Travelling can be one of the greatest experiences of your lifetime. Travel has taken me to places that have amazed and inspired me and places I maybe do not want to visit again. But for a long time, there were things that held me back from taking the step to go and travel. While I do not regret any of the choices I have made, they have got me to where I am. If I was given a choice again, I might choose differently.

So if you want to travel and you are not travelling the big question is “What is holding you back?” Many things can hold you back from travelling, such as circumstances to choices. But you cannot overcome what is holding you back without first identifying what it is.

Today I want to explore what some of the things are that can hold you back from travelling. There is a good chance that some of them might seem a little obvious, but that is the point. It is often the most obvious things that we miss until it is pointed out. In addition to identifying some things that might be holding you back I will try and give some ways to overcome the challenge.

Money / Cost

One of the most common reasons people state for not travelling is not enough money or the cost of travel. To be honest, this was one of the reasons that held me back from travelling in the start. But it was not because I did not have the money, but more so that I did not want to spend the money.

The thing is that once I broke that barrier and travelled for the first time, I could see so much value in the experience. I spent more than you might think that first trip, with airfares, hotels, tours, food and such. But the experiences that I gained from that trip were amazing.

When it comes to money it very much comes down to just how much you want to travel. If you are currently working with some form of disposable income after your bills there is a good chance you could afford to travel. It comes down to what your priorities are.

Some Ideas To Help Save For Travel

If money is an issue, there are ways that you can work towards a goal to travel. The best place to start is knowing what the trip you would like to take is going to cost. If you go and find out the price you now have a real number to work towards. Once you know what you are working towards maybe some of these ideas might help you get there.

1. Set up a saving account where you put money each week. Even if right now you can only afford a little bit, it gives you a start. $10 a week is $520 a year, $20 a week is $1040 a year.
2. Give up a habit. Daily coffee? Do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you Gamble? Do you eat out to often? There are many habits that cost money, which you could redirect to saving to travel. In some cases cutting a habit in half might be just the kick start you need to save for travel.
3. Look for opportunities to work a little overtime if it is available.
4. Look at ways you might be able to sell some things that you no longer need.
5. Start a business that provides a service or product you make.

I am sure there are plenty of other options if you get creative with your thinking. But I hope this has given you a little nudge, that money does not have to be an excuse not to travel.

Work / Job

At times your work or job may seem like it is a solid wall between you and travelling. The situation may be different for everyone, and it is a position that I found myself in. I was working so much that I just did not take the time out to have time off let alone travel anywhere.

In many ways, work can seem like it is something that would hold you back from travelling. However, in reality, it should be the biggest enabler of travel. If you don’t work how do you find the money to afford to travel? In Australia, everyone working full time is entitled to four weeks annual leave. I imagine other countries have similar arrangements with varying amounts of time. Everyone is different how they chose to spend this time, but why not decide to travel.

I can understand that some people see their career as more important. I suppose in some ways if this is the case they may not be reading this post anyway. But I counter that travel should in some ways be beneficial to your career, depending on your line of work of course.

Travelling, especially to other countries can open up great potential. There are times where travelling across the world could give you ideas on how to improve your job at home. Where you might see a similar situation to what you do now differently, that will inspire you to change.

But if there is one benefit to your career that comes from travelling it is the rest. Taking the time to rejuvenate yourself through stepping away from the daily grind can be a good thing. It is the whole reason behind why annual leave is a part of working.

Something Bad Might Happen

The idea of something bad might happen, can be a complicated excuse to counter. It is impossible to say well, no it won’t. But consider there is a chance that something and might happen when you get up and go to work tomorrow. Something bad might happen on the weekend when you go shopping.

It is nearly impossible to predict when or if something bad might happen. The question becomes would you prefer to be pushing through the daily grind when something bad happens. Or would you prefer to be undertaking an amazing experience?

But it is also worth considering what do you think something bad is? Is it something bad if you were to lose your luggage? Is it getting mugged and losing your wallet? Is it ending up in a life or death situation?

When considering what something bad might be, ask yourself a question “How could I recover from this?” If you can find the answer to the question, the situation might not be as bad as you thought.

What Is Holding You Back From Travelling?

So there are three of the more common things that seem to hold people back from travelling. Do any of these ring true for you? Or have you got something else that is holding you back from travelling? If you do, it would be great if you could leave a comment below and let me know what your thing is.

