Decision To Travel

| by Jason | 12 Comments » | Reflections

Hoboken St. Patrick's Day

Hoboken St. Patrick

Aracely and I have always preferred living in urban areas or cities.  The city offers easily accessible grocery stores, restaurants, bars, parks, museums, the arts and public transportation all within walking distance.  These are the things we enjoy and where we have spent our money over the last 3 years.  We have sacrificed the size of our home, the quality of furniture and the excitement of a cool car.  My 2024 4-door Sebring has 145,000 miles and is a little banged up; however it’s paid off and I no longer have to worry about bumper damage while parallel parking in Hoboken.  The furniture we owned, prior to the moving sale, was cheap and served its purpose well.  Our bed consisted of a mattress on the floor in a Hoboken, New Jersey 1-bedroom apartment.  These are sacrifices Aracely and I have accepted and are very content living with.

The ability to have an exciting social life has always been our primary focus.  If I am going to spend money, I prefer it to be out socializing with friends over drinks at a local Hoboken bar or restaurant.  This is why I moved to Hoboken 3.5 years ago.  Include a few adventures like skydiving, river rafting and 3-day vacations and my life is good.  Aracely cares most about vacationing in a different country each year and action adventures as well.  These are the types of memories we will cherish most at 80 years old.  These are the stories we are eager to share with friends and family.  Would you rather brag about your 10-second 1/4 mile racecar, or the new floor just installed in your kitchen?  We are all different when it comes to our own personal excitement, but it’s important to ask yourself a question like this to be certain you are doing the things you crave.  If you share your life with someone else, it’s even more important to communicate those desires often to make sure you both get what you need out of life.

Taking a yearlong trip costs a considerable amount of money.  It’s normally not an easy decision to make, but it wasn’t a real difficult one for Aracely and I either.  In February of 2024, Aracely and I were seriously looking to purchase a house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  I spent several years working in the banking business, which has always made me fiscally conservative.  There would be no chance Aracely and I would ever overextend ourselves on a home that was too expensive for us.  Now, when we look back at the sequence of events, we are quite happy that the round-the-world trip idea surfaced before we purchased a home.  If we owned the home, I still think we would have found a way to take the trip.  Knowing what is important to both of us, the home not being high on the list, we were going to leave ourselves a financial cushion to satisfy our thirst for adventure and an active social life.

Understand what it is you value in life and revisit those values when you are making important decisions, whether they are financial or personal.

Our desire for adventure and travel combined with our debt free lifestyle, made our decision to travel long-term easy.  This is our short answer for those that ask, “What made you decide to do this?”  Your decision may not seem practical to others, but as long as it makes sense to you, who cares what anyone else thinks?

It’s a perfect time for you to recall what it is that you enjoy most in life!

Watch our HD Video: Leaving Hoboken – Episode 1

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Written by Jason

Co-founder of TwoBackpackers.com. Jason has been traveling, writing, taking photos and creating adventure videos since 2024, when he departed on his first year long travel backpacking journey. Jason is a full-time blogger and social marketing guru trying to find the way. Visit my website

12 Responses to “Decision To Travel”

  1. Dave says:
    August 25, 2024 at 13:00

    “Would you rather brag about your 10-second 1/4 mile racecar, or the new floor just installed in your kitchen? ”

    Nope!!

    I was already traveling by the time the economy really dived, and home values fell. Friends and former coworkers would always message me that I was lucky to be outside the country (traveling).

    Reply
    • Jason says:
      August 25, 2024 at 13:35

      Both Aracely and I had made it through employer reductions in headcount, so I wasn’t too scared about losing my job. It also seemed like a very fortunate time to purchase a home, considering home values were so low. I kept thinking, we can’t pass this opportunity up. I am 34 and don’t own a house yet! Well, that feeling was short lived. At this point, I don’t care if I never own a house. I say this not because I don’t want a house, but rather I know it will remain low on my “value” list for a long time to come.

