Travel or save more?

[PoutineLover]

So, I have a bit of a dilemma in my life. I am earning about average for my area, and saving more than average (for the general population, not for MMM), but I'm still not really going to be reaching early retirement quickly at this rate. In the meantime, I love to travel and see new places, and can't imagine not going on any trips for the next several years. I know I should be seeking to earn more, but I like my current schedule and am currently finishing up a diploma, so I don't want to transition careers until I graduate (next spring). At that point, I hope to get a higher paying job using my new credentials. I feel like if I was really following the MMM principles I wouldn't go on vacation until I had more of a 'stache, but I also don't want to miss out on seeing the world when I have vacation time and I'm young and relatively unencumbered. How do others deal with this? Is it still mustachian to spend a couple thousand on vacations every year, when I am only saving about 25% for retirement? I've minimized expenses as much as is comfortable for the life I want to live, but there's always room for some improvement. Thoughts? How do you deal with your wanderlust + desire to retire early?

[honeybbq]

My vote is to definitely travel. Travel cheaply and often.

[boarder42]

travel hack with Credit cards.  took an essentially free 10 day trip to hawaii with my wife this year. 

[mozar]

If you only are looking to spend a couple thousand a year on travel and using your pto time, that sounds perfectly reasonable. You have to do what's best for you. Also understand that there is nothing wrong with traveling while old and encumbered. I took my 57 yo mom on a multi park trip across utah last summer, we had a blast.

[acroy]

Travel hack - travel cheap - Tents are awesome.
Travel locally - so often, people totally overlook the awesomeness in their backyard
$2k/yr is reasonable ;)

[PoutineLover]

Travel hack - travel cheap - Tents are awesome.
Travel locally - so often, people totally overlook the awesomeness in their backyard
$2k/yr is reasonable ;)

I do enjoy traveling locally and that's usually cheap since I can stay with friends. But I live in a cold place and I want to go to a beach this winter!

If you only are looking to spend a couple thousand a year on travel and using your pto time, that sounds perfectly reasonable. You have to do what's best for you. Also understand that there is nothing wrong with traveling while old and encumbered. I took my 57 yo mom on a multi park trip across utah last summer, we had a blast.

I fully intend on traveling when I'm older too! Just don't want to put it off waiting for the *perfect* time

My vote is to definitely travel. Travel cheaply and often.

Thank you!

travel hack with Credit cards.  took an essentially free 10 day trip to hawaii with my wife this year. 

I plan on looking into this - anyone know any good travel cards in Canada?

[nexus]

Travel! Everyone reaches FI differently. It is your personal journey so do with it as you please. If you're willing to retire a little later in life, there's nothing wrong with having adventures now. My monthly savings rate is between 50-60% each month, except in June when I took a 17 day trip across Europe. It was -10% that month (2 weeks unpaid time off is why), but it was well worth it. My philosophy is to grind as much as possible with a full-time job plus flexible side hustle and travel as a way to refresh and do it again until I finally hit that magic number. Go places! See things! Just be smart about it, plan ahead & travel hack. :)
Best of luck!

[dougules]

I've kind of split the difference.  I used to take several road trips a year, and I've cut those way back.  I'm still taking big international vacations every other year.  But as I've cut back I've noticed how much I don't like traveling when I have to rush there, rush to do everything I want to do, and then rush back.  It's hard to keep a long-term perspective, but travel will be waaay better when I will have more time. 

And our big vacations are now centered around places to possibly move for FIRE.

[limeandpepper]

How do you deal with your wanderlust + desire to retire early?

When I was working full-time, I'd take a 3 to 4 week international trip about every couple of years, and the years where I don't go overseas I would usually do a shorter interstate trip of about a few days or a week or so. Still saved about half my salary. After several years of this, I had enough money that I felt comfortable quitting my job to travel for about 5 months with my partner. Upon my return I started working casually/part-time, and I really like this lifestyle and I'm not sure if I want to return to full-time work again, even though obviously I could retire earlier if I worked more - I actually feel like I have become more relaxed about my finances and retirement goals after the travel sabbatical.

[jamesbond007]

Travel is very important to us. It makes us feel better physically and mentally. The long term benefits can't be compared. What we do is set aside $200 per month for travel in our budget and we travel at least twice a year mostly locally and domestically. We do travel internationally but do it once every 3 yrs or so.

[PoutineLover]

Travel is very important to us. It makes us feel better physically and mentally. The long term benefits can't be compared. What we do is set aside $200 per month for travel in our budget and we travel at least twice a year mostly locally and domestically. We do travel internationally but do it once every 3 yrs or so.

In Canada, it costs almost as much to travel within the country as it does to fly overseas. I don't have a car so I can bus or take the train to nearby destinations, but I have been to almost every province already, so I prefer to go to other countries for big trips. I do budget for travel, and I can travel pretty cheaply so I get a lot of bang for my buck.

How do you deal with your wanderlust + desire to retire early?

I had enough money that I felt comfortable quitting my job to travel for about 5 months with my partner.

This is something I would really like to do at some point. I just need to save enough to feel comfortable quitting, but when I do go I hope to stay in some places for a while and do a workaway type gig.

[Frugalman19]

Travel as often as possible. Just focus on not breaking the bank. The wife and I love taking small trips and seeing how little we can spend. FIRE is awesome and all, but most important is you need to love the life you live now. If travel is it for you, dont stop doing it, just keep it reasonable.

I look back at the travel I did in college, and I wouldn't give up those memories for anything. What was a big vacation to me back then, today would be 1/8th of what I save per month. So its all relative.

[PoutineLover]

Travel as often as possible. Just focus on not breaking the bank. The wife and I love taking small trips and seeing how little we can spend. FIRE is awesome and all, but most important is you need to love the life you live now. If travel is it for you, dont stop doing it, just keep it reasonable.

I look back at the travel I did in college, and I wouldn't give up those memories for anything. What was a big vacation to me back then, today would be 1/8th of what I save per month. So its all relative.

I love hearing this. Travel is really important to me, and I can't put off the life I want to live to save for years and be miserable the whole time. I'm doing my best to keep it reasonable, but I would rather limit indulgences like going out and buying clothes so that I can afford to spend a bit more on travel.

[wanderin1]

I love to travel and see new places, and can't imagine not going on any trips for the next several years. I know I should be seeking to earn more, but I like my current schedule and am currently finishing up a diploma, so I don't want to transition careers until I graduate (next spring).

After you get your diploma and start seeking a new job, can you get yourself onto a career path that offers overseas assignments? (ex: work for a Canadian company outside of Canada). Lots of people do this as a way to satisfy their wanderlust without slowing down their financial goals.

[zephyr911]

Travel... I've never regretted it. But do it efficiently and don't spend too much ;)