Even though my consulting job is demanding and sometimes unpredictable, I make sure to prioritize travel and have found ways to make it work with my lifestyle and financial goals.
Over the past year, I’ve taken over ten trips to almost as many different cities all while only using 2.5 days of time off. My trips range from multi-week stays in my hometown of Cleveland to long weekends in Florida, to multi-city stops to visit friends across the U.S
The best part is that I have found a way to take these trips on a budget and while still maintaining my work and personal responsibilities. Here are some of my favorite travel tips that help me do this.
Typical Travel Schedule
My typical travel schedule for a long weekend with a few working days tacked on is:
Wednesday or Thursday
- 5:30 PM: Leave for airport after work
- 8-9 PM: Get on flight!
- 10-11 PM: Land and Uber or get picked up by who I’m visiting
Rest of week
- 9 AM-?? PM: Work a full day. My job doesn’t have a predictable end time, so I have to be ready for the chance that I’ll have to work late.
- Rest of evening: Get dinner, hang out, or explore the area
Friday Night-Sunday
- The beauty of travelling and working a few days in the destination city is that you’ve already gotten the travel day out of the way and you have all weekend to do whatever you have planned!
Sunday Night or Monday morning
- I usually fly out of my destination either Sunday around dinner time or Monday on the earliest flight out. Either way, I’m back in Chicago for work on Monday!
Scheduling Flights
Be flexible
When I schedule a flight, I usually have a range of dates or multiple options in mind. It’s easier to find a flight deal when you aren’t tied to a certain departure and arrival day.
My favorite flight scheduling tool is Google flights. Once you’ve selected your destination and dates, use the Date Grid tool to explore different departure and arrival dates that may be less expensive:
Here you can see that leaving on Monday instead of Sunday is actually cheaper!
Some of my best flight deals have been when I take a Wednesday night flight, for example instead of a more expensive Friday night flight.
Strategic Trip Planning
Visiting Friends and Family
I’m very lucky that I have friends in cool places across the country! Most of my trips only require me to buy a flight and then lodging is free because I stay with friends and family. When planning a trip to visit people you know, make sure to also do some research to schedule what cool things there are to do and see!
Using Holidays
Make the most of holidays. I like to butt my trips up against holiday weekends so I get a built in day off! Remember when traveling during the holidays, flights will be more expensive on the high traffic days, so leveraging the flight scheduling tips above will help you to still get a great deal!
Save Your Time Off
This past year, I only used 2.5 days of PTO despite taking 10+ trips to almost as many cities. I save time off for longer and more complicated trips: One of the reasons I used so little PTO last year was because all my trips were domestic. I didn’t have super long international flights or destinations that warranted multiple days of exploring. I am saving my PTO for more trips like that in the near future though!
If your goal is to start traveling more frequently, hopefully these tips can help you create more room in your currently lifestyle for it!
Let me know in the comments where you’re off to next!