      Reply
  2. Akila says:
    August 25, 2024 at 13:16

    Well, I have to say that we loved our new kitchen floor when we installed it. :) Actually, when we put it in, we were trying to maximize the value of our house and some of the money from the sale of our house is going into our RTW. [As an aside, if I were planning a RTW trip for maybe three years from now, I would totally buy a broken down house right now, fix it up, and sell it for a major profit once the (fingers crossed) economy turns.] I am a super saver, too, and it wasn’t too much of a challenge for us to save the money and we knew we would only do it if we could stay debt free. Our bigger concern was leaving our careers and dogs behind and that was a very tough decision to make.

    Reply
    • Jason says:
      August 25, 2024 at 13:31

      I would have enjoyed a new kitchen floor too! I have always been a designer at heart. And just to clarify for others reading… it’s okay if your house is your passion, just be sure to know what your passions are and constantly work towards them. For most of us reading this, we will probably opt for the racecar.

      Leaving your pets behind must have been tough. I didn’t struggle with my job because I know I wasn’t doing what I love for living. I am hoping this trip enables me to discover what I want to do for a career.

      Reply
  3. Daniel says:
    August 28, 2024 at 16:04

    Hi guys. Great post! In the near future I’ll be putting together a post inspired by a recent question from my wife, Kathryn. She asked — why we need to commit to a year. What exactly is it about a year that’s so often attached to long-term travel? I guess what I’m asking, as it relates to your post, is that I’m as interested in your motivations to travel as I am interested in your decision to depart for a year. Us, too. I’m just trying to articulate why!

    Reply
    • Dave says:
      August 28, 2024 at 16:11

      Daniel –

      I think a lot of people choose one year as a time frame because it fits the typical rules around buying around-the-world airline tickets.

      Reply
      • Daniel says:
        August 29, 2024 at 09:54

        Good point, Dave — such a practical answer!

        Reply
        • Jason says:
          August 30, 2024 at 19:58

          We decided on year because we really wanted to step out of our current world for a long time. We considered 6-months, but I felt it wasn´t enough to let go of all the things I am used to in my day to day life. I didn´t want it to seem like a vacation, but rather a lifestyle change. And to change our lifestyle, we decided on the nice round number of 1 year.

          Reply
  4. Adriana says:
    November 25, 2024 at 16:36

    OMG! love the blog! stumbled upon it and what a great discovery! (gotta love twitter) and this post was the perfect inspiration! I´m planning a RTW trip for 2024 (hope the world doesn´t end with the end of the trip) lol ;)
    .-= Adriana´s last blog ..can water end the conflict? =-.

    Reply
    • Jason says:
      December 1, 2024 at 11:21

      Twitter is awesome! We have used it as much as possible during our travels to gather ideas and advice for each place we visit. I keep promoting it to other travelers as a great immediate resource. It will be an anxious time for you, preparing for your trip. Keep us updated.

      Reply
  5. Iain Mallory says:
    March 12, 2024 at 14:13

    Thanks for sharing it is always interesting to hear how others make a decision as big as taking time out for travelling. It is a huge decision, almost as big as one to buy a house anyway.

    I am seriously considering taking an extended trip, all my trips in the past have been expeditions for a few weeks to a couple of months, or ‘vacation’ type trips . I currently have few ties, it seems like a good time to take the plunge.

    A year would also probably suit me, as it is the restriction on a round the world ticket. I also think it would provide me with enough experiences to satisfy me short term and allow me to concentrate on shorter trips afterwards.

    Enjoyed reading why you came to your own personal decison.

    Reply
    • Jason says:
      March 14, 2024 at 13:08

      Thanks for stoping by Iain. Now that our year long trip is complete we are doing the short trips / vacations. Definitely a different type of travel, but it can still be fun. I do think the long term trip is exciting do to at least once in your life. If you decide to do it, have an awesome time!

      Reply

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