Why and How We're Taking a Month Off to Travel the World

Ya know, daydreams are a fun past time. But sometimes, when you write those dreams down, talk about them, then take the steps to make them happen, they actually become a reality.

I don't usually share too much on the personal side but I want to share this with you. Not to brag. Or make you think "must be nice." I want to share this because making your dreams a reality IS possible and hopefully I can encourage you with my story and that YOUR dream is possible too. 

I have a day job, as you know if you've been following around with me for a little while. My husband also has a typical day job, except it's a little more strict. He's in a management position at a corporate company. Definitely different than my day job at the printing company. 

Back when we got married over 3 years ago, we would talk about traveling to Europe one day. Traveling has always been a passion of mine. I LOVE experiencing different cultures, food, new places... and Fawad has shared in my love of travel. So traveling to Europe one day was a fun thing to think about, but as we were planning our future together, we put this dream on paper. And as we started saving. Our daydream was becoming more than an abstract "someday."

Something I love about Fawad is that he's a "go big or go home" person. If he does something, he does it right. No cutting corners. So when we talked of traveling we both agreed that we would want to spend around 4 weeks there.

The main issue would be taking that much time off work for both of us.

But we have both put in a substantial amount of time at our jobs (for me, it's been almost 7 years! *gulp), and Fawad being corporate was given 3 weeks of vacation and some additional days as well.

Back when I started working at the printing company I would talk with the owners (who are world travelers themselves) about how I wanted to travel through Europe one day. They would tell me of their adventures and I would ask all the questions my heart desired. Needless to say, they knew that this was a dream of mine that I really wanted to make happen. So when the time came to ask for that much time off, they granted it with no problem.

When Fawad and I got married, our "world tour" as I called it, was definitely at the forefront of our minds. But, life happened of course. We ended up buying our house which drained our savings so we had to start over with saving for the trip. 

But, over time, we reached the amount we wanted to take an enjoyable vacation for a whole month.

We both talked to our jobs when the time came and, thankfully, each signed off. We were actually making this thing happen!

We have an itinerary of 6 countries in Europe. We'll be staying a pretty even combination of hotels and AirBNB's.

So… if you are wondering about taking a month off my business, let me share what I’m doing.

I honestly went back and forth with how I wanted to go about this with taking a month off. I finally decided to keep the stock-piled content to a minimum. The main reason was I was very busy with multiple clients so I didn't have time to get a lot of content ready, but I did manage to get one blog post in the queue and I'll be sending out 2 newsletters while I'm away. And I've been prepping my little tribe on the gram that I'll be vacationing and my clients as well. I also was able to put clients on my calendar for when I return, which makes coming back really exciting.

Everyone has been very encouraging and supportive.

So, in a nutshell, that's the scoop! If you wanna follow along on our adventures, join us! @r_artspace. We did agree that we wouldn't spend a lot of time on our phones, so I can't promise posts every day, but we'll see what happens!

How to make your dreams happen

* I encourage you to write them down
There's a lot of power in putting dreams on paper. So start there! Such an easy and important step.

* Save for what you want
This trip isn't cheap, but we both knew that we wanted to enjoy ourselves and be able to buy things and do tours and stuff. So we were saving for over a year to make this happen. This is where focus and discipline come in handy ;)

* Get on the same page
I don't think this would have happened if Fawad and I weren't on the same page. So if you have a spouse or significant other, tell them your dreams and get to a place where you're both striving towards the same goal. It makes it so much more enjoyable that way.

• Go for it!
When the time comes, make it happen! It can be a little scary but take the leap and go for it but accomplishing a big goal you've had on your bucket list for your whole life is incredibly rewarding.

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Do you have some tips I didn't mention for making your dream a reality? 

What's a dream you had that you finally made happen?