How We Work Full Time and Travel 15 Trips a Year

Last updated: 15 July 2023

Do you spend your days trapped in a cubicle, working full time, watching the seconds tick over on the clock dreaming of travelling more often?  You might be surprised to know that we work too! Here we spill some of our secrets that we use to manage our time, to work full time and travel a lot! We want to get you out the door and exploring the world, score more time off and travel more in the year ahead.

Like the majority of travel bloggers today we both hold down full time jobs between the hours of 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.  That means, like the majority of office workers in the UK we have a grand total of 8 bank holidays plus 28 days statutory annual leave days to take as vacation throughout the year, that’s just ten percent of the days in a year.  When you break it down, it’s not many! (although there’s a few countries with less vacation days so we won’t complain too much…) So let’s add weekends into the mix, 52 weekends in a year.

Now we have 8 + 28 + 104. That’s looking a bit better! That’s 140 potential travel days!

Each employer is slightly different when it comes to personal days, sick leave and any other additional concessionary closure days you might receive.  So let’s just take 140 and run with it. If you get more days, then that’s awesome for you. If you can stagger your roster and shuffle your days, that’s even better. 

Now that we know the number of days that we have to play with, let’s have a look at how we can make those days work for you and result in over 15 trips per year

1. Make a List

I love a good list and while this might seem superfluous at first, you may be surprised why it’s a good idea.  

The first step is to start by making a long list of the places you’d like to visit in the coming year. The second step is to identify your favourites, look at the calendar of special events (point #6) and make a shorter list, let’s call it your “To Travel List“. 

You now have a list of where you’d like to go, and how long you can realistically be away. Do the simple math and asking yourself questions like; Do I have enough time off work to visit everywhere?  Prepare yourself for the reality, as the answer is probably no. (see point #8)

2. Learn to Budget and Put Money Aside Every Payday

News Flash! Holidays are expensive. Travelling regularly can be a costly habit and the simple truth of it is, if you want to take advantage of long holiday weekends like Easter and other bank holiday weekends then you need to be prepared for increased prices because the travel industry rarely discounts these days. So rather than a scoring a cheap weekend away, you’ll be paying peak prices so you’ll need to save for it.

One way to do this is to pop some money aside every pay into an aptly named ‘Wanderlust’ bank account. This way when it comes time to book a hotel or snap up a lightning fast error fare you have the money ready and at hand. There’s nothing worse than having to say ‘I don’t have the money this month’ and letting the opportunity pass you by. Start putting aside those pennies today, they all add up.

By having cash readily available we managed to score error fares to Philadelphia with Air Canada and visit Aalborg in Denmark for just £1 each way!

3. Ration Your Leave

Understanding and respecting the number of days you have is an important one along with being realistic with your travel expectations.  Yes you can use all of your holiday on a colossal road trip across Canada but then you’d have no more days to travel for the rest of the year. Quite a grim prospect if you ask me!  

If all you need is a week off in August to recharge your batteries in the European sunshine like Montenegro, then be sure to save those days so you get what you need. 

4. Turn Work Trips into Vacations

Are you one of those lucky people that get to travel for work?

Perhaps you work in the tourism/airline industry and find yourself hopping from one destination to another on a regular basis. Or, you might be a project manager in a multinational conglomerate that sees you take just one overseas trip for work every year. Either way, both of these examples are opportunities to extend the business trip and explore the world. 

With work trips, your employer will generally pay for your flight and hotel while you’re away, so all you need to do is pay for accommodation once the work bit ends. Perhaps you’re being sent to Melbourne for a meeting? Great! Stay 3 extra days and squeeze in a short trip to Sydney  Already you’re surely to be saving a tonne of money by not paying for the flight so why not jump at the opportunity to have a few days on someone else’s dime?!

5. Love the Long Haul Stopover

Little known secret, I loathe long haul flights and all those hours spent cooped up in those tiny seats crossing multiple time zones. While sure two weeks in New Zealand sounds great and certainly doable with your holiday allowance but are you really prepared to sit on a plane for 26 hours each way and contend with the jet lag from crossing 11 time zones?  My advice is to consider breaking up the flight using an airline’s stopover programme.

Did you know numerous airlines offer them? Here’s just a few to get you started, it’s certainly not an exhaustive list: 

• Icelandair is famous for their free stopover between North America and Europe
• Gulf-carrier Etihad, encourages passengers to explore the airline’s home city of Abu Dhabi free of charge by offering a free additional night at a hotel if booking a two-night stay

The stopover is the perfect opportunity to not only ease the mounting jet lag but it can also reduce your chances of DVT. So in theory, taking advantage of a stopover is good for your health!