You could not imagine how many years I choose not to travel because I had the thought in mind that I had no one to travel with. I turned 18 in 2001, and it might have been a challenge to travel due to money at this point time. But it took me another nine years to finally take the step and travel overseas, and that trip saw me travelling solo.

That first trip took place in October 2010 and saw me travel to five countries. The trip went from Vancouver to Seattle, on to Las Vegas and Toronto, before a week exploring London and a stopover in Hong Kong on the way home.

I took the whole trip solo and once I found my feet overseas, loved every minute of it. Of course, the rest is history with another three major overseas trips and a couple of other shorter ones. Now with some 35 countries checked off the list.

Travelling Solo

Travelling solo does make for a very different experience to travelling with others. I won’t pretend there are not some downfalls. Things like feeling alone at times, and the added cost of the dreaded single supplement. But at the end of the day, I think the advantages of travelling solo far outweigh the downside.

So you may be wondering what those advantages are. I think they are going to vary a little between people. Especially since everyone has different likes and dislikes, different personality traits and different expectations. But today I want to share with you the advantages I see in travelling solo.

Freedom To Explore

When you are travelling alone, it turns out there is just one person that is going to guide where you go. You!

You get total 100% control over where you go, what you see and how you do it. Well, that is the idea anyway. There is no one else that is going to hold your hand or take you somewhere that you do not want to go.

If you love visiting museums, you can visit every single one in each city. Art galleries your thing fantastic you can see as many as you like. But then again maybe hiking bush trails and exploring nature is your thing, take to the trails.

You get to hold your trip exactly how you want to. Which also means you get to take the trip at your pace. If you want to race from place to place, that is possible. But so is taking it slow and enjoying every moment.

Make New Friends

When you travel alone, there are many opportunities to make new friends. The added benefit of travelling solo means that you do not feel guilty speaking to a new friend and not the friend you are travelling with.

Over the time that I have travelled there are dozens of people that I have met and spent time with on my trips. In many different situations. But the ironic thing is that I am in many respects an Introvert. I don’t like the idea of approaching or interacting with new people.

But when you are travelling alone it seems that the tendencies to be introverted do somewhat disappear. You meet people everywhere, and often in situations where the barrier of approach is very low.

Consider being on a tour bus, there are other people there, and you just start chatting. The same has happened on many occasions sitting down for meals on cruise ships.

Sometimes if there was not a particular situation, then it comes to making use of services available. Websites like Couch Suffering make it quite easy to find other locals or travellers either individually or at local events.

No One To Push You

I am sure that many of us may have done things that we did not want to do due to peer pressure. When you travel with one or more friends, this can lead to some situations that you may not always enjoy. Big nights out, trying something a little more adventurous. It may turn out to be fun, but sometimes maybe not quite what you expected either.

Well, that is the great thing when you are travelling alone. No one will push you to do anything that you do not want to do. Even if you come across someone trying to sell you an experience, that peer pressure is not there. If you walk away no one knows the difference.

It can apply even to the most mundane of experiences, not just those adventurous experiences. If you couldn’t care less about seeing a museum, no need to go. You don’t need to feel guilty because you friend is going alone without you.

You Find Out Who You Are

In some ways this one I find rather hard to explain. In some respects, it is a product of the peer pressure mentioned above. But at the same time, it is the complete opposite.

You see when you are with friends and family there are times that you feel like you need to conform to expectations. You might do something because you feel that it is what they want you to do. Maybe you don’t do something because they might think differently of you.

When you travel alone, you have freedom to dig in and find out who you are. What you are about. Sometimes you even find that you surprise yourself with what you discover about yourself.

Helps Expand Your Comfort Zone

In everyday life, there are many situations that we get comfortable with. But when you are travelling solo, there is a range of new situations that you need to get comfortable with.

Of course, the number one biggest thing is being comfortable being alone. You find yourself suddenly without anyone familiar around you, and that can be a little confronting at first. However, once you get in and start experiencing where you are that passes.

There are also the simple things like going out to a restaurant to eat and sitting alone. There are times that this can be quite uncomfortable for some people.

It’s hard to tell what is and isn’t going to be in the comfort zone at times. But you just need to believe that when challenges arise on the road travelling solo, you will be able to overcome them.

Travelling Solo

So what have you been waiting for? Have you been waiting for friends or family to travel with? Does it seem like the timing can never line up? Why not consider taking off and travelling solo? If it sounds good to you, it might just be what you need to do.