having a Home Base vs. Staying a Nomad
The first step to embracing a lifestyle of travel is to decide whether you’ll be keeping a permanent residence or not. If you decide to keep your home base, consider listing your space on Airbnb while you’re away for long periods of time. If you can’t commit to any particular city, city hop and explore until you find the one that’s right for you. Start with the number-one city to live in according to the U.S. Census Bureau data: Austin,Texas. Use Rent.com to check out different listings within your budget before you make the move. If you plan to be gone for several months, you might find it more cost effective to store your belongings in a unit or, if you’re lucky, in your parents garage.
Take a Mini-Retirement
Most people save their travel plans for retirement. But why not go now? Traveling for long periods of time, or taking mini-retirements, is not impossible when you’re young. The key is to find the perfect transition time, save your money, then build up the courage to buy that one-way ticket. Transitioning between college and a job or working and graduate school are great gap opportunities for a mini-retirement. The year leading up to your big trip, stop dining out all the time, budget your money and cut out unnecessary expenses.
Find a Job that Works for You
If you want travel to be part of your job, or if you want to get paid to travel, find a job that does just that. Some companies allow employees to work remotely, which is a great opportunity to work while you travel. If you’re a writer or a photographer, use your talents to get paid while traveling by selling your photos or writing for a travel magazine or lifestyle blog.
Become a Minimalist
Living out of a backpack or a suitcase is not easy. You don’t want to lug around too many things, but you need enough to comfortably live on the road. Learn to live with the bare minimum. When you’re headed out on a trip, set out everything you want to take, then cut that in half. Color coordinate your clothes so you can switch up outfits and reuse basics.
Take a Staycation
If you’re a settled individual with a permanent job, a family, or maybe you’ve found the perfect city for you, embrace a lifestyle of travel with frequent staycations. Visit the local museums or take a cruise on the local lake or harbor. If you live in a coastal city, rent a beach house for the weekend and play tourist in your own city. Find a local golf resort, and spend a weekend at the club. Most of us spend more time exploring other cities more than we do our own, so get your staycation on.