Extending your stopover is a great way to get more variety in your holiday. We’ve certainly done it on our way to Australia by spending a few days in Dubai so do yourself a favour and get off the plane and start your vacation early by exploring a new country or city for a few days, it’s like getting more than one holiday out of a holiday! And who doesn’t want that?

6. Use Special Events as an Excuse to Travel

Events like the Olympics and World Cup present themselves as ideal times to discover a new city. We landed in London in time for the 2012 Olympic Games and the best of the city was on show. People were so lovely, volunteers on every corner of the city helping visitors navigate London.

So perhaps you are longing to see your team play in the Rugby or FIFA World Cup? My advice is Go! Granted it won’t be the cheapest time to travel but events like the World Cup or the Olympics happen just a few times in your lifetime and if that happens to occur at a place you want to visit, then spend the money and go.  Just be sure to factor that in to your list of destinations (see point #1). 

7. Understand School Vacation Periods

Unless you work in education or have school-aged children then there’s a good chance you don’t know exactly when school holidays fall in the calendar year for where you live and where you want to travel.

However, if you’re looking to travel more often then it’s probably worthwhile to note them down, as school holidays are considered peak time for airlines, tours and hotels.  So, if you don’t need to travel in school holidays, then consider altering your plans by a couple of weeks to avoid the crowds, and the peak pricing. Ask yourself; is there a benefit to me to travelling in the school holidays if I don’t have kids? Altering your dates by a week either side of half-term is unlikely to have a dramatic impact on the weather and yet you stand to benefit significantly from quieter hotels, shorter queues at landmarks, cheaper airfares, and a little more money left in your ‘Wanderlust’’ bank account.  

8. Accept You Can’t Go Everywhere and Do Everything in a Year

This may be a bitter pill to swallow but sometimes you just have to accept that you can’t do everything at once.  I’m all for jumping in and squeezing in as much as I can during our travels but alas this is not always possible to go everywhere when we work full-time.  Refer back to #1, make a short list of the places you really want to go this year and prioritise those. Don’t despair, whatever is leftover can make the list for next year and do it then!

9. Special Occasions/Destination Weddings

If you have family or friends having a significant milestone birthday? Or perhaps they’re planning an overseas wedding? This is the perfect opportunity to double up on fun and combine their event with your holiday!

Have a look at your To Travel List and see if any of your dream destinations are near the location of the wedding. If so, start looking at the travel costs, accommodation, and the available time you have, and then you’re halfway there. Attend the very special event, spend time with family and friends before zipping off to a tropical island or launching off into another destination nearby. The best of both worlds!

10. Know Yourself

This tip is all about being aware of what you like and what you don’t like and using it to your advantage. For example, if you’re the type of person who likes their own space then don’t try and convince yourself that you’ll enjoy staying in a 12 bed hostel room just to save a few bucks. Or if you enjoy exploring a city at your own pace and schedule then perhaps don’t book that organised day trip.

There’s no point half killing yourself for a holiday! Don’t like changing hotels every night? Do you need more than 7 hours sleep? Factor it in! A quick weekend break in Cyprus may simply be not for you… and that’s ok!

If you want to travel more often you have to know what you like and what works for you and plan your travels around that – To thine own self be true (Russ will love that I just quoted Shakespeare…)

11. Don’t Write Off a Staycation

This may potentially be a contentious addition but the staycation has increased in popularity in the last few years, I believe its inclusion is warranted. Throw your suitcase into the boot of your car and head out on a road trip into the countryside.  Not only do you not have to contend with fluctuating train and airline prices, you give yourself an enormous amount of flexibility to amend your trip as you go. Add a level of familiarity, no culture shock, no bagging your liquids, creams and gels into a tiny plastic bag and strange currency, all the while still having a break away from normality

Final Thoughts

In order to maximise your annual leave and take as much time away as possible you will need to spend some time planning and, in the end, if it gives you the opportunity to explore new parts of the world then it’s time well-spent.

Click here for the latest deals on travel experiences that will save you money during your upcoming travels. Why pay more when you can save between 10% and 50% on various experiences like walking tours, entry fees, and private tours right here.

If you have any questions or need any further information about how to maximise your annual leave then do feel free to reach out to us.

Stay safe, happy travels.

Looking for some things to do in London? Give these a